Human Rights Commission of’Showing Existence’… Park Won-soon, Kim Jin-sook, the voice of the death penalty’principles’

‘It aims to realize the dignity and values ​​of human beings and to contribute to the establishment of a basic democratic order by protecting and improving the basic human rights of all individuals.’ This is Article 1 of the National Human Rights Commission Act.

The human rights commission, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, is gradually increasing its presence. In addition to global issues such as discrimination and the climate crisis in daily life, the Commission is responsible for determining sensitive issues such as allegations of sexual harassment by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. The influence of judgments and recommendations made by the NHRCK is also increasing.

Among the recent activities of the NHRCK, the most talked about was the announcement of the results of a sexual harassment investigation by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. Many people paid attention to the decision of the Human Rights Commission as the prosecutors and policemen who investigated the case could not come to a quick conclusion. After completing an ex officio investigation conducted for five months, the Human Rights Commission concluded on the 25th of last month that it “corresponds to sexual harassment” on Mayor Park’s allegations of sexual harassment. Mayor Park’s specific words and actions toward victim A were also revealed late at night, including sending inappropriate messages, photos, and emoticons.

The announcement of the NHRCK was the first judgment that a state agency directly admitted that sexual violence by Mayor Park Jeon existed. Earlier, the court indirectly admitted the damage caused by Mayor Park Jeon through another sexual assault case by Mr. A last month. Mr. A, who had suffered a serious secondary abuse after his death and a complaint against former Mayor Park, was able to receive the first official apology from the Democratic Party’s representative Lee Nak-yeon the day after the announcement of the Human Rights Commission. It was about 7 months after the incident. The NHRCK explicitly stated that Mayor Park’s actions were’sexual harassment’, and was evaluated as having played a proper role in the purpose of its establishment.

The Human Rights Commission also contributed to the reinstatement of Kim Jin-sook, the leader of the Busan Headquarters of the KCTU, which has been seldom bearing fruit in recent years. The government has taken an attitude that he cannot directly intervene because the issue of reinstatement of leader Kim is basically a private enterprise. In the midst of this, the chairman of the Human Rights Commissioner Choi Young-ae personally met with poet Song Gyeong-dong, who has been fasting for more than 40 days in front of the Blue House, urging Kim to reinstate his leadership on the 2nd. Chairman Choi said at this meeting, “The Human Rights Commission has a position that this issue must be resolved, and if there is anything it can do, I will do it.” It was also recommended to stop fasting because of concerns about the health of fasters.

On the 3rd, the next day, the Human Rights Commission submitted an opinion to abolish the death penalty to the Constitutional Court. In an opinion document issued prior to the third decision of the Constitution on the death penalty, the Human Rights Commission said, “If life is lost, it cannot be restored forever, it is an absolute and the source of the dignified human existence.” The right to Korea is a basic right among the basic rights, and it is reasonable to assume that the state has only the obligation to protect and guarantee it, but does not have the right to deprive it.” The Human Rights Commission recommended that it join the international covenant that promises to abolish the death penalty in 2019.

The number of people visiting the Human Rights Commission, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is gradually increasing. According to the 2019 annual report released by the NHRCK in May last year, it was found that that year’s policy recommendations increased by 64% compared to the previous year. Policy recommendations refer to the results of a direct survey by the Human Rights Commission or recommendations in response to human rights issues at the time. The types of complaints filed with the NHRCK have also diversified from daily discrimination to politically and socially sensitive issues like Mayor Park’s case. In December of last year, the Human Rights Committee visited the Climate Crisis Human Rights Group composed of climate and human rights movement groups pointing out the government’s insufficient response to the crisis.

An official from the NHRCK said, “In the early days of its inception, human rights were a strange concept, but as citizens’ awareness of human rights expanded, the subjects covered by the NHRCK also expanded. This seems to have led to the influence of the NHRCK.”