The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has determined 26 key tasks for 2007 and designated ten of them as top priorities, which will be implemented in an integrated and coordinated way. The Commission" s implementation plan for the key tasks stands out in that it addresses a range of human rights protection for many types of socially disadvantaged individuals such as residents in facilities, the disabled, the under-privileged eligible for protection by the National Basic Livelihood Security Act, and migrant workers.
The Commission" s top ten priority tasks of 2007 are as follows:
① Advancement of the human rights of children and adolescents (new)
② Advancement of the human rights of institution residents (continued from 2006)
③ Advancement of the human rights of the disabled (new)
④ Reinforcement of the right to survival of the under-privileged eligible for basic national welfare (new)
⑤ Continuation of work related to North Korean human rights(new)
⑥ Advancement of the human rights of Korean-foreigner married couples and migrant workers (continued from 2006)
⑦ Development of guidelines to discern human rights violations and acts of discrimination (continued from 2006)
⑧ Development of a comprehensive plan for the improvement of human rights education (new)
⑨ Strengthening of the NHRCK" s international role as a leading national human rights institution (new)
Active expression of opinions on major court cases human rights (new)
This implementation plan including the above top ten priorities was formulated to fulfill the " Three-year Action Plan for Human Rights Advancement (2006-2008)," which was made in 2006. The NHRCK listened to the public from the initial stages of the plan" s development through discussions including dialogue sessions with civic human rights groups.
Three of the 2007 top ten priorities have been carried over from 2006, i.e., ② Advancement of the human rights of institution residents, ⑥ Advancement of the human rights of Korean-foreigner married couples and migrant workers, and ⑦ Development of guidelines to discern human rights violations and acts of discrimination. The Commission deems these three as longer-term initiatives in light of their importance and the progress that has been made to date.
Among the top ten priorities, ⑦ Development of guidelines to discern human rights violations and acts of discrimination, ⑨ Strengthening of the NHRCK" s international role as a leading national human rights institution, and Active expression of opinions on major trials involving human rights are strategic focus areas to effectively realize the practical objectives of the NHRCK. The Commission will endeavor to achieve the objectives of these three priority tasks, that is, to establish a fair and speedy operational system by developing guidelines to judge breaches of human rights and acts of discrimination, to bolster the Commission" s international capabilities by pursuing systematic international public relations and cooperation, and to create a human rights-friendly justice environment where human rights criteria serve as the primary criterion in practical legal proceedings by reporting the Commission" s recent activities to courts and the like.
