On June 14, 2006, National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) and Chonnam National University co-hosted a symposium under the theme of " Human Rights and the Role of National Human Rights Organizations during States of Emergency" .
Sponsored by the Korea Democracy Foundation, the symposium held a in-depth discussion on constitutional human rights control during states of emergency. At this symposium, participants included human rights experts, activists and scholars on from Korea, APF(Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions), Nepal, and Sri Lanka. These experts have experienced emergency situations in which constitutional orders are broken and basic rights of citizens are violated.
At the symposium, Sushil Pyakurel, former commissioner of National Human Rights Commission of Nepal; N. Selvakkumaran, a former human rights commissioner from Sri Lanka and Kieren Fitzpatrick, Secretariat of PAF, took part in the discussion as presenters and discussants. Having experienced the severity and injustice of an emergency state, Pyakurel and Selvakkumaran shared their insights and perspectives on human rights issues, while mentioning the process of democratization of which Nepal and Sri Lanka are going through. Mr. Fitzpatrick introduced three primary roles of NIs and emphasized the importance of the existence of a National Human Rights Commission in Asia-pacific countries.
The symposium covered three topics:
1. Constitutional and Human Rights Control under States of Emergency.
(presented by Mr. Selvakkumaran, Dean of Law School at University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, a former human rights commissioner in Sri Lanka)
2. Roles and issues faced by National Institutions under a state of emergency in the Asia Pacific Region.
(presented by Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions)
3. After Gwangju Massacre, States of Emergency and Human Rights Protection.
(presented by Jae-Seung Lee, Professor, College of Law, Kookmin University, Korea)
In response to the presentations, there were also three discussants. Kyung Soo Jung, professor of college of Law at Chonnam National University; Sushil Pyakurel and Jung Kwan Cho, professor of the May 18 Institute of Democracy and human Rights, Political Science Department at Chonnam National University.
The Moderators were Nohyun Kwak, Secretary-General of ANtional human Rights Commission of Korea and Byung Seok Jeong, Dean of College of Law at Chonnam National University.
This symposium was held in Gwangju, a city that represents the growth of the Korean democracy as a symbol of numerous human rights movements. Gwangju was where human rights were viciously violated by a brutal regime which caused the 5.18 democratic uprising.
