International body postpones for a third time ranking S. Korean Commission

the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK)

Human rights groups say third postponement should effectively be interpreted as a downgrade

The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) is again postponing a rating decision for the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) for another year.

The postponement decision is the third so far, with earlier ones coming in March and November 2014.

The NHRCK, under chairman Hyun Byung-chul, expressed “dismay” at another postponement decision “despite continued efforts,” but seemed relieved to have dodged a possible downgrade from an “A” to a “B” rating. Meanwhile, human rights groups said the exceptional third straight postponement should be viewed as tantamount to a downgrade.

The NHRCK held an emergency briefing at 3 pm on Mar. 27 to announce that the ICC “gave notice that its review of the commission is being postponed one year until March of next year.”

The ICC approval subcommittee cited failure to amend South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission Act as a reason for the postponement and requested greater transparency in the chairperson election process this August, along with objective standards for assessing it, the NHRCK explained.

The ICC conducted its NHRCK rating review last week in Geneva, Switzerland. The NHRCK has maintained an “A” rating, the highest possible, since joining the organization in 2004.

But in March 2014 the ICC decided to postpone a rating ruling for six months, citing a lack of transparency guarantees in the commission member nomination process and recommending corrective action. The NHRCK organized guidelines for an amendment to the NHRCK Act in response, but was given another postponement that November when the ICC ruled that its guidelines lacked binding force and that transparency in elections had not been guaranteed.

“The fact that the review was put off for one year instead of six months appears to be a reflection of the time it takes to amend the NHRCK Act and the nomination of a new chairperson in August,” explained NHRCK Policy and Education Bureau Chief Shim Sang-don on the decision.

“Malaysia’s human rights commission had its review postponed three times, and it received an ‘A’ rating after amending its legislation,” Shim said.

But human rights groups called the postponement decision an effective downgrade in the NHRCK’s rating.

“Even if it wasn’t downgraded strictly speaking, it’s almost unheard of to have three straight re-examinations,” said Kim Hyung-wan, director of the Korea Human Rights Policy Institute.

“This is recognition by the international committee that the NHRCK’s activities have been abnormal,” Kim added.

Myung Sook of the group Action to Put the National Human Rights Commission in Its Place in Korea said the third postponement “should really be seen as a downgrade.”

“The NHRCK seems think all it has to do is amend the law, but there has been a full-scale review of the Park Geun-hye administration’s backward human rights policies,” Myung added.

By Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter

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