National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2021
abuse not given an opportunity to explain themselves prior to being registered on the Child Abuse
Information System. It also made policy recommendations regarding the Act on the Improvement
of Mental Health and the Support for Welfare Services for Mental Patients, the Report on the
Human Rights of People with Mental Disabilities, and the protection and promotion of the rights
of sports athletes with disabilities.
As to the National Assembly, the Commission expressed opinions on the bill to prevent and
protect victims, etc. of human trafficking-exploitation, the proposed Data Framework Act, the
partial amendment to the Act on Press Arbitration, the bill to protect and support platform workers,
and the partial amendment to the Long-term Care Insurance Act, and institutional improvement
to promote the political participation of young people. It also made policy recommendation to
guarantee the right of gender minorities to legally have a family.
2. Key Policy Recommendations5)
A. Recommendation to adopt Report on the Human Rights of
People with Mental Disabilities
In 2019, the Commission surveyed the status of implementation of the National Report for the
Protection and Promotion of Human Rights of Persons with Mental Disabilities (2009, NHRCK),
concluding that policies designed to enhance mental health were still largely focused on treatment
in institutions. As a result, it laid out in the 2021 Report on the Human Rights of People with
Mental Disabilities a blueprint to improve the mental health conditions and welfare of people with
mental disabilities so that they can be treated in their local communities while enjoying minimum
humane treatment. On February 8, the Commission on February 8 recommended that the
Prime Minister and the Minister of Health and Welfare use the report to develop and implement
government-wide policies to protect and promote the rights of persons with mental disabilities.
The 2021 Report on the Human Rights of People with Mental Disabilities is organized into
five sections. Section 1 through 3 provides an overview of the report, international standards and
overseas cases, the human rights conditions of persons with disabilities in Korea, and key changes
5) See Annex for the list of policy recommendations.
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