National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea
The Commission also increased the access to counseling. For the
underprivileged groups and social controversial issues of human rights,
circuit counselors provided customized services for each of such different
groups (the disabled, multicultural families, migrant workers, regional
residents, etc.). For those who are housed in detention and group care
facilities which are considered as the blind spots of human rights, the
Commission
tried
to
protect
the
right
of
filing
complaints
by
continuously inquiring into the status of installation of complaints
boxes.
In 2013, the Commission received 10,050 complaints, a 5% increase
compared with 9,582 in 2012. Among them, complaints of human rights
violations were 7,455 or 74.2% while complaints of discriminatory acts
2,492 or 24.8%.4)
Article 30 Paragraph 3 of the National Human Rights Commission Act
provides that the Commission can perform a suo moto investigations,
"in case of no complaint, but if the Commission admits that there are
considerable grounds of human rights violations or discriminatory acts,
and that they are serious."
The Commission's suo moto investigations were performed, in 2012,
on the following cases: the illegal surveillance of the Office of the Prime
Minister; delayed reaction by the police hotline to the murder of a
female; and deep-rooted sexual violence and brutal behavior in the
military. In 2013, it carried out a total of 11 suo moto investigations.
4) Sections 3 and 4 discuss detailed classifications of human rights violations, and the status of
investigations and remedial actions.
Chapter 2. Investigations and Remedies: Human Rights Violations and Discriminatory Acts ▪
▪
▪ 105