State watchdog pushes for education on human rights

Human rights education will be mandatory for officials and employees of public institutions in an effort to prevent the prevalence of civil rights violations, state human rights watchdog said Monday.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea plans to propose a bill regarding the education of civil liberties after they review the draft.

“If the human rights education act is put into effect, it will reduce the aversion they have toward student human rights regulations,” a watchdog official said.

In 2007, the commission presented a similar bill to parliament that defined human rights education and basic principles, proposed the mandatory education of human rights for civil servants in public institutions and stated the right for every citizen to receive human rights education.

The original bill proposed that civil servants and employees of state agencies, local governments, schools and detention facilities undergo mandatory human rights education courses to prevent the violation of human rights. However, the bill was thrown out after the end of the 17th National Assembly session.

The revised draft, based on the education of human rights, contains the proposal for a “human rights education facility” in addition to the content of the original bill.

“They are extensively contacting assembly lawmakers to help propose the bill,” according to another official, quoted in other media reports.

“An outline of the bill and the lawmaker chosen to propose the bill will be released within the month.”

By Robert Lee (rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)