Concept Note
Human Rights Cities Human Rights Protection System Proposed by Activists
Background
Domestic discussions on the right to peace have typically focused on peace or anti-war movements, not been addressed within the realm of human rights. As such, there are limitations in recognizing the right to peace as a distinct right. However, the scope of rights has been gradually expanding to include equality, peace, and ecological peace. To encompass these advancing areas of society, it needs to guarantee free imagination and discussions over the extensive scope of human rights. Unfortunately, South Korea's human rights protection system, which is supposed to offer a platform for discussion or expand the boundary of rights, however, often gets confined to legal provisions. Even in locals with human rights protection systems, the operation could show a wide disparity depending on the political context. In the meantime, we have experienced repeated regressions in almost every area of society, as our society gets more polarized. Even worse, in the human rights sector, we have witnessed significant setbacks at first hand. Direct violence, structural violence, cultural violence, and ideological violence are shaking people’s daily lives. Amid such a crisis, human rights-based approaches are becoming more crucial in the basic operations of society to elevate the ultimate values of peace, coexistence, and diversity in our daily lives. Unfortunately, however, the current human rights protection system in Korea is in grave jeopardy at both the national and regional levels. Therefore, reform is necessary so that the system serves as a basic framework for peaceful living for every single individual and all nations. In efforts to innovate South Korea's human rights protection system, the roles and status of local human rights activists should be freely reimagined as key players.
Objectives
1. Share the status of human rights protection systems by region.
2. Share the activities of human rights activists/organizations by region and provide the assessment of the current regional human rights protection systems.
3. Propose human rights protection systems imagined by each region.
4. Share the role of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as a core institution of the national human rights protection system, along with the current challenges it faces.
5. Discuss how (regional) human rights activists are supposed to carry out their actions, and what their status and roles should be within national and regional human rights protection systems.
Main Agenda
1. Exploration of the status and assessment of human rights protection systems in each region, as well as the activities of human rights activists/organizations.
1-1. Daegu Metropolitan City: What are the human rights policy trends and how does the human rights protection system for local residents works in a situation where the regional Human Rights Commission was substantially abolished? What are the responses and activities led by local activists to the question? How could we evaluate Daegu’s human rights protection system?
1-2. Daejeon Metropolitan City: Evaluation of the entrusted operation of the human rights center and the harm caused by anti-human rights organizations running the centers. The assessment of Dajeon’s human rights protection system and the activities of human rights activists for human rights enhancement.
1-3. Gwangju Metropolitan City: Assessment on the formal systems for human rights and the issues with bureaucratized protection systems, and responses and activities of human rights activists/organizations in the region.
1-4. Jeonbuk-do: The issue of environmental destruction (Sura Mudflat) due to the expansion of the Gunsan’s Air Force Base and airport, as well as the evaluation of Jeonbuk-do's human rights protection system for the sake of peace and ecological peace, and the responses and activities of local activists.
1-5. Chungcheongnam-do: The enactment and abolition of the Basic Human Rights Ordinance and the Student Human Rights Ordinance, the process and assessment of the movement for abolition and re-enactment, and the response and activities of local human rights activists/organizations.
2. Evaluation on the status and role of the National Human Rights Commission as a core institution of the national human rights protection system, exploration on the ways of solidifying local human rights activists.
3. A comprehensive assessment on the status of the national/regional human rights protection system with listening to the views of human rights experts on the future direction of reforming the national human rights protection system.
Concept Note
Human Rights Cities Human Rights Protection System Proposed by Activists
Background
Domestic discussions on the right to peace have typically focused on peace or anti-war movements, not been addressed within the realm of human rights. As such, there are limitations in recognizing the right to peace as a distinct right. However, the scope of rights has been gradually expanding to include equality, peace, and ecological peace. To encompass these advancing areas of society, it needs to guarantee free imagination and discussions over the extensive scope of human rights. Unfortunately, South Korea's human rights protection system, which is supposed to offer a platform for discussion or expand the boundary of rights, however, often gets confined to legal provisions. Even in locals with human rights protection systems, the operation could show a wide disparity depending on the political context. In the meantime, we have experienced repeated regressions in almost every area of society, as our society gets more polarized. Even worse, in the human rights sector, we have witnessed significant setbacks at first hand. Direct violence, structural violence, cultural violence, and ideological violence are shaking people’s daily lives. Amid such a crisis, human rights-based approaches are becoming more crucial in the basic operations of society to elevate the ultimate values of peace, coexistence, and diversity in our daily lives. Unfortunately, however, the current human rights protection system in Korea is in grave jeopardy at both the national and regional levels. Therefore, reform is necessary so that the system serves as a basic framework for peaceful living for every single individual and all nations. In efforts to innovate South Korea's human rights protection system, the roles and status of local human rights activists should be freely reimagined as key players.
Objectives
1. Share the status of human rights protection systems by region.
2. Share the activities of human rights activists/organizations by region and provide the assessment of the current regional human rights protection systems.
3. Propose human rights protection systems imagined by each region.
4. Share the role of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as a core institution of the national human rights protection system, along with the current challenges it faces.
5. Discuss how (regional) human rights activists are supposed to carry out their actions, and what their status and roles should be within national and regional human rights protection systems.
Main Agenda
1. Exploration of the status and assessment of human rights protection systems in each region, as well as the activities of human rights activists/organizations.
1-1. Daegu Metropolitan City: What are the human rights policy trends and how does the human rights protection system for local residents works in a situation where the regional Human Rights Commission was substantially abolished? What are the responses and activities led by local activists to the question? How could we evaluate Daegu’s human rights protection system?
1-2. Daejeon Metropolitan City: Evaluation of the entrusted operation of the human rights center and the harm caused by anti-human rights organizations running the centers. The assessment of Dajeon’s human rights protection system and the activities of human rights activists for human rights enhancement.
1-3. Gwangju Metropolitan City: Assessment on the formal systems for human rights and the issues with bureaucratized protection systems, and responses and activities of human rights activists/organizations in the region.
1-4. Jeonbuk-do: The issue of environmental destruction (Sura Mudflat) due to the expansion of the Gunsan’s Air Force Base and airport, as well as the evaluation of Jeonbuk-do's human rights protection system for the sake of peace and ecological peace, and the responses and activities of local activists.
1-5. Chungcheongnam-do: The enactment and abolition of the Basic Human Rights Ordinance and the Student Human Rights Ordinance, the process and assessment of the movement for abolition and re-enactment, and the response and activities of local human rights activists/organizations.
2. Evaluation on the status and role of the National Human Rights Commission as a core institution of the national human rights protection system, exploration on the ways of solidifying local human rights activists.
3. A comprehensive assessment on the status of the national/regional human rights protection system with listening to the views of human rights experts on the future direction of reforming the national human rights protection system.