Suwon Human Rights Center Publishes Second 'Compilation of Decisions' as First Basic Local Government

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The Suwon Human Rights Center has published the "Suwon Human Rights Center Compilation of Decisions (2017-2019)," which includes one institutional improvement recommendation and 13 decisions on human rights violation cases collected over three years from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019.

The city's Human Rights Center can independently investigate human rights violations that occur in relation to work performed by Suwon City and its affiliated institutions, invested and commissioned organizations, and facilities and organizations supported by the city. When it determines that a human rights violation has occurred, it makes improvement recommendations to the investigated organization.

The Human Rights Center's compilation of decisions includes 14 decision documents on cases such as "human rights violations due to personal information disclosure of civil complainants," "human rights violations at Suwon City commissioned institutions," and "infringement of personality rights by superiors."

▲Details of the decision ▲Outline of the application ▲Summary of arguments by the parties (applicant, respondent) ▲Established facts ▲Assessment ▲Conclusion and other details are included in detail. By reviewing the decision documents, one can understand the standards for determining human rights violations.

A representative example is a complaint filed in July 2018 regarding restrictions on men's use of the Pureunaé Swimming Pool in Jangan-gu Citizen Hall during morning hours (9 AM-12 PM).

Upon receiving the complaint, the Human Rights Center confirmed during its investigation of Pureunaé Swimming Pool that the restriction on men's use during morning hours was a common problem at public swimming pools managed by the city, and initiated an ex officio investigation of all public swimming pools under the city (10 facilities).

The investigation found that 8 out of 10 public swimming pools conventionally operated women-only programs during morning hours, restricting men's use.

The reason was that there were few male users on weekday mornings, while female users were numerous in the morning, and there was insufficient changing room and shower facilities.

The Human Rights Center determined the matter to be unreasonable discrimination based on gender and demanded institutional improvements.

Swimming pool management organizations, including Suwon Urban Development Corporation, accepted this and abolished the restriction on men's swimming pool use during morning hours.

The "Suwon Human Rights Center Compilation of Decisions (2017-2019)" is the second compilation of decisions published following one in March 2017.

Among basic local governments nationwide, Suwon City is the only municipality that publishes a "Compilation of Human Rights Violation Case Decisions." Including both metropolitan and basic local governments, only Suwon City and Seoul have published compilations of decisions more than twice.

The Human Rights Center plans to share the human rights violation cases included in the "compilation of decisions" with Suwon City, affiliated institutions, invested and commissioned organizations, and commissioned organizations to conduct human rights education and prevent human rights violations.

The center also plans to distribute the "compilation of decisions" to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and human rights departments of various local governments to serve as reference materials for human rights research and prevention of human rights violations.

It can also be downloaded from the city website (www.suwon.go.kr) Citizen Participation-Human Rights Archive-Decisions Board.

The city, which aims to become a "Human Rights City of Suwon," announced that it established the "Human Rights Center" in May 2015 and newly created the position of "Human Rights Officer" in January 2019, making it the first among basic local governments nationwide, as part of efforts to protect the human rights of socially vulnerable groups and citizens.

An Se-jin, director of the city's Human Rights Center, said, "Over the past five years, investigations and remedies of human rights violation cases through the city's Human Rights Center have continued steadily," and "the Suwon Human Rights Center has established itself as a remedy institution for human rights violations."

He continued, "As the 'Labor Standards Act' was amended effective July 16, 2019, and the 'Prohibition of Workplace Harassment' system was implemented, interest in 'workplace bullying' has increased, and two related decision documents are included in this compilation of decisions," adding, "It is meaningful in that it presents judgment standards regarding the scope of 'workplace harassment' and whether it applies."