Suwon Human Rights Center Releases Second 'Case Collection' as First Basic Local Government to Do So

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The Suwon Human Rights Center has published the "Suwon Human Rights Center Case Collection (2017-2019)" containing rulings from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019—three years of decisions including one institutional improvement recommendation and 13 decisions on human rights violation cases.

The city's Human Rights Center can independently investigate human rights violations that occur in connection with operations at Suwon City, its affiliated agencies, invested or funded institutions, and facilities and organizations supported by the city. When the center determines that human rights violations have occurred, it issues improvement recommendations to the investigating institution.

The Case Collection contains 14 rulings including "human rights violations due to leakage of citizens' personal information," "human rights violations at Suwon City commissioned organizations," and "violations of personal dignity by superiors."

▲Decision content ▲Summary of application ▲Gist of claims by parties (applicant, respondent) ▲Verified facts ▲Judgment ▲Conclusion and other detailed information are included. By reviewing the rulings, one can understand the criteria for judging human rights violation cases.

A representative example is a complaint filed in July 2018 regarding restrictions on men's use of Pureunaes Swimming Pool at Jangan-gu Citizens' Hall during morning hours (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.).

Upon receiving the complaint, the Human Rights Center discovered through its investigation of Pureunaes Swimming Pool that the restriction on men's swimming pool use during morning hours was a common issue at public swimming pools managed by the city. It thus initiated an ex officio investigation of all public swimming pools under the city's jurisdiction (10 facilities).

The investigation revealed that at 8 of the 10 public swimming pools, women-only programs were customarily operated during morning hours, restricting men's use.

The reason cited was that there are relatively few male users on weekday mornings and insufficient changing rooms and shower facilities during morning hours when female users are numerous.

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

Swimming pool operators including Suwon Urban Development Corporation accepted the recommendations and abolished morning restrictions on men's swimming pool use.

The "Suwon Human Rights Center Case Collection (2017-2019)" is the second collection published following one in March 2017.

Among basic local governments nationwide, Suwon is the only municipality publishing "human rights violation case collections." Regarding municipalities that have published case collections more than twice, only Suwon and Seoul have done so, including metropolitan governments.

The Human Rights Center plans to share human rights violation cases documented in the "Case Collection" with Suwon City, its affiliated agencies, invested and funded institutions, and commissioned organizations to conduct human rights education and prevent human rights violations.

Additionally, the "Case Collection" will be distributed to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and human rights divisions of local governments nationwide to serve as reference material for human rights research and human rights violation prevention.

It can also be downloaded from the city website (www.suwon.go.kr) under Civic Participation—Human Rights Archive—Case Decisions.

The city, aiming for "Suwon as a Human Rights City," has established the "Human Rights Center" in May 2015 and created the position of "Human Rights Officer" in January 2019—the first among basic local governments nationwide—demonstrating its commitment to protecting the human rights of socially vulnerable groups and citizens.

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

He added, "As of July 16, 2019, the 'Labor Standards Act' was amended and the 'Workplace Harassment Prohibition System' took effect, raising interest in 'workplace power abuse.' This Case Collection includes two related rulings," noting that "it is significant that we have presented judgment criteria regarding the scope and applicability of 'workplace harassment' going forward."