SOUTH KOREA – NGOs’ alternative report refutes the South Korean government’s view on the ESCR
30 November 2009 9:12 pm

On 7 October 2009, 56 non-governmental civil organisations
submitted to the UN
Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, an alternative
report that refuted the ROK government's third official report on
economic, social and cultural rights.
(Source: FORUM-ASIA member PSPD, 12 November 2009)
On October 7th, 2009, 56 non-governmental civil organizations
including PSPD (People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy),
SARANGBANG (Group for Human Rights), Lawyers for Democratic Society, and
GONG-GAM (Korean Public interest lawyers' group) submitted to the UN
Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, an alternative
report that refuted the ROK government's third official report on
economic, social and cultural rights.

Preparing an alternative report for the committee's upcoming review,
South Korea's human rights NGOs has been evaluating the state of social
and cultural rights in Korea, which it believes has deteriorated under
the Lee Myung-bak government. In November last year, the
representatives from Korea's NGOs participated the UN committee's
pre-sessional working group's meeting in Geneva in order to inform the
working group of the current state of social and cultural rights in
Korea.

Once every five years, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights reviews the state of such rights in the member
countries that have joined International Covenant on Economic, Social,
and Cultural Right. Since it became a member country in 1990, South
Korean government, following the 16th and 17th provisions of the
covenant, submitted to the committee two official reports on the
progresses made on social and cultural rights. South Korean government
is scheduled to submit the third review, which takes place in Geneva,
Switzerland from November 10th.

The NGOs' alternative report refutes the South Korean government's
official report, providing a different perspective and containing
information omitted in the government's report, which is believed to be
distorted in favor of the South Korean government's policies. Since the
government's third report contains outdated information regarding the
state of the rights during the period from June 2001 to June 2006, the
NGOs believe that the government's report fails to reveal the
deteriorating state of social and cultural rights in Korea under the
Lee government.

The NGOs are planning on participating in the committee's review,
which is to be held in this November, to speak at the review, have a
lunch briefing before the committee's officials. The civil society
hopes to influence on the committee's decision so that the committee
would make recommendations for Korean government to promote social and
cultural rights.

To read the summary of their report, please click here.