 Outgoing National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman |
Staff Reporter
The outgoing human rights agency's chief said South Korea is on the verge of being degraded to a ``shameful nation'' because of the government's backpedaling on human rights and democracy.
Outgoing National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Ahn Kyong-whan urged President Lee Myung-bak to scrap a downsizing plan for the commission and to pay attention to the backlash from international communities.
Ahn, 61, resigned four months before his three-year tenure ends. His farewell speech highlighted ``power is short-lived, but human rights and democracy are permanent in an apparent protest against the plan that has trimmed the commission by almost half and dismissed 21.2 percent of its staffers.
``The value of human rights should not be affected by any political changes or the tastes of state leaders,'' Ahn said in his speech at the commission headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. ``But it seems that those in the conservative administration do not think so. The government has downgraded the commission as just a legacy of what they call left-leaning administrations for the past 10 years.''
Its establishment in 2001 was in line with a UN resolution in 1993, he said.
``At that time, only five or six countries had an organization working on human rights protection. But now more than 120 countries have a similar body, meaning its establishment was an unavoidable international trend,'' he said.
Ahn said he has felt ``the Lee administration is little aware of the importance of human rights protection and has made little effort to communicate with others.''
He said there is no end to the road to human rights, adding that: ``Power is short-lived but human rights are permanent.''
His successor will be announced early next month.
Human rights activists have expressed concerns that the appointment of a pro-government figure to the top seat would eventually make it difficult for the agency to speak out against government-led moves that possibly infringe upon human rights. Under the law, the president has the right to appoint the chairman.
Ahn proposed that a nominee for the post get approval from the National Assembly to prevent the seat from being occupied by a pro-government figure.
Among emerging candidates to succeed him are Lee Jin-gang, former president of the Korean Bar Association; Shin Hei-soo, a professor at Ewha Womans University; and Jhe Seong-ho, a professor of Chung-Ang University's college of law.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
