By Lee Kyung-min
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has rejected a petition from civic groups to ban a regional educational office from monitoring teachers using surveillance cameras.
Human rights activists are strongly protesting the decision, saying it will infringe upon teachers’ privacy.
Surveillance cameras are installed at most schools for the purpose of preventing bullying among students.
In September, the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education asked a school in the southwestern city to submit surveillance camera recordings in an effort to detect possible irregularities concerning overtime payments to teachers.
Weeks later, activists and some unionized teachers filed a petition with the human rights agency to stop the educational office from demanding such data, saying it could violate teachers’ rights.
The NHRC, however, rejected the petition, saying it was legitimate for the office to ask for the footage.
“The inspectors’ demand was a legitimate part of their work process, thus it can be recognized as them securing evidence to achieve the goal of completing their job,” the NHRC said in a statement.
However, liberal civic groups strongly protested the decision saying the decision will be abused.
Shin Hoon-min, a lawyer from the Jinbonet, a liberal civic group, said controlling workers through the use of surveillance camera footage must be handled in a delicate manner.
“The video shows what goes on in the workplace in a very detailed way. The right to privacy could be seriously violated, regardless of the intended use. And, if the punishment is derived from the footage as evidence, the problem gets far more serious,” he said.
“The clear intent to control every single detail of the workers in the workplace, where they spend most of their time, is against what the agency should be fighting for.”
Another civic group in Gwangju with the agenda of “fighting against the elitism,” said it will stage a rally in protest of the decision in front of the Gwangju office of the NHRC.
“The NHRC was more than irresponsible in saying the workers should stand with the possibility of their freedom being deprived. We vehemently oppose the decision,” they said.
The group criticized the commission for making a ruling that directly contradicts their own only three weeks earlier.
The NHRC on March 11 ruled that the Lotte Giants violated their players' human rights by keeping them under illegal surveillance.
The decision came after their probe into allegations that the team installed surveillance cameras at hotels its players' stayed at without their knowledge.
"The act is a violation of the players' constitutional right to privacy and freedom," the commission said at the time.
According to the Ministry of Education guideline, the use of surveillance cameras installed on school property is strictly limited to protection of students and school property.
Also, other than for the purpose of criminal investigations, the use is otherwise banned, the guideline states.