한국의 인권조약 비준ㆍ가입의 성취와 과제

Abstract

Starting with the accession to the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights in 1990, the participation of Korea in human rights treaty system has dramatically been widened for a comparatively short period. However, the constant expansion of the human rights treaty system is raising new issues such as further participation of Korea in another human rights treaties. In this context, this study identifies the human rights treaties to which Korea is a party and to which it is not, and examines the possibilities of ratification of or accession to the treaties to which Korea is currently not a party. The policy and plan of the government concerned and the National Human Rights Commission can show a general picture of these possibilities. In particular, the National Human Rights Plans of Action, and the Voluntary Pledges and Commitments of the Korean government that were promised during the election campaign of the Human Rights Council, provide more credible information on the possibilities than others. Those documents suggest that the human rights treaties under current consideration of Korea with respect to their possible ratification or accession are mainly related to the 'core' human rights treaties and some conventions of the International Labour Organization. Considering that the observance of the Voluntary Pledges and Commitments can be a crucial one for the international human rights reputation of the State concerned, it is probable that Korea will ratify or accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and four conventions of the International Labour Organization, that is Nos. 87, 98, 29 and 105, to all of which stated above the Korean government expressed the intention to become a party in its Voluntary Pledges and Commitments. On the other hand, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all of which are not expressed in the Voluntary Pledges and Commitments, seem to be difficult to be selected for the list of ratification or accession of Korea in the near future.