Human Rights Commission: "Forcing Submission of Pledges Without Legal Basis or Containing Unfair Content Constitutes Human Rights Violation"

Recommendation for Improvement to the Minister of Education

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has ruled that demanding pledge forms without legal grounds or with unfair content infringes on the freedom of conscience.

On the 28th, the Human Rights Commission recommended the Minister of Education to improve the practice of superintendents of education in each city and province demanding pledge forms from CSAT supervisors without legal grounds, and requiring teachers and staff to submit pledge forms during the application and approval process for remote work support services.

The Human Rights Commission had previously received a complaint that teachers drafted as CSAT supervisors were forced to submit pledge forms and launched an investigation. According to the investigation, the superintendents of education demanded pledge forms from CSAT supervisors containing the statement: "I pledge to faithfully perform my duties and strictly observe all matters to be followed during the implementation process, and if not, I will take responsibility for it."

In response, the Ministry of Education argued that this was merely a kind of "cautionary procedure" commonly accepted in society and could not be considered illegal or unfair by itself, but the Human Rights Commission did not accept this. The Commission found no legal basis for obliging CSAT supervisors to write and submit pledge forms and judged that the demand functioned as coercion beyond voluntary submission.

Furthermore, the Commission also judged that requiring teachers and staff using the Education Administrative Information System (NEIS) to agree to pledge forms containing content equivalent to compliance pledges each time constituted a human rights violation. The Ministry of Education responded that due to the very high level of security required, pledge forms were demanded according to security guidelines, but the Commission found the phrase in the pledge form stating "I will also accept punishment according to related regulations in case of violation" to be inappropriate.

The Human Rights Commission stated, "This expression is very inappropriate as it goes beyond raising awareness and implies accepting responsibility and punishment without recognizing the rights to make statements or objections regarding the matter."

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