한국의 고문방지협약상 개인통보절차 수락과 국내적 영향

Abstract

The individual communications procedure governed by Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter “CAT”) provides remedies to victims of torture or ill-treatment on the international level.. The remedies to them could be also available from the similar complaints procedure under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter “ICCPR”), and the Human Rights Committee (hereinafter “HRC”) actually has dealt with many cases containing torture or ill-treatment issues under the ICCPR. Interestingly, the individual communications procedure under the CAT has been mainly utiliz[s]ed by aliens, especially by refugee status applicants who could be expelled, returned or extradited to another State in which they would be in danger of being subjected to torture. The Committee against Torture (hereinafter “CmtAT”) has established the practice that it provides umbrellas to aliens being in the face of imminent expulsion. It could be, therefore, assessed that the individual communications procedure under the CAT may constitute part of the international protection system for refugees. Considering this practice of the CmtAT, Korea's acceptance of Article 22 of the CAT would strengthen protection of aliens' human rights and offer opportunities to reform domestic laws and practices incompatible with international standards. In particular, the acceptance could facilitate the provision of international remedies for illegal migrant workers subjected to imminent expulsion from Korea. However, it must not be overlooked that the acceptance of the individual communications procedure provides nothing but possibilities that victims of violations of human rights treaties may be remedied. Therefore, whether the remedy actually plays its own role would be reserved for the legal aid of human rights lawyers and activists.