노인인권의 발달과 현황에 관한 소고

A Preliminary Study on the Development and the Condition of the Elderly’s Human Rights

The purpose of this study is to examine the past development and the current condition of the elderly’s human rights. The basic guideline of the elderly’s human rights was made by ‘the International Plan of Action on Ageing’ and UN at the international level. The International Plan presented the criteria of the policy of the elderly’s human rights (1982). UN presented five principles(1991): independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment, and dignity to improve the elderly’s human rights. A remarkable effort promoting the human rights of the elderly living in residential facilities was made by ‘the Guideline for Human Rights Protection of the Elderly’ (2006) at the domestic level. This guideline points out eleven rights of the elderly: right to equality, right to care, right to living in an environment like home, right to freedom of body, right to privacy, right to communication, cultural and religious right, right to property, right to expression, right to participation, and right to self-determination. The condition of the elderly’s human rights is not so good in residential care facilities in Korea. Freedom of religion as well as privacy is easily infringed in the facilities. Quite a number of inmates have been experiencing verbal and physical abuse. They rarely get counselling and medical services. The policy oriented to the large-sized residential facilities which is recently spreading in Korea needs to be changed into the policy oriented to the small-sized facilities and group home. The education also has to be prior to any other policies to promote the human rights of the elderly in order to recognize ageing not in the perspective of economic efficiency but in the perspective of humanitarianism.