Announcement: Appointment of Dr. Ethan Hee-Seok Shin (Republic of Korea) to the UN WGAD

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ethan Hee-Seok Shin of the Republic of Korea has been appointed as a member of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD). He succeeds Ms. Priya from Malaysia.

The WGAD is a special procedure of the UN Human Rights Council. It comprises five volunteer independent experts who serve in their personal capacity. Members are selected to represent the diversity of the UN’s regional groups.

The WGAD’s core tasks include:

• Examining individual complaints submitted by individuals, families, NGOs, or other actors regarding alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty (arbitrary arrest or detention) and issuing opinions on whether the detention is arbitrary under international human rights law.

• Sending letters and urgent appeals to States, seeking clarification or action in response to individual cases.

• Carrying out country visits (on invitation) to assess detention practices on the ground.

• Providing thematic or general reports to the Human Rights Council, offering guidance on the interpretation and application of international standards relating to detention.

Dr. Ethan Hee-Seok Shin is a legal scholar and human rights expert from South Korea. He brings to the Working Group a blend of academic excellence and hands-on engagement in human rights advocacy. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from Yonsei University, where his doctoral thesis focused on “The Right to Liberty of Person as Influenced by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD)”. He also holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Economics from Yonsei University.

Dr. Shin currently teaches international law at the Catholic University of Korea and conducts research at the Institute for Legal Studies of Yonsei University. He also serves as a legal analyst with the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a Seoul-based NGO dedicated to documenting human rights violations and promoting accountability in transitional contexts. His research focuses on international human rights law, transitional justice, and detention practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Shin becomes the second Korean national to serve on the WGAD. His appointment, officially confirmed during the 59th session of the Human Rights Council in July 2025, reflects both his longstanding engagement with issues of arbitrary detention and the Republic of Korea’s growing participation in international human rights mechanisms.

Please find more information regarding the members of the WGAD here.