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Include prisoner
rights in cross-strait talks: groups
UNBALANCED: The groups said China refuses to
detail how many Taiwanese are detained, while in Taiwan, all Chinese prisoners
are afforded universal human rights
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Prisoner rights should be included in the next round of cross-strait
negotiations so that visitation rights and the right to hire a lawyer are
secured for all Taiwanese detained in China, rights groups said yesterday.
Representatives from human rights groups and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) told reporters they were calling for a prisoners’
rights agreement to be signed during the eighth round of cross-strait
negotiations.
Representatives of Taiwan and China’s economic and trade offices should be able
to visit nationals who are arrested or detained in each other’s territory since
both sides have reached an agreement to establish trade offices, said Hsu
Wei-chun (徐偉群), an assistant professor at Chung Yuan Christian University and
convener of the Association of Taiwan Democracy.
“This should be the starting point of the ‘cross-strait human rights agenda,’”
Hsu added.
Political differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should be
excluded from any consideration for human rights, Cross-Strait Agreement Watch
Association convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said.
China’s refusal to disclose the location and reason for the detention of
Taiwanese is a “clear-and-simple violation of human rights,” Lai said.
While a clause regarding visitation rights was written into a cross-strait
judicial assistance agreement, Beijing has not done enough to protect the human
rights of Taiwanese who have been arrested or detained in China, Yu said.
In August 2009, Chen Chu-nan (陳竹男) was beaten to death in a Hong Kong prison two
days after being arrested, while the family of Taiwanese student Chen Shih-huai
(陳仕懷) was not informed of his detention for 13 days and was only allowed to
visit him on the 37th day of his detention, Yu said.
The Chinese government has not disclosed how many Taiwanese are currently
detained, she said, adding that Taiwan has treated the 151 Chinese nationals
currently imprisoned or detained here under regulations adhering to the
universal value of human rights.
“China’s poor human rights record has always been one of the most important
factors why Taiwanese are hesitant about closer engagement with China,” Academia
Sinica research fellow Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has said human rights are a priority of his
administration, should “take his personal initiative of ‘mutual non-denial’ to
another level — the mutual non-denial of the basic human rights of people across
the Strait,” Wu said.
Taiwan has been trying to talk to China about the issue at every opportunity
that has presented itself, Ministry of Justice prosecutor Fan Cheng-chung (范振中)
said.
Under Chinese law, defendants and detainees cannot meet their families during
the investigation and trial of their case, Fan said, adding that it would be
difficult to make changes before the criminal code is amended.
At a separate setting yesterday, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) proposed
that Taipei call on China to respect the values of democracy and human rights
and stop its oppression of Tibet and Xinjiang.
The human rights situation in China should be included in all cross-strait
negotiations, Hsiao added.
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