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Editorial: Action
needed on human rights
The latest international review on Taiwan’s first national human rights report
showed that the nation’s efforts to protect human rights are falling short of
international standards and there is still a long way to go before the nation
can join other major countries in the development of human rights.
The review, presented last week by 10 human rights experts that were invited by
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to assess the first national human
rights report, urged the government to abolish capital punishment, suspend the
execution of death sentences, reveal the truth behind the White Terror era,
respect freedom of assembly and prevent monopolization of the media. The 84
recommendations listed by the experts included calls for the improvement of
rights for migrant workers, Aborigines, women, gay and transgender people, and
people with disabilities.
On an issue that has gathered great domestic attention, the experts said that
the Ma administration should “take appropriate action in relation to the serious
health problems of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving an
18-and-a-half-year jail term for corruption during his presidency from 2000 to
2008.
Amid recent disputes over the government’s proposal to hold a national
referendum on whether to continue the construction of Fourth Nuclear Power Plant
in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), the experts said that the Referendum
Act (公民投票法) required an unusually high threshold for a referendum to take place
that does not match the international trend, and the nation should amend the act
to make referendums more practical.
In response to the flaws in human rights development pointed out by the experts,
the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Justice were vague and
disappointing, saying that the government will take the review seriously and
increase efforts to improve the problems.
Ma has bragged about his administration’s efforts to present the first national
human rights report last year, which described the nation’s progress in
implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that he signed in
2009.
Inviting international experts on human rights to review the report, Ma said,
further demonstrates the government’s determination to meet international
standards in the promotion of human rights.
However, the government’s slow response to the review reflects its reluctance to
take immediate action to improve the nation’s human rights situation.
Taking the abolition of capital punishment as an example, Ma insisted that
abolishing capital punishment is an ultimate goal for his administration.
However, the Ministry of Justice carried out the death sentences of six convicts
in December last year.
The government said, in response to the human rights report, that the goal to
eliminate capital punishment would be reached gradually, but it has failed to
offer solutions or explain measures it could adopt to reach such a goal.
The report also recognized the strict restrictions in the Assembly and Parade
Act (集會遊行法) and promised to respect the freedom of assembly. However, police
continue to remove protestors at street rallies. Barricades and shields are
still set up at demonstrations to block people from getting their voices heard.
A series of recent protests organized by labor groups against the government’s
economic policies and pension reforms, which they say benefit corporations and
ignore the rights of blue-collar workers, also raised doubts about the Ma
administration’s sincerity in improving human rights protection.
Simply signing the two UN covenants and having experts review a human rights
report will not guarantee the improvement of human rights.
The Ma administration has made enough promises about defending human rights, but
we need to see real action taken to carry out those promises.
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