The principal human rights problems reported in Taiwan last year were judicial corruption and violence against women and children, the US State Department’s annual report on human rights showed on Friday.
The report’s 10-page analysis of the state of human rights in Taiwan touched on the imprisonment of ailing former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), but did not reach any conclusions about his continued incarceration.
It said that “a growing number of observers claimed Chen was being mistreated,” but that authorities had said the treatment Chen was receiving was adequate and that his condition did not warrant parole on medical grounds.
However, the report did say that the 2009 trial of Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had heightened public scrutiny of pre-indictment and pretrial detention, prosecutorial leaks, other possible prosecutorial misconduct and transparency in judicial procedures.
“Although the authorities made efforts to eliminate corruption and diminish political influence in the judiciary, some residual problems remained,” the report said.
“During the year, judicial reform advocates pressed for greater public accountability, reforms of the personnel system and other procedural reforms,” it added.
The report said that political commentators and academics had publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high-profile and politically sensitive cases.
The nation’s independent press, an effective judiciary and a functioning democratic political system combined to protect freedom of speech and the press, the report said.
Another serious problem in Taiwan was rape, including spousal rape, and violence against women, the report said.
“Because victims were socially stigmatized, many did not report the crime, and the MOI [Ministry of the Interior] estimated that the total number of sexual assaults was 10 times the number reported to police,” the report said.
As of September last year, 86,240 incidents of domestic violence were reported in Taiwan, but only 2,592 cases were prosecuted. These cases led to the conviction of 1,685 people.
“Social pressure not to disgrace their families discouraged abused women from reporting incidents to the police,” the report said.
There may also be a problem with sexual harassment in the workplace.
“Women’s groups complained that, despite the law and increased awareness of the issue, judicial authorities remained dismissive of sexual harassment complaints,” the report said.
The report said that child abuse also continued to be a widespread problem in Taiwan.
Authorities reported 19,936 child abuse cases involving 16,330 victims in the first eight months of last year.
The report also said there seemed to be discrimination, including in work environments, against people with HIV/AIDS.
Despite these issues, the report was overall very favorable toward Taiwan, standing in stark contrast to the analysis it made of China.
“Repression and coercion, particularly against organizations and individuals involved in rights advocacy and public interest issues, were routine in China,” the report said.
It said that individuals and groups seen as politically sensitive by authorities continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, practice religion and travel.
“Efforts to silence and intimidate political activists and public interest lawyers continued to increase … to prevent the public voicing of independent opinions,” the report said.
It said that over the past year in China, security forces reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
In one case cited in the report, an 11-year-old ethnic Uighur boy named Mirzahid died after being taken into police custody for attending an unregistered Islamic school. It was later alleged that police officers had tortured him to death.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the report, which analyzes the state of human rights in 199 countries, would be sent to US Congress for consideration.
“These reports send a very clear message that all governments have a responsibility to protect universal human rights and help to blaze a path forward for places where those rights are either threatened or denied,” Kerry said.
He said that standing up for values and speaking out for people who did not have any chance to speak for themselves was “one of the things we can be proudest of that we do here in the State Department.”
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a