International human rights experts yesterday presented a report recommending the abolition of capital punishment, work to relieve prison overcrowding, liberalizing policy over drug users and decriminalizing adultery.
The report listed 78 observations or recommendations for government consideration, following four days of meetings in Taipei this week regarding the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The review was the second of its kind since the covenants were adopted by Taiwan in 2009.
Photo: Hsiang Cheng-chen, Taipei Times
The ICCPR panel was chaired by Manfred Nowak of Austria, former UN special rapporteur on torture, while the ICESCR panel was chaired by Eibe Riedel of Germany, former vice chairman of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Nowak urged President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to take decisive steps by introducing a moratorium on executions, with the aim of full abolition of the death penalty in the near future.
“The committee is also concerned about overcrowding of detainees in the prison system, which leads to a variety of human rights problems, such as poor hygiene, a lack of privacy and increased violence,” Nowak said in presenting the report at the Ministry of Justice building yesterday.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“We recommend the government constructs new prison facilities and reduces the number of detainees by liberalizing some of the harsh policies regarding drug users,” he said.
The committee recommended legislative changes to reduce the length of criminal proceedings and to provide adequate reparation in cases of excessive detention, Nowak said.
The government should also take steps to decriminalize adultery, as it has a disproportionately negative affect on women and is a violation of the right to privacy, Nowak said.
Nowak said that “Taiwan can show it could be a pioneer in the Asia-Pacific region to combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The ICESCR report said that while the government had taken steps to recognize the status of Pingpu as Aborigines, it is concerned that the classification of Aborigines into three categories — “mountain people,” “plains people” and “Pingpu” — is a legacy of the Japanese colonial period and does not correspond with the present situation of 16 official Aboriginal groups.
“The committee recommends that the government apply the classification of indigenous peoples as identified by themselves, and guarantees them full and equal participation and representation,” it said, adding that the government should “develop effective mechanisms to seek free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples on development programs that affect them.”
Miloon Kothari of India, a former UN special rapporteur on housing, said that government policies must move away from an emphasis on economic development and favoring businesses to the detriment of marginalized groups, poor people and Aborigines, as they have led to land expropriation.
Minister Without Portfolio Lin Mei-chu (林美珠), who co-chaired yesterday’s event, said that capital punishment remains in force because most Taiwanese support it and there has been no decline in the number of executions in recent years.
Groups opposing and affirming same-sex marriage staged protests at the event.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS