The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) yesterday said that it would in October hold its 40th congress in Taipei, the first time the event is to be held in Asia in its nearly 100-year history.
Taiwan has been chosen due to the federation’s long-term rapport with Taiwanese human rights organizations and its concern over marriage equality, FIDH secretary-general Debbie Stothard said.
“When FIDH chooses the location of a congress, in addition to our strong relationship to our members who are in the country — in this case the Taiwan Association for Human Rights [TAHR] — we also consider whether we are here to congratulate the country on their progress on human rights and democracy, or whether we are here to push the state to behave better or to improve their position on human rights and democracy,” she told a news conference.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We very much hope that Taiwan can create history by passing the marriage equality bill tomorrow [today],” she said, adding that it decided to hold the congress in Taiwan from Oct. 21 to 25 in part due to the LGBT Pride Parade to be held on Oct. 26.
Hopefully, the bill would be enacted by the time the congress is held, she said.
She also expressed hope that the government would pass an asylum law, promote freedom of expression and assembly, and take effective steps to end the death penalty.
Politicians would be reluctant to promote change as elections near, “but let’s not forget that the very existence of Taiwan is an act of courage,” Stothard said.
“Please carry forward that courage into commitments to protect human rights and democracy in this country,” she added.
About 400 human rights advocates from more than 100 nations, along with international experts, local authorities and foreign guests, are expected to join the congress at the Grand Hotel to discuss growing threats to human rights and possible responses to such challenges, TAHR secretary-general Chiu Ee-lin (邱伊翎) said.
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) have been invited to attend, she added.
The congress, held once every three years, is a great opportunity for human rights defenders from around the world to share their experiences, FIDH CEO Eleonore Morel said.
Issues on the agenda are to include climate change, digital technology, artificial intelligence, LGBT rights, women’s rights and Aboriginal communities, she said.
“The congress will be one of the largest human rights events that Taiwan has ever hosted and a great opportunity for its government and civil society to engage in a productive dialogue on global issues,” TAHR board member Wu Jia-zhen (吳佳臻) said.
It would be the perfect opportunity to reaffirm that human rights are universal and that civil society worldwide can work together to fight for common causes, she added.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS