President Chen Shui-bian (
A day after he reaffirmed his commitment to incorporate Taiwan into the international human rights system at the presidential office's monthly press conference, Chen met with five human rights activists to discuss the creation of an independent human rights committee.
When the president first raised the issue of human rights in his May 20 inaugural speech, he proposed incorporating the International Bill of Rights into domestic law and creating an independent human rights commission.
In addition, he said he wants to invite the International Commission of Jurists and Amnesty International to assist the government in the protection of human rights.
The president's commitment to human rights has not only been heartily welcomed by rights groups, but is largely seen as an attempt to break out of the nation's international isolation.
During the meeting with activists -- two from the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, two from the Judicial Reform Foundation, and a lawyer -- Chen proposed setting up a task force, subordinate to the presidential office, which will take charge of planning the formation of the long-anticipated human rights committee.
In addition to giving advice on organizational matters, the activists suggested human rights courses be incorporated into university curriculums.
During the meeting, the activists also raised their concerns over the high-profile Hsichih Trio case. Despite the activists' challenges to the fairness of the arrest and trial of the three death row inmates -- which included the use of police torture -- the president is said to have reservations about granting pardons to the three.
With the judiciary still reviewing the possibility of a retrial, the president has preferred to leave the case to be resolved through the judicial process so as not to undermine judiciary independence.
Gay rights were also an issue discussed at yesterday's meeting.
Chen stated in his inaugural speech that the new government will request that the legislature ratify the International Bill of Rights -- encompassed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights of 1966, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966.
In fact, the ROC signed but was unable to ratify the latter two international instruments before it was forced out of the UN in 1971, its place taken by the PRC.
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