Cabinet to submit rights covenants to legislature

Despite its lack of recognition in the UN, the Executive Yuan yesterday agreed to submit two key parts of the International Bill of Human Rights (國際人權法典) to the legislature for ratification, in a move the Presidential Office described as a step toward incorporating the bill into Taiwan's legal code.

The two covenants, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (經濟社會文化權利國際公約, CESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (公民與政治權利國際公約, CCPR), were drawn up by the UN and are integral to the human rights bill.

If passed by the Legislative Yuan, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) must validate their ratification and issue an accompanying ratification letter.

As well as the two covenants, the International Bill of Human Rights also comprises the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and two optional protocols.

Formerly a UN member, Taiwan signed both covenants in 1967. After China succeeded to Taiwan's UN membership in 1971, however, the UN refused to further acknowledge Taiwan's signature of the two covenants. The two covenants were never ratified.

Since Chen has ranked the improvement of human rights as one of his administration's top priorities, the Cabinet yesterday decided to ratify both covenants. Even if Taiwan's legislature approves them, however, the government will still face difficulties submitting the ratification letter to the UN's Secretariat before both covenants can take effect in three months.

"Though Taiwan is not a UN member, the Cabinet will still ask the ministry of foreign affairs to seek to deposit the letter of ratification with the UN's Secretariat in order to consolidate the government's goal of safeguarding human rights," government spokesman Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平) said after the Cabinet's weekly meeting yesterday morning.

Asked at the press conference what the purpose of proceeding with a move that required -- but would almost certainly not receive -- the UN's sanction, Su said that the government would ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do its best to see that the UN would acknowledge Taiwan's ratification of the covenants.

The deposit of a letter of ratification with the UN Secretariat binds a country to the terms of the ratified treaty in international law.

An official at the foreign affairs ministry, however, yesterday told the Taipei Times that the ministry's stance on the issue has been that, for the time being, Taiwan would not challenge the UN to acknowledge its ratification of international treaties since China would definitely voice its opposition.

It would also be a provocative move since it would reignite the controversy over the "two Chinas" issue in the UN and the UN would likely turn down the request.

Sue Wang (王時思), former secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會) yesterday voiced her approval of the Cabinet's move, saying that it would be beneficial to Taiwan's education on human rights in the long run.

She also said that it provided norms for Taiwan to follow to meet international human rights standards.

Wang also stressed, however, the importance of establishing a national human rights commission (國家人權委員會), as the president has promised to do, to enforce and monitor Taiwan's human rights situation.