President Chen Shui-bian's (
A year has since gone by and indeed the Chen administration has made vigorous efforts to fulfill its pledges in respect to human rights. But rights activists, who once highly approved of the pledges, are now becoming more reserved toward the heavy load of slogans and what they regard to be empty talk from the president.
FILE PHOTO
"We've seen the president speak about human rights at public speeches and banquets all over the country. Whatever the occasion might be, you can hear him saying that human rights should be the country's cornerstone," said Lin Feng-cheng (
"His many slogans have become cheap diplomatic remarks without any real substance, and many measures have been taken without being thought through first. We're now feeling doubtful as to whether this administration is really determined to put those commendable slogans into practice, or if it really knows where to begin carrying out its promises," Lin said.
In his inauguration speech one year ago today, Chen outlined three policy directions for human rights, an area which had long been ignored and marginalized by former administrations.
The novel pledges -- to form a national human rights commission, to take world human rights standards and codify them in domestic law and to increase exchanges with international human rights organizations -- were warmly welcomed by many human rights activists who had fought against the odds in the past for people's rights and dignity.
Bo Yang (
In retrospect, there have been a number of concrete measures taken by the Chen administration over the past year, including the establishment of a human rights advisory group last September, a set of presidential pardons last December, the drafting of a basic human rights law in March and recent attempts to push for the ratification of two fundamental UN human rights covenants.
The pardons, announced in December, allowed the exemption of sentences for a carpenter alleged to have been wrongfully convicted for armed robbery, a labor movement leader who was jailed for participating in a peaceful demonstration and 19 Jehovah's Witnesses who had refused to do military service because of their religious beliefs.
Rights advocates upheld these acts of clemency as a remarkable step which not only set a precedent for presidential pardons to be granted to prisoners of conscience other than political prisoners, but also prompted people to reflect on the drawbacks of the legal system.
Non-governmental organizations are also pleased with the idea of creating a national human rights commission and of incorporating world human rights standards within the domestic legal framework.
However, they have become less optimistic about the measures now that they feel something has gone wrong with their implementation by the Chen administration.
For instance, the draft of a basic human rights law, which in other countries often takes years of debate before being enacted, was rushed to completion in a matter of weeks by the Ministry of Justice.
This pattern -- get it done quickly and don't allow any public debate on the matter -- can also be seen in the attempts to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
"There is no doubt that the direction the Chen administration is taking is the right one and deserves applause. But what is to be done must be carried out with prudence and professionalism," said Peter Huang (
"Having waited so long for the changes, we're all too happy we are heading in the right direction -- fully determined to promote and implement human rights policies. But we hope that every step and every policy is well thought through. Otherwise the changes will do more harm than good," Huang said.
Huang, once a member of the president's human rights advisory group, quit the position because he disapproved of the way the group worked.
In addition to Huang's departure, many other former proponents of the advisory body have since become its fiercest critics.
Ford Liao (
So far, however, the group has done little about setting up a human rights body but has instead done many things that exceed its authority, according to Liao.
Lin Feng-cheng from the Taiwan Association for Human Rights also spoke out against the group, of which Vice President Annette Lu (
"I think [the advisory group] has done more harm than good. What I can't agree with is the fact that Lu has used the group to gain publicity for herself. Press conferences are held every time the group meets, and what's more outrageous is that they talked about Lu's lawsuit against the Journalist magazine during one meeting," Lin said.
"By definition it should have no other function but giving advice to the president, but it has been used by the vice president for publicity stunts to attract media attention,"Lin said.
In general, the direction of human rights policy in the Chen administration meets with the approval of human rights groups.
However, Lin pointed out, to achieve its goals, it is essential that the government first clarify its conception of human rights and that it invite public debate on the subject.
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