Control Yuan advisers, upset about a Presidential Office proposal to establish a national human rights commission (
Control Yuan Secretary-General Tu Shan-liang (
Last month, the Presidential Office proposed a draft bill to establish the human rights commission, something the president promised to do during his presidential campaign in May 2000.
According to the draft bill, the commission will be under the complete jurisdiction of the Presidential Office. It also states that all government agencies should cooperate with the commission.
One adviser to the Control Yuan, Chou Yang-san (
He also said that the Control Yuan is the only agency entitled by the Constitution to investigate executive departments regarding their negligence of duty and to protect the human rights of the public.
He stressed that some articles of the draft bill clearly indicate that the commission will have the power to investigate human-rights related cases that should be within the purview of the Control Yuan.
Echoing Chou's point of view, Hu Fu (
The draft bill has not yet been sent to the legislature for review. Tu, however, said that the Control Yuan would fight giving the commission investigative powers.
Control Yuan member Lee Shen-yi (李伸一), however, said he doesn't oppose the establishment of the commission.
But, he said, "the commission should focus on human rights protection in education and monitor and release reports about the human rights situation in Taiwan."
He said that the government must ensure that the Control Yuan's investigative powers are protected.
Control Yuan member Liao Jiann-nan (
"The draft bill creates another institution, the power of which is similar to the Control Yuan. Unless the Constitution is amended, it should not be allowed," he said.
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