On Dec. 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sixty years later, Taiwan prides itself on its peaceful democratization. However, many human rights and media watchdogs, both local and international, have expressed concerns over an increase in human rights violations and restrictions on civil liberties since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May.
RESTRICTIONS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES
Freedom House has called for an independent investigation into the violent clashes between the police and protesters during the visit of Chinese cross-strait negotiator Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) early last month.
Amnesty International has asked that the Control Yuan address the serious concerns raised by civil society in Taiwan and that the Ma administration end the practice of using the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) to deny freedom of assembly.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has expressed deep concern over the detention and attacks against citizens protesting peacefully during Chen’s visit, describing such arrests and violence as “grave violations of human rights, under the pretext of national security.”
The FIDH has requested that the National Police Agency and National Security Bureau be held responsible for violating their legal obligations.
The FIDH has also called on the Ma administration to amend the Assembly and Parade Law, saying it is “a legacy of the martial law era.”
In particular, the group has asked the government to abolish the requirement for mandatory permits and instead adopt a system of voluntary reporting.
It also says that the clause that restricts assemblies from being held in certain areas gives the authorities too much discretion to restrict people’s freedom of association and freedom of expression.
Lin Chia-fan (林佳範), deputy chairman of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, said the draft amendments to the Assembly and Parade Law proposed by the administration were far from perfect and his association would continue to push for more relaxed legislation.
The Executive Yuan last week approved amendments to the law that would remove the power to grant or deny protest permits from the police, but would offer them new powers to bar or alter demonstration plans in certain cases.
Lin berated the administration for taking drastic and unnecessary measures during Chen’s visit, including clearing highway lanes by force, confiscating and damaging private property and restricting the freedom of citizens’ movement.
While the police should remain politically neutral and serve the interests of the people, Lin said citizens were restricted from displaying or carrying the national flag and peacefully expressing their opinions.
“It is like we are reliving the Martial Law era,” he said. “Those who carry China’s five-star flag were left alone, but those carrying the Republic of China’s flag were harassed and even attacked. It is outright suppression of personal freedom and only shows degradation of human rights.”
Lin said Ma could have turned the demonstrations to his advantage and used them as a bargaining chip with Chen, but he decided to stand together with Chen and suppress the Taiwanese.
As the Ma administration did not respond positively to the demands of the Wild Strawberry Student Movement, students decided on Sunday to leave the Liberty Square where they staged the sit-in, he said.
RSS