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Experts say human rights deteriorating in China, Taiwan

With China’s human rights record deteriorating this year, Taiwan also showed signs of human rights violations, especially in the areas of police brutality and the judicial system, a human rights expert said yesterday.

Fort Liao (廖福特), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Law, said police brutality had intensified in Taiwan, especially during the demonstrations against the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) early last month.

“That is why many international human rights groups issued statements condemning human rights violations committed during that period,” Liao said. “Police did not handle the street protests the same way they had over the previous eight years.”

Nor did the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration order any investigation into defense lawyers conveying their defendants’ messages to the outside world, he said.

Liao was referring to the Ministry of Justice’s request that the Taipei District Court and Taipei Bar Association investigate former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) lawyer for allegedly violating the code of ethics of defense lawyers by passing on the former president’s words and thoughts to the media camped outside the Taipei Detention Center where he has been held.

While the bar association’s inquest cleared Chen Shui-bian’s lawyer of any wrongdoing, the Ministry of Justice is still considering whether to continue the probe, Liao said, adding that the government must allow the profession to discipline itself.

Liao made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at a press conference where the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy released its annual report on China’s human rights situation.

Liao said that in addition to police brutality, Taiwan’s criminal justice system is flawed on matters of pretrial detention and the handcuffing of detainees.

As the law stands, suspects under investigation can be detained for two months, which can be extended once for two more months. Suspects awaiting trial can be detained for three months and the detention can be extended twice for two more months at the first or second trial, but only once at the third and final trial.

Liao said the duration of detention should be shortened and that before prosecutors request custody, they should first consider whether it is necessary to detain the suspect and how long the custody should be.

“Prosecutors must realize that detentions are for protecting evidence from being destroyed or preventing a suspect from escaping or colluding with other witnesses, not for forcing confessions from the detainee,” he said.

While Liao said handcuffing a suspect was unnecessary, he said that the former DPP administration condoned the long-standing practice and it was now time to ponder whether it should be “dealt with properly.”

Tsai Chang-yen (蔡昌言), vice president of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, however, said human rights in Taiwan had not degraded seriuosly this year, but were rather ensured by the second peaceful transfer of power in May.

The foundation’s findings showed that while China may have enacted some legislation aimed at advancing civil liberties, dignity and safety, in reality its human rights records deteriorated in various aspects, including social, political and judicial areas as well as economic, environmental, educational and cultural facets.
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