Ten international human rights experts are scheduled to arrive in Taipei later this month to review the government’s first national human rights report, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.
The review committee is also expected to announce its conclusions on Taiwan’s human rights situation on March 1, the ministry added.
The 10 experts, invited by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), are: Nisuke Ando from Japan, Jerome Cohen from the US, Shanthi Dairiam from Malaysia, Pakistan’s Asma Jahangir, Austria’s Manfred Nowak, Australia’s Philip Alston, Theodoor Cornelis Van Boven from the Netherlands, Virginia Bonoan-Dandan from the Philippines, Germany’s Eibe Riedel and Shin Hei-soo from South Korea.
The Ma administration published a Chinese-language version of its first national human rights report in April last year, and the English-language version in December last year.
The review committee will hold separate conferences with non-governmental organization representatives from various fields and with government representatives between Feb. 25 and Feb. 27.
The review committee will hold a closed-door meeting on Feb. 28 to form its conclusions regarding the nation’s human rights situation and these will be publicized on March 1, the ministry said.
The government’s national human rights report was compiled by the Presidential Office’s human rights advisory panel.
It details the nation’s progress in implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that Ma signed in 2009.
It also showcases government efforts to protect human rights in different areas, including gender equality, individual freedoms, social welfare and the judicial system.
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