The Fisheries Agency was negligent in investigating the death of an Indonesian fishery worker last year, a Control Yuan report said on Wednesday, adding that the Council of Agriculture faces corrective measures.
The Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office will be notified that it must reopen an investigation into the man’s death and to press charges against his employers, the Control Yuan said.
The report said that the man, Supriyanto, was physically assaulted on the fishing vessel Futzuchun in July last year and died the next month of bacteremia-induced septic shock from infected wounds, a result of the ship captain’s failure to provide timely medical treatment by refusing to dock at the nearest port.
The report found multiple regulatory failures by the Fisheries Agency with regard to supervising Supriyanto’s labor conditions and described its oversight of his employment agency and employers as “merely going through the motions.”
It said the agency was negligent and dilatory in investigating the death and compensating Supriyanto’s family.
Supriyanto signed two labor contracts, one of which was submitted to the Fisheries Agency for approval, while an under-the-table contract dictating unfair labor conditions was also signed and then followed, the Control Yuan said.
Wage theft was common on the Futzuchun, it said.
Every month, Supriyanto’s employers deducted US$100 in security deposits from their foreign workers’ salaries, which actually ranged from US$320 to US$400, and records showed actual monthly wages could be as low as US$50, it said.
When the Fisheries Agency investigated the death, a translator could not understand the Central Java language the workers spoke, the report said. As a result, the agency was ignorant of allegations of abuses and beatings.
The prosecutor assigned to the case neglected to consider the implications of the cause and time of Supriyanto’s death, and failed to investigate the possibility of pressing charges for negligent manslaughter and enslavement before the office closed the case, the Control Yuan said.
As a result of these failures, corrective measures against the Council of Agriculture and a formal demand to the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office to reopen its investigation will be filed, it said.
The Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said it would reopen the case when it receives the Control Yuan’s document.
Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Hung-yan (黃鴻燕) said the agency respected the Control Yuan’s decision and would “humbly accept its criticism” and review agency operations “on an institutional and implementation level.”
A distant-water fisheries act that is to take effect on Jan. 20 next year will facilitate the oversight of foreign fishery workers, Huang added.
Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace said that a report it published in April on fishery problems showed regulations are not able to protect contracted, foreign fishermen’s rights, as there is no minimum wage specified, nor is there a cap on working hours, which subjects fishermen to exploitation.
Greenpeace said that it had not seen the Fisheries Agency hold a public hearing or asking for suggestions regarding the proposed act, which made it worry that its implementation could be hampered or postponed.
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