The Executive Yuan yesterday published Taiwan’s third national report on the implementation of two international human rights covenants, touting milestones set over the past four years, including the decriminalization of adultery and legalization of same-sex marriage.
The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights state that member states should submit a national report on the implementation of each covenant every four years.
Taiwan ratified the two covenants in 2009 and then passed legislation to make them part of domestic law.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The latest report documents human rights efforts made by the government, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
For example, it has been one year since same-sex marriage was legalized, and although many expressed concerns over the legalization one year ago, polls show that more than half of Taiwanese now support equal marriage rights, Su said.
The government has also established national human rights parks, he said, in an apparent reference to the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park (白色恐怖景美紀念園區) in New Taipei City and the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park (白色恐怖綠島紀念園區), which commemorate Martial Law era victims.
Yesterday was the first time the report was published under the name of the Executive Yuan. Previously the reports were submitted by the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultative Committee, which stopped operating on May 19, after the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法) took effect on May 1.
To promote “the right to adequate standard of housing,” the Ministry of the Interior has completed national housing projects and their budgeting, as well as promoted the registration of the actual selling prices of real estate, so that house buyers can view transparent details of the transactions, Executive Yuan Human Rights Protection and Promotion Committee convener Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) has been expanded to include resident doctors in its protection, while the Labor Dispute Act (勞動事件法), which took effect in January, safeguards the rights of parties in labor-management litigations, he said.
Fishers have enhanced protection now under the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members (境外僱用非我國籍船員許可及管理辦法), he said.
The government plans to make several other international human rights pacts part of domestic law, and it is to introduce more action plans on Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)