Taiwan has made considerable progress in improving its human rights situation, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday at an event marking World Human Rights Day on Thursday, with victims of political persecution among the audience.
The ceremony took place at the National Human Rights Museum and the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City, which was formerly a prison run by the Taiwan Garrison Command to incarcerate political dissidents.
“Taiwan has seen concrete progress in transitional justice in the past few years. People from across generations have joined the effort, achieving positive results for transitional justice, as well as to strive for more vigorous protection of human rights. These will ensure that our freedom and democracy will last into the future,” Tsai said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“These efforts and progress can help us face the suffering and agony of the past, and resolve to never repeat history. Then we can join together to advance forward and build a common future,” she added.
Tsai listed her administration’s accomplishments in carrying out transitional justice, such as the establishment of the Transitional Justice Commission to investigate past institutional abuses and atrocities against people to restore justice and truth, overturn wrongful convictions against victims, and disclose secret government files.
Tsai pointed to the establishment of the National Human Rights Museum two years ago to promote human rights education and document Taiwan’s progress from authoritarianism to a democratic society.
“People can see the positive results of human rights education, and also exhibits and research work at the museum. It has undertaken multifaceted programs to combine arts, literature, music and other forms to disseminate the concept of human rights in people’s daily lives,” she said.
Tsai also lauded the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission on Aug. 1, an independent agency of the Control Yuan that is tasked with probing rights violations, reviewing the implementation of human rights policies and presenting national reports on human rights.
Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) was previously a victim of political persecution, so she has empathy for the victims and their families, and for their burden of pain and pressure, Tsai said, adding: “Under Chen Chu’s leadership, I believe the commission can strengthen the protection of human rights, and pass [it] on to our future generations.”
In her address, Chen said she wants to “thank the many respected elders and victims of political persecution who came before me, because they refused to succumb under the past authoritarian one-party state. It is they who enabled Taiwan to have the energy to fight for our freedom and democracy.”
“To them and their families who suffered together, we are grateful for their agony and sacrifice — they helped make Taiwan a land of beauty and freedom — and for attaching great importance to human rights protection,” Chen said.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
RSS