A group of human rights activists yesterday lauded the government's determination in pushing for the country's ratification of two UN covenants on human rights.
In a symposium on human rights, National Policy Adviser to the President Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄) said the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force in 1976, are follow-ups of the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are corner stones of human rights.
Being a signatory to the covenants, Taiwan didn't bother to ratify them nor submit to the UN Secretariat certificates of ratification, a necessary step in committing itself to the criteria provided in the covenants, Huang said.
Although Taiwan might now have difficulties depositing certificates of ratification with the UN Secretariat given the fact that it is not a member of the organization, Huang said, Taiwan's ratification of the two covenants will still serve its interests.
"This would force the country to translate international covenants into domestic law and bring the country's human rights protections into harmony with those of all civilized countries," the presidential adviser said.
Grand Justice Su Chun-hsiung said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is more a general declaration regarding civilized states' concept of human rights rather than a treaty imposing specific responsibilities on its signatories.
The two follow-up treaties were crafted to fill this shortcoming by requiring that their signatories take concrete actions and harmonize their human rights protections measures, Su continued.
Although it is debatable whether human rights will be fully protected under the two treaties, their ratification is vital for a country to be considered a civilized state, Su said.
He called for Taiwan to finish the ratification process regarding the two covenants in order to catch up with the EU, which has already set up the European Parliament and the Court of Justice to better protect individuals' rights.
Chiu Chung-jen, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at the symposium that Taiwan should fall in line with the international community, which considers democracy and human rights a universal goal.
By ratifying the two covenants, Chiu said, the country will significantly enhance its international profile and further justify its bids for membership in various international organizations.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS