The International Federation for Human Rights has become the latest international group to express concern regarding the response of police to protests against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林) earlier this month.
The Paris-based group sent letters to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) on Wednesday, expressing concern over what it called “grave violations of human rights” committed by police during the protests.
The police’s actions were aimed at suppressing freedom of speech, the group said.
In the letter, the federation said the authorities “had taken many dramatic measures, including: confiscating and damaging private property, harassing and assaulting people who came too close to undefined or vaguely defined areas, clearing communal highway lanes with force, conducting random searches and arrests, and restricting the freedom of movement of citizens.”
The organization said it feared the “aggressions” were intended to suppress “freedom of expression of citizens.”
“These measures seem to be aimed at silencing political opinions rather than protecting security, and they blatantly violate the Constitution of Taiwan [sic], notably Article[s] 11 and 14 which protect freedom of expression and international human rights standards.”
“The police and national security authority should be held responsible for violating their legal obligations,” the group said.
It called on the Judicial Yuan and Control Yuan to investigate the allegations of human rights violations.
It also called on the government to amend the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) to abolish the requirement that protest organizers apply for permits from the police.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about