Taiwan will consistently take action to protect its democracy, freedom and human rights, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday at a ceremony marking Human Rights Day, which is on Friday.
Accompanied by Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) and Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得), Tsai attended the ceremony, which was organized by the National Human Rights Museum at Jingmei Human Rights Memorial and Cultural Park in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).
“Taiwan will never forget the lessons learned from our authoritarian past,” Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan would take measures to preserve its democracy, freedoms and human rights, and would carry this approach over to the international arena, she said.
The Transitional Justice Commission has proposed a bill to help recover assets and provide compensation to those convicted of political crimes by Taiwan’s former authoritarian government, she said.
“This is the least we can do for our predecessors,” Tsai said.
The Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) stipulates that a fund be established to improve human rights education, Tsai said.
Tsai also highlighted the work of the National Human Rights Commission, which was formed last year and recently published a report on the rights of foreign fishers.
It is the government’s responsibility to protect human rights, be it transitional justice, labor rights or the rights of children, she said, adding that the Human Rights Commission would continue its work as well as start conversations and collaboration with other civil society partners.
The ceremony was also attended by nearly 200 former political prisoners and their families, including Cheng Ching-lung (鄭慶隆), who was among the first group of convicts sent to Green Island in 1951.
Tsai said that Cheng’s story moved her.
Former political prisoners have permanent scars, Tsai said, adding that it is this generation’s responsibility to ensure that such actions are not repeated.
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