Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) personnel could soon be allowed to use weapons to defend themselves or others without firing warning shots, after the Legislative Yuan Internal Administration Committee yesterday passed the first reading of draft amendments.
The amendments to the Use of Weapons and Requisite Instruments by the Coast Guard Authority Act (海岸巡防機關器械使用條例) are to be considered on the legislature floor without interparty negotiations, the committee told a news conference in Taipei.
The Ocean Affairs Council released the draft amendments last month, citing a need to raise the coast guard’s rules of engagement to the National Police Agency’s standards.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The draft — which proposes 19 changes to the act’s 17 articles — would significantly change the CGA’s operational guidelines, the council said at the time.
The amendments would authorize coast guard personnel to defend life with any weapon at their disposal, except naval guns, instead of being limited to the current law’s specific classes of weapons and implements.
The council is to determine via an administrative order which weapons and restraints to assign to coast guard personnel, the amendments say, adding that the use of weapons or other implements to capture resisting subjects, or prevent detainee escape, would be allowed when necessary.
Objects that happen to be within reach could be used as a weapon or restraint if issued equipment is unavailable or inappropriate in the circumstance, the amendments say.
Use of naval artillery could be authorized at the discretion of the CGA director-general, or the highest-ranking CGA officer if the former cannot be reached, or in urgent situations.
Such weapons can currently only be used after firearms, blades or other authorized implements have proven ineffective.
If use of force by coast guard personnel results in a death or injury, an investigation is to be conducted by a council-appointed committee of experts, while those injured by use of force could make a claim under the State Compensation Act (國家賠償法), the amendments say.
The amendments would empower coast guard personnel to use weapons and restraints more effectively while establishing an impartial investigative mechanism to protect human rights, the council said.
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