The Taiwanese Association for Human Rights (TAHR) yesterday listed the denial of rights to lepers at the Losheng (Happy Family) Sanatorium and the leaking of private information on quarantined tuberculosis patients among the year's top human rights abuses, urging voters to evaluate legislative candidates based on their awareness of human rights.
With International Human Rights Day on Monday, the association yesterday held a press conference in Taipei to unveil the country's "top 10 human right news events" this year.
The association has designed a 25-question human rights survey, which they invited legislative candidates to take and "ponder their positions on a number of issues such as gay rights, the human rights of AIDS carriers and the death penalty," TAHR secretary-general Lin Shu-ya (
"A good legislator should possess a sound appreciation of human rights," Taiwan International Workers' Association secretary-general Wu Jing-ru (
"In the upcoming elections, we urge voters to choose their legislators wisely for the betterment of society," Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association founder Robin Winkler (
"It saddens me that we have to bring most of the issues we are raising today to public attention, since most of them should be regarded as basic human rights," Wu said.
One such basic human right, Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Lin Feng-jeng (
"In an age when most developed countries have dropped the death penalty, Taiwan is still stubbornly holding on to this outdated law," Lin said, citing the 16-year-long judicial process of Su Chien-ho (
"In addition, the fact that judges, who may lack `real life experience' and are made judges merely because they've passed an examination, are granted the power to determine whether another human lives or dies, is an issue worthy of re-examination," he said.
"It is equally despicable that we still see incidents of discrimination against and maltreatment of [runaway] migrant workers," Wu said.
"We have listed the top 10 events to remind people what they need to keep in mind when choosing their public servants," Lin said. "On the issue of human rights, Taiwan cannot afford to go backwards."
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
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