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"In an age when most developed countries have dropped the death penalty, Taiwan is still stubbornly holding on to this outdated law," Lin said, citing the 16-year-long judicial process of Su Chien-ho (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."
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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