Civic groups yesterday slammed the government over a proposed amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) that would require demonstrators to notify authorities of any demonstration ahead of time, saying that it violated international conventions.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights said the amendment was not only a violation of human rights, but that it also violated the UN’s International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which was ratified by the legislature last month.
The amendments proposed by the Cabinet state that organizers must notify police of a protest’s time, location and parade route five days in advance of any protest and that violators could be fined up to NT$50,000.
PHOTO: CNA
Police would have the right to ban a rally or change its route if they believed it would jeopardize national security, social order or the public interest. The amendment would also give police the right to order the break up of any rally that was blocking traffic.
“If the Cabinet’s proposed amendment to the act is passed by the legislature, it would violate Article 21 [of the ICCPR],” said Wu Hao-jen (吳豪人), an executive member of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
Article 21 of the ICCPR states: “The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right,” except for cases where the national interest, public security and public heath may be threatened.
Son Yu-lian (孫友聯), secretary-general of the Taiwan Labour Front, said it was “ridiculous” to require demonstrators to notify authorities ahead of time because it meant that police could strip people of the right to assembly.
He said rising unemployment rates in recent months had caused many workers to suffer and that “workers have no way of voicing their concerns to the government other than by taking to the streets.”
“We will call on everyone to begin a period of civil disobedience,” he said.
Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), executive director of the Judicial Reform Foundation, said police brutality during the visit of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) last year had not been forgotten.
Prosecutors announced last week that they would not indict former Beitou Police Precinct chief Lee Han-ching (李漢卿), who was accused of forcibly closing a record store during protests against Chen’s visit. Their investigation concluded that a sales clerk at the store had voluntarily turned down the music and pulled down the shutters after being asked to do so by police, prosecutors said.
“Is it possible that a store, during normal business hours, would voluntarily pull down its shutters?” said Lin, who remained skeptical of the prosecutors’ decision.
He said the amendment would give police power to control even the kind of music played in record stores and that it posed a threat to the nation’s hard-won human rights.
The association predicted that the amendment would be passed by the legislature today and it has scheduled a march around the Legislative Yuan this morning.
In related news, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday expressed the hope that the legislature would quickly pass the amendments to the Act.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王育琦) said that Ma hoped to see his campaign promise realized and that the revisions would meet the expectations of the public that the law be made more relaxed and reasonable.
While some have proposed stripping police of the right to break up demonstrations, Wang said Ma was against the idea because he thought it was necessary to preserve such a right so police could prevent any disturbances to traffic flow or social order.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS