The Executive Yuan yesterday published Taiwan’s third national report on the implementation of two international human rights covenants, touting milestones set over the past four years, including the decriminalization of adultery and legalization of same-sex marriage.
The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights state that member states should submit a national report on the implementation of each covenant every four years.
Taiwan ratified the two covenants in 2009 and then passed legislation to make them part of domestic law.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The latest report documents human rights efforts made by the government, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
For example, it has been one year since same-sex marriage was legalized, and although many expressed concerns over the legalization one year ago, polls show that more than half of Taiwanese now support equal marriage rights, Su said.
The government has also established national human rights parks, he said, in an apparent reference to the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park (白色恐怖景美紀念園區) in New Taipei City and the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park (白色恐怖綠島紀念園區), which commemorate Martial Law era victims.
Yesterday was the first time the report was published under the name of the Executive Yuan. Previously the reports were submitted by the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultative Committee, which stopped operating on May 19, after the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法) took effect on May 1.
To promote “the right to adequate standard of housing,” the Ministry of the Interior has completed national housing projects and their budgeting, as well as promoted the registration of the actual selling prices of real estate, so that house buyers can view transparent details of the transactions, Executive Yuan Human Rights Protection and Promotion Committee convener Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) has been expanded to include resident doctors in its protection, while the Labor Dispute Act (勞動事件法), which took effect in January, safeguards the rights of parties in labor-management litigations, he said.
Fishers have enhanced protection now under the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members (境外僱用非我國籍船員許可及管理辦法), he said.
The government plans to make several other international human rights pacts part of domestic law, and it is to introduce more action plans on Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS