|
|
Taiwan's Human Rights, criticism ★ this site's world No. 1 in 2020~22, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★ Top rankings since 1998 |
◎
★
Taiwan's Human Rights by
world reports
Dr. Joseph Nye ( a former dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and a former assistant secretary of defense, a deputy assistant secretary of state ) said in a speech under the theme of "Taiwan's Soft Power" at Dec. 8, 2010 that :“The answer is as long as Taiwan stands for democracy and human rights, that will be impossible ( the Americans make a deal and sell out Taiwan forsomething that they want from China) in American political culture.”
★
★ US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 (state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
♣
Worker Rights
nLarge enterprises frequently made it
difficult for employees to organize an enterprise union through methods such as
blacklisting union organizers from promotion or relocating them to other work
divisions. These methods were particularly common in the technology sector.
nThere
was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against
persons with HIV or AIDS
n
♣ PS: Taiwan has persecution cases which has not been included in US Human Rights report
★ justsecurity.org,
Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13:
Invited by Taiwan's government, an international human rights
experts panel conducted a five-day review from May 9-13 in Taipei of the
country's implementation of two United Nations' human rights-related covenants,
namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
nfreedom
of speech and of peaceful protest continues to be unduly restricted.
n The panel's report also highlighted the absence of legislation to curb torture and discrimination in Taiwan. “The information provided by the government clearly shows that there are many allegations of torture against law enforcement officials in Taiwan,” the report said, adding that those cases only led to disciplinary action instead of criminal prosecution. The nation has yet to make incorporate torture — the crime of inflicting severe mental or physical pain or suffering on a powerless person for a particular purpose as defined in international law — into its Criminal Code
nThe human rights panel experts are critiquing Taiwan's record on issues such as the death penalty, torture, gender equality, broader forms of discrimination, the status of indigenous peoples, and the rights of migrant domestic workers (especially given the greater burdens on caregivers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic).
nThe Concluding Observations and Recommendations of the international review committee underlined the importance of Taiwan completing its process of incorporating key norms into its domestic law, by adding the three conventions – the Convention Against Torture, the Convention on Migrant Workers, and the Convention on Enforced Disappearances. The committee also reiterated the need to explicitly prohibit torture in Taiwan’s criminal code. The review committee also urged Taiwan to issue a declaration (pursuant to Article 12 of the Rome Statute) recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
n international panel experts called on Taiwan to end the “cruel and degrading” practice of capital punishment. The nine-member group said it was "extremely disappointed" at the failure of Taiwan's government to address the issue. "Taiwan is already among a very, very small number of countries in the world that still retain the death penalty, and the arguments that are time and again, repeated by the government, are far from convincing," experts said the "cruel, inhuman and degrading" punishment was in violation of ICCPR's Article 6 and 7.
nTaiwan’s failure thus far to incorporate the Convention on Migrant Workers or to adopt a domestic workers protection law is of additional concern given the vulnerability of these workers — many of them women who provide crucial long-term services to the elderly and disabled — to adverse, discriminatory measures related to the pandemic. Their precariousness is further underlined by their low pay, lack of union representation, and the subordination of their bargaining power to the interests of the governments of their home countries because of Taiwan’s reliance on a Philippines-style labor-export model.
Many of these workers are identifiable as observant Muslims because of their dress, and are of Southeast Asian (primarily Indonesian, Filipino, Malaysian, and Vietnamese) origin, which differentiates them from most of the population in Taiwan and could make them susceptible to forms of discrimination that are not regulated – hence the need to incorporate the convention’s terms into law. The committee also noted the need to bring migrant workers within the protections of Taiwan’s overall system of labor regulation and received multiple reports regarding limitations on migrant workers’ rights to change employment, to obtain permanent residency, and bars to the migration of family members, resulting in the induced separation of families. The committee also noted its concerns regarding widespread reports of abuses against the conditions of labor for fisheries workers. Many of these are also migrants
★ Amnesty International, June, 2021
amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/English.pdf
amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/taiwan/report-taiwan/
The government took several measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, some of which threatened the right to privacy. Amendments to the Prison Act failed to address concerns about rights of people on death row with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities. In August, a National Human Rights Commission was established. In October, the International Review Committee received reports from international organizations ahead of its review of Taiwan’s implementation of the ICCPR and the ICESCR.
★ United Daily, editorial, 2022-6-5: Since DPP winning legislative majority for the first time in 2016, Taiwan's government kept abusing human rights, including suppressing freedom of expression, or restricting personal freedom in the name of national security, the means they took are no less than the authoritarian period they accused. udn.com/news/story/7338/6364498?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★ World Journal, USA, 12-6-2020 (largest Chinese news in the US) www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121475/5070213
Transitional Justice Committee Taiwan: human rights persecution and infringement by officials in power are anywhere and anytime - in the past, now, and most likely in the future...
★ USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: Members of the security forces committed some abuses. Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption.
◎◎● The right to strike remained highly restricted. Teachers, civil servants, and defense industry employees do not have the right to strike. Workers in industries such as utilities, hospital services, and telecommunication service providers are allowed to strike only if they maintain basic services during the strike. Authorities may prohibit, limit, or break up a strike during a disaster. Workers are allowed to strike only in “adjustment” disputes which include issues such as compensation and working schedules. The law forbids strikes related to rights guaranteed under the law.
◎◎● NGOs and academic studies estimated the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times higher than the number reported to police. Some abused women chose not to report incidents to police due to social pressure not to disgrace their families. Incidents of sexual harassment were reportedly on the rise in public spaces, schools, the legislature, and in government agencies. The majority of sex discrimination cases reported in 2019 were forced resignations due to pregnancies. Scholars said sex discrimination remained significantly underreported due to workers’ fear of retaliation from employers and difficulties in finding new employment if the worker has a history of making complaints. According to a 2018 survey by the Ministry of Finance, the median monthly income for women was, on average, 87.5 percent of the amount their male counterparts earned.
◎◎
◎◎● NGOs raised concerns regarding online sexual exploitation of children and reported sex offenders increasingly used cell phones, web cameras, live streaming, apps, and other new technologies to deceive and coerce underage girls and boys into sexual activity; the NGOs called for increased prosecutions and heavier penalties
◎◎●
Forced labor occurred primarily in sectors
reliant on migrant workers including domestic services, fishing, farming,
manufacturing, meat processing, and construction. Some labor brokers charged
foreign workers exorbitant recruitment fees and used debts incurred from these
fees in the source country as tools of coercion to subject the workers to debt
bondage.
Migrant fishermen reported
senior crewmembers employ coercive tactics such as threats of physical violence,
beatings, withholding of food and water, retention of identity documents, wage
deductions, and noncontractual compulsory sharing of vessel operational costs to
retain their labor. These abuses were particularly prevalent in Taiwan’s large
distant-waters fishing fleet, which operated without adequate oversight.
Foreign workers were often reluctant to report employer abuses for fear the
employer would terminate their contract, subjecting them to possible deportation
and leaving them unable to pay off their debt to recruiters. Foreign
workers generally faced exploitation and incurred significant debt burdens
during the recruitment process due to excessive brokerage fees, guarantee
deposits, and higher charges for flights and accommodations. NGOs reported that foreign fishing crews in Taiwan’s distant-waters
fishing fleet generally received wages below the required $450 per month because
of dubious deductions for administrative fees and deposits.
... The results suggested
that 24 percent of foreign fishermen suffered violent physical abuse; 92 percent
experienced unlawful wage withholding; 82 percent worked overtime excessively.
There were also reports fishing crew members could face hunger and dehydration
and have been prevented from leaving their vessels or terminating their
employment contracts.
◎◎● Censorship
or Content Restrictions: Officials in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
influenced Taiwan media outlets through pressure on the business interests of
their parent companies in the PRC. Taiwan journalists reported difficulty
publishing content critical of the PRC, alleging that PRC authorities had
pressured Taiwan businesses with operations in China to refrain from advertising
with Taiwan media outlets which published such material. To punish Taiwan media
outlets deemed too critical of PRC policies or actions, the PRC would subject
their journalists to heightened scrutiny at Chinese ports of entry or deny them
entry to China. PRC actors also targeted the computers and mobile phones of
Taiwan journalists for cyberattacks.
Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new
law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources
to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to
freedom of expression, including for the press.
Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s
decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi
News’ criticism of the ruling party.
understanding
Taiwanese - from CovID-19 flare-up |
★
Benefit has precedence over human lives / Taiwanese patients in serious situation waiting for one week but failed to get Remdesivir, because the government placed obstacles on their applications for using the specific remedy for curing coronavirus, which increased Taiwan's death rate ― double global average. |