Human Rights are Continuously Advancing Forward
The process of establishing the National Human Rights Commission started more than 20 years ago thanks to the advocacy of human rights groups. The establishment of the National Human Rights Commission was supported by several presidents over the years and the legislation was finally passed. The National Human Rights Commission was officially inaugurated in August 2020. For the past year, commissioners and staff of the National Human Rights Commission worked together arduously to actively supervise the nation’s human rights policies and affairs, conduct international human rights exchanges, promote human rights education, conduct research on human rights issues, interpret human rights conventions, carry out investigations and social dialogue, and organize forums and seminars, etc.
The Commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission hail from different backgrounds and have different and distinct areas of expertise. With the diverse composition of the Commission, we expect to create a macro perspective and thinking to facilitate communication and dialogue between human rights groups and policymakers and to develop mechanisms to help underprivileged people. Even during this fraught COVID-19 pandemic, we continued to conduct video conferences with human rights institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand to learn and exchange professional experience regarding human rights issues.
The mission of the National Human Rights Commission is to be the conscience of Taiwan and the champion for the vulnerable. Despite limited manpower, resources, and experience, we have cooperated with the Examination Yuan and the Ministry of Education in the past year to collaboratively integrate the spirit of the human rights conventions into the civil service and education system to cultivate a deeper understanding of human rights in our public service and education system.
For nearly half a century, the people of Taiwan have had to endure living in the gloomy depths of darkness – void of human rights; those days, under authoritarian rule, people lived in fear, and mutual suspicion and mistrust were rampant. Back then, human rights were akin to dim light in a dark room. We give our deepest and most sincere gratitude to those who fought for democracy, freedom, and human rights in Taiwan. These heroes fought tirelessly and sacrificed themselves one after another until the dim light grew so shiny that it chased away the darkness. They established the democratic constitutional reform so that the people of Taiwan no longer lived in fear.
The air of freedom that Taiwanese people breathe every day as well as the human rights that we enjoy did not come easily. The National Human Rights Commission will continue to carry that torch of freedom given to us by our brave predecessors and continue to advocate and promote universal human rights in Taiwan. Let us work together to fight for and safeguard Taiwan’s human rights.