The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is the first of the nine United Nations core human rights instruments adopted by the UN General Assembly that became effective after ratification by a specified number of state parties. ICERD is also the first UN core human rights treaty that entered into force in the Republic of China (Taiwan), where it has the same effect as domestic law. The ROC signed the Convention in 1966, ratified it in 1970 and deposited its instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary-General.
Taiwan's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established on August 1, 2020 pursuant to the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission. As an independent body dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights, the NHRC has all of the elements and functions emphasized in the Paris Principles. The NHRC's legislative mandate includes providing independent opinions on national reports on human rights conventions to ensure that domestic laws and administrative measures are in accordance with international human rights instruments.
The NHRC expects this independent opinion to be useful to the International Review Committee (IRC) in its review, and recommends that the government establish an oversight mechanism for ICERD to address inequalities and discrimination caused by inadequacies in the legal system or lack of enforcement as well as cultural stereotypes and implicit discrimination against ethnic groups.