August 6, 2022—The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issues the following statement in response to the Concluding Observations of the second report of Taiwan on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The NHRC spares no effort in promoting and monitoring the implementation of the CRPD in Taiwan. Although the Act to Implement the CRPD does not expressly designate NHRC as the independent monitoring mechanism of Article 33 of the CRPD, the Commission will nevertheless shoulder the responsibility of formulating a monitoring framework in a speedy manner to ensure full participation of civil society, particularly persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, in accordance with the demands of the Concluding Observations.
The Concluding Observations include the following demands that require the NHRC’s particular attention and close collaboration with other agencies or civil society: Proposal of national-level disability strategies; consultation on the Equality Act bill; amendment of the Mental Health Act; establishment of a mechanism for accepting and handling complaints of discriminatory news coverage; and formulation of a standard for disability services. The NHRC promises to work closely with other agencies to address these issues.
The Control Act amendment bill, which includes provisions on the NHRC’s mandate, is currently under deliberation at the Legislative Yuan. To effectively exert its monitoring function with regard to the CRPD, the NHRC will continue to communicate with political parties at the Legislative Yuan to garner support for the amendment bill so as to keep up with human rights organizations of other countries.
Members of the International Review Committee who visited Taiwan—including Osamu Nagase (chairperson), Hyung-Shik Kim (member), and Janet Meagher (member)—and the related personnel convened at the NHRC this morning to exchange opinions.
In her opening speech, NHRC chairperson Chen Chu stressed the NHRC’s commitment to complying with the standards of the United Nations(UN)’ various human rights conventions, despite Taiwan’s exclusion from the UN. The establishment of the NHRC was the culmination of 20 years of hard work by civil society, and Chen promised that the NHRC will continue to exercise its monitoring function in the implementation of international human rights conventions for better protection of disability rights and direct participation of persons with disabilities. Chen also expressed gratitude towards the three experts in the field of disability rights, who agreed to take time out of their busy schedule to have a conversation with the NHRC following a week of intensive review.
Review committee chairperson Osamu Nagase began by applauding the establishment of the NHRC in 2020 in accordance with the Concluding Observations on Taiwan’s First National Report on CRPD issued in 2017. According to Nagase, the ultimate goal of the CRPD is to safeguard the rights of not only persons with disabilities but humanity at large; however, Taiwan’s policies, regulations, and administrative thinking show that the government does not truly see persons with disabilities as subjects of rights. He expressed hopes that the NHRC will pay more attention to human rights education to change the charity model and promote the transformation from medical model to human rights model in line with the CRPD.
Committee member Hyung-Shik Kim expressed concerns over whether the independence of the NHRC can be maintained. Using the National Human Rights Commission of Korea as an example, Kim reminded the NHRC to ensure its independence from government intervention in accordance with the Paris Principles. He also stressed the importance of cultivating talent and strengthening NHRC personnel’s research ability in order to continue to produce quality parallel reports, parallel statements, and monitoring reports.
Committee member Janet Meagher said that from her experience with the international review meeting (including in-person participation and the written documents provided beforehand), she clearly witnessed the NHRC’s determination and positive attitude towards making the voice of the disability community heard. She cautioned that the lack of coordination across government agencies would impede the NHRC’s function in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD. She also expressed hopes that the NHRC will continue to work closely with civil society to encourage the participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.