The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) held the "2021 Human Rights Day Celebration Events - Taiwan Human Rights PLUS” press conference today. NHRC reviewed the important human rights events in Taiwan in 2021 as below. The release of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 805 protects the opportunity for juvenile victims to present their views in court.The release of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 807 states that the Labor Standards Act preventing employers from forcing women to work nights runs counter gender equality under the Constitution. The President's pardons of Bunun hunter Wang Guanglu and other incidents demonstrate the progress of the judiciary in human rights protection. The Transitional Justice Commission announcements on the first batch of sites of human rights violations in the 228 Incident the revocation of 105 criminal verdicts against political victims, and vindication of the judicial wrongdoing of the Taiyuan Incident, symbolized the progress of human rights. The Control Yuan proposed corrections or request to the competent authorities to improve major human rights investigation cases for serious violations of the right to education, privacy, bodily autonomy, and children's rights. The NHRC has also made significant achievements in the promotion of human rights,such as conducting investigations into human rights infringement cases, proposing specific proposals to amend laws, providing independent evaluations of national reports on international human rights treaties, establishing dialogue systems with NGOs on human rights issues, and promoting international exchanges and cooperation.
This year's Human Rights Day celebration is themed "Taiwan Human Rights PLUS," with a series of commemorative events planned for the month, It started with the "Press Conference of Foreign Fishermen’s Human Rights Special Report” on November 30. In December, “Human Rights Storytelling in Image: Our Human Rights Film Festival”, “Human Rights Torch Across Borders Poster Exhibition”, “2021 Forum on Taiwan's Human Rights and Business Actions” , “Photographic Exhibition: SHOAH-How Was It Humanly Possible?” and the "Textbook Content on Transitional Justice Conference" will be held.
Chairperson Chen Chu said that NHRC will promote a comprehensive development of human rights. NHRC will use soft and positive power to combine the resources of local and foreign governments and all sectors of society, and therefore make human rights works continue to progress, make human rights protection become more thorough, and make the concept of human rights truly take root and thrive. This resonates with the “PLUS” concept of this year’s Human Rights Day. NHRC will not only work with the government to enhance human rights, but also extend its reach to enterprises so that Taiwan can pursue economic development while taking into account democratic human rights, environmental, social, and governance (ESG). NHRC also aims to evoke public concern and reflection on human rights issues through images, posters, and other media presentations. Last week, NHRC held an international conference on human rights development, and conducted transnational exchanges and dialogues on several rising human rights issues such as "ethnic equality and development," "gender and human rights," and "human rights protection under COVID-19," etc. NHRC will continue to go global, connect with the international community, and let the world see Taiwan's efforts and achievements in promoting and protecting human rights through conversations and collaboration.
Chairperson Chen Chu stressed that, thanks to the government's efforts and the long-standing advocacy, supervision and advice of partners from non-government sectors, the universal human rights values have taken root. However, there is still much room for progress. Human rights are everyone's birthright. "If you don't work hard today, you'll lose what you have tomorrow." Let us continue to work hard together and keep Taiwan's human rights moving forward with our firm beliefs and positive actions.