Today (the 1st), Chairperson Chen Chu of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) appointed Tsai Chung-yi and Pu Chung-cheng as new commissioners with terms running from August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024. Following the unanimous recommendation of all of the commissioners, Tsai Chung-yi was elected as the new Vice Chairperson of the NHRC.
According to the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission, two members are appointed by the President of the Control Yuan each year to serve as commissioners, with one being recommended by the unanimous agreement of all of the other commissioners to serve as Vice Chairperson. Today’s election resulted in Commissioner Tsai Chung-yi becoming Vice Chairperson. With extensive experience as a judge for over 30 years, Vice Chairperson Tsai has long been committed to the protection of judicial human rights and the rights of marginalized groups, and he possesses a rich legal expertise that will aid the committee in improving relevant legal systems.
The other appointed commissioner, Pu Chung-cheng, is a member of the Tsou people, one of Taiwan's indigenous peoples. Pu participated in promoting the Education Act for Indigenous Peoples and the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, thus fostering the preservation of indigenous languages and cultures and safeguarding the rights of indigenous peoples. This appointment coincides with the committee's release of the Independent Opinions on Taiwan’s Initial Report on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) this year, and Pu will join the other commissioners for the international review next year.
Chairperson Chen Chu expressed her gratitude to former Vice Chairperson Wang Jung-chang, Commissioner Su Li-chiung, and Commissioner Lai Chen-chang for their professionalism and hard work over the past year for the NHRC. During Wang Jung-chang’s tenure as Vice Chairperson, he led colleagues in completing important operational guidelines, including the NHRC's Guidelines for Monitoring the Implementation of Concluding Observations on Human Rights Treaties and NHRC Principle for Filing and Investigating Human Rights Petitions and Complaints. These contributions laid the groundwork for the committee's institutional framework. Wang also regularly convened a processing team that conducted meticulous reviews of human rights petitions and complaints on a weekly basis. Former Vice Chairperson Wang collaborated with commissioners and staff to formulate the 2023-2026 Medium-Term Strategic Plan, which involved identifying key issues, building consensus among commissioners, and soliciting feedback from experts and scholars through multiple meetings, a process that was quite challenging.
In addition to overseeing the drafting of the Independent Opinions on Taiwan’s Initial Report on the International Convention on the ICERD and managing the systemic inquiry of sexual abuse cases in child placement institutions and schools, Commissioner Su Li-chiung also accompanied Chairperson Chen Chu as part of a delegation that visited France and Germany for international exchanges. She represented the committee as an expert agency in the Constitutional Court in the Case on Gender Equality in the Qualifications for Successor of Ancestor Worship Guild.
Commissioner Lai Chen-chang, with his expertise in business, chaired the session on Corporate Sustainable Development and the Protection of Migrant Workers' Rights in the NHRC's 2022 Forum on Migrant Workers’ Human Rights in Taiwan. He also represented the committee in the Constitutional Court regarding the Case on Search and Seizure of Law Firm's Offices, providing expert opinions from an international human rights perspective. Additionally, he participated in the Heidelberg Online Dialogue organized by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) alumni association, where he shared Taiwan's democratic experience and current human rights situation.
On the occasion of its third anniversary, the NHRC announced the 2023-2026 Medium-Term Strategic Plan. The committee gathered information in the five major areas covered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as medium-term strategic plans or future plans from human rights institutions in the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea. It also reviewed concluding observations from international human rights convention reviews, the Executive Yuan's National Human Rights Action Plan, and it consolidated the opinions of civil society organizations and advisory consultants. After multiple meetings of the full committee, it prioritized which human rights issues to address under resource constraints, ultimately focusing on four major strategies: optimizing the committee's operational efficiency, monitoring and promoting the rights of disadvantaged groups, supervising and promoting human rights education, and actively participating in international human rights cooperation networks. These strategies encompassed a total of 21 topics.
Chairperson Chen Chu stated that the NHRC’s vision of becoming "the conscience of the nation and a support for the vulnerable" has been incorporated into the Medium-Term Strategic Plan. The committee will continue to advance the human rights issues outlined in the plan, gradually achieving its goals of promoting human rights development and enhancing social freedom and equality.