Today, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) held an exchange with members of the International Review Committee (IRC) for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). IRC members expressed concern that substantial budget cuts facing the NHRC are affecting the exercise of its statutory mandate, and emphasized that the NHRC is an important force for monitoring the state of human rights in Taiwan. They urged the NHRC to consider how to continue highlighting its value under existing constraints and to actively advocate for legislative amendments, so as to achieve the independence required of national human rights institutions under the Paris Principles.
NHRC Vice Chairperson Chi Hui-jung thanked IRC members for their concern about the challenges facing the NHRC. With the term of office of the first NHRC commissioners nearing its end, external calls to abolish the Control Yuan may affect the continued existence and operation of the NHRC, seriously impeding its ongoing work to monitor the implementation of international human rights conventions. Current NHRC commissioners will continue to follow the future development of the NHRC after their terms end.
IRC Chair Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia, from Nigeria, said that she too had once been a member of a national human rights institution, and that human rights institutions around the world are currently facing social challenges. Even where a human rights institution cannot directly provide services, it can still engage in social advocacy through means such as education and broadcast programs, highlighting its value and garnering greater support.
Commissioner Kao Yung-cheng explained that when the NHRC was first established, in light of Taiwan's unique five-power system of government and in order to meet the independence required under the Paris Principles, it was ultimately placed within the Control Yuan following extensive discussion among various sectors and assessment and recommendations from international experts. As a result, NHRC commissioners are required to concurrently serve as Control Yuan Members. However, the power of control is a form of ex post oversight aimed at government illegality or dereliction of duty, which differs from the NHRC's function of preventing human rights risks ex ante; this dual identity also tends to confuse outside observers as to the capacity in which commissioners are exercising their powers. We have therefore proposed that the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission be amended in the future so that NHRC commissioners are no longer concurrently held by Control Yuan members, and that regulations governing NHRC's power be completed accordingly, so as to further enhance the NHRC's functions.
IRC member Heisoo Shin, from South Korea, also recommended amending the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission so that the NHRC is no longer subordinate to any organizational authority, including the Control Yuan, and suggested that the NHRC strengthen public outreach so that people are willing to seek the NHRC's assistance when they encounter discrimination. She noted that South Korea, too, achieved the independence of its human rights commission through sustained advocacy, ultimately enshrining that independence in law and placing the commission outside of any government organization; as a result of negotiated compromise, its commissioners are nominated and appointed respectively by the President, the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Even though this organizational design is not perfect, the budget and staffing of the Korean human rights commission are determined through social negotiation, its opinions and investigative reports are proactively covered by the media, and it does have a genuine impact on civil society.
IRC member Niklas Bruun, from Finland, also shared that the NHRC should more proactively highlight its position and functions, and that once the wide-ranging draft Anti-Discrimination Act is passed in the future, the NHRC should play an even greater role in protecting people's rights.
Commissioner Wang Jung-chang raised the challenges the NHRC faces in building a relationship with the Legislative Yuan under the Belgrade Principles within Taiwan's five-power system of government. Commissioner Yeh Ta-hua exchanged views with IRC member Marion Bethel, from the Bahamas, on how the NHRC should provide direct redress as called for in the Concluding Observations. Commissioner Tien Chiu-chin also shared Taiwan's history of advancing democratization and human rights development.
NHRC commissioners Wang Yu-ling, Wang Jung-chang, Tien Chiu-chin, and Yeh Ta-hua also attended the exchange, together with vice president Tsuni Cheng and director Allen Peng of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, jointly advancing the development of national human rights institutions.