SAFEGUARDING RIGHTS: The committee is to be charged with protecting constitutional rights, promoting social justice and bringing the country in line with global standards
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 11, 2019
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter
As the world marked Human Rights Day yesterday, the Legislative Yuan passed the Organic Act of
President Tsai Ing-wen, right, and National Endowment for Democracy president Carl Gershman pose for pictures after Tsai conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Gershman at the 14th Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The act was based on the UN’s Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions, also known as the Paris Principles, and Amnesty International’s Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which stipulate that UN member states must put in place a national mechanism to promote and protect human rights, said the Control Yuan, which took part in drafting the act.
The committee is to be created to guarantee people’s constitutional rights; lay down conditions necessary for protecting and improving human rights; ensure that social justice and equality are realized; bring the nation in line with international human rights standards; and establish the universal value of human rights and related regulations, the act says.
The 10-member committee is to be headed by the Control Yuan president and composed of seven Control Yuan members, with the other two to be selected from candidates nominated by committee members and replaced annually, it says. [FULL STORY]