The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

Lung-chu Chen

During the past decade, Taiwan has made tremendous progress in the protection of human rights. The political prisoner is a thing of the past, and the list of human rights enjoyed by the individual continues to expand. Thanks to the multi-party democracy and the unceasing efforts of human rights organizations and civic groups, more and more attention is paid to the promotion and protection of human rights.
This is very much in keeping with a major trend of the world. From the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, to the adoption of the two international covenants an human rights in 1966—— one on civil and political rights, and the other on economic, social, and cultural rights, an international bill of human rights has taken shape. The international bill of human rights has become the yardstick by which to judge the legitimacy of a government. And the implementation of international human rights law depends in large measure upon the efforts of individual states. Since 1990, several Asian countries, such as India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, plus Australia and New Zealand, have established national human rights commissions.

In Taiwan today, many laws and regulations fall short of international human rights standards; human rights research and education require more effort; there is no annual national report on human rights; there is no effective institution and machinery to deal with human rights violations. In short, a national human rights commission is urgently needed in Taiwan.

As we celebrate the lunar new year, we ought to reflect on ways and means of enhancing human rights protection in Taiwan. Establishing a national human rights commission should be a matter of high priority.