Taiwan: Second execution under President Tsai condemned
FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights and its member organizations in Taiwan Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) and Covenants Watch Joint press release Taiwan: Second execution under President Tsai condemned Paris, Taipei, 2 April 2020: Yesterday’s execution of a convicted murderer casts serious doubts on Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen’s commitment to human rights and marks a setback in Taiwan’s efforts to abolish the death penalty, FIDH and its member organizations Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) and Covenants Watch said today. “President Tsai ends her first term on a disappointing note. She should reverse course…
[Joint Statement]China: Release Taiwanese Activist Li Ming-Che
Today, 19 March 2020, marks the third anniversary of the arbitrary detention of Taiwanese human rights defender Li Ming-Che by the Chinese authorities. Since his arbitrary arrest, Li Ming-Che’s rights have continued to be violated while in detention. We, the undersigned national and international organisations, strongly condemn these violations and call on the Government of China to release him and end the use of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances against activists and human rights defenders. Li Ming-Che is currently detained in Chi-Shan prison, Hunan Province. Li Ming-Che worked for the promotion of civil and political rights in Taiwan and in…
Five Questions of Doubt of the Digital ID (eID)
The 2019 coronavirus epidemic has hit the global economy. As of now, the tourism industry, aviation industry, financial industry, and service industry have all been greatly threatened. In this environment, the only industry that remains untouched are the e-commerce and delivery industry, which illustrates the importance of the digital age to humanity. However, were you aware? During the period of the preventative measures of the epidemic, the government also silently advanced other policy agendas in science and technology, such as inserting the “The Regulation of Comprehensive Renewal of National Identity Card”. #1 Question of Doubt: The Regulation was only announced…
[Statement from the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR)] A Country Under the Rule of Law Encounters a Virus: Don’t Abuse Power, Epidemic Prevention and Democracy Can Coexist
[Statement from the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR)] A Country Under the Rule of Law Encounters a Virus: Don’t Abuse Power, Epidemic Prevention and Democracy Can Coexist On March 16, many counties, city governments, and the Executive Yuan issued numerous travel bans, prohibiting teachers and students below high school from traveling abroad. On the same day, the Central Epidemic Command Center also decided that nationals who have “unnecessary” travels to third level alert countries, will not only not receive compensation after returning, but also the necessary fees during the quarantined time. Yesterday on the 17th, the epidemic command center…
[International Data Privacy Day] 2019 is not over, events in 2020 about privacy in Taiwan that you should continue to follow
January 28 is the day when the European Council began the “Convention 108” regarding the automated processing of personal data protection. This legal document in 1981 was also the first international convention to discuss the protection of personal data. In order to let more people understand the importance of personal data protection and privacy, the European Council first launched the “Data Protection Day” in 2007, and then the United States, Canada and other countries also set the same day as “Privacy Day”, which promotes the importance of privacy rights. Taiwan Association for Human Rights has been paying attention to privacy…
Taiwan urgently needs refugee law
translate and publish on Sep. 15 Taipei Times Taiwan urgently needs refugee law By Clarence Chou and Chiu Ee-ling Article 18 of the Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong and Macau Affairs (香港澳門關係條例) states: “Necessary assistance shall be provided to Hong Kong or Macau residents whose safety and liberty are immediately threatened for political reasons.” In Taiwan, with the escalating violence and ongoing protests in Hong Kong, Hong Kong democracy activist and Demosisto Secretary-General Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) published an article last week expressing hope that the Taiwanese government would include Hong Kong demonstrators in Article 18. He…
Li Ming-che case: Responding to the Visit Rejection from Chi-san Prison
Today, January 29th, is the 681stday since Taiwanese citizen Li Ming-che was detained in Chi-shan Prison in Hunan Province (China). After Li Ching-yu’s visit on December 18, 2018, the Chi-san Prison has banned her visit application for the upcoming three months since January 23, 2019, with the excuse of “her public expression seriously distorting the facts”. Before the Lunar New Year, on January 29th, the joint conference is held by Li Ching-yu, the Rescue Li Ming-che Team, and Legislator Yu Mei-nu in order to response such atrocity. Chiu E-Ling, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, asserts that the Chinese authorities’ once again…
Timeline of Mr. Li Ming-che’s case
2017 March 19：LI went “missing” soon after he enter China’s Gong-Bei Port fromMacau March 20：LI’s wife, Mrs. LI Jing-Yu reported his missing to Taiwan’s Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under the State Council as well. The latter responded with “no such information was reported by the relevant authorities.” March 24 : First NGO and family joint press conference. Taiwan Association for Human Rights ask the Chinese government to release the video record of CCTV in the port of entry March 29： Spokesperson of TAO confirmed of LI’s detention by national security forces at its regular…
Timeline of Mr. Li Ming-che’s case
2017 March 19：LI went “missing” soon after he enter China’s Gong-Bei Port from Macau. March 20：LI’s wife, Mrs. LI Jing-Yu reported his missing to Taiwan’s Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under the State Council as well. The latter responded with “no such information was reported by the relevant authorities.” March 24 : First NGO and family joint press conference. Taiwan Association for Human Rights ask the Chinese government to release the video record of CCTV in the port of entry. March 29： Spokesperson of TAO confirmed of LI’s detention by national security forces at its…
Taiwanese citizen Li Ming-che subject to inhumane treatment in Chinese prison! Freedom of speech is not a crime, release Li from China immediately!
Translator: Kuan-Wei Wu, Proofreaders: James Shyan-Tau Wu, Cheng-Hung Hsieh Today, December 24, Christmas Eve, is the 645th day since Li Ming-che was subject to forced disappearance and arbitrary detention. While people begin to prepare for New Year festivities, Taiwanese citizen Li Ming-che is still detained in Chi-shan Prison in Hunan Province (China), unable to return to Taiwan. The joint conference at the Legislative Yuan today is held by Li Ching-yu and the Rescue Li Ming-che Team, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, Prison Watch, Judicial Reform Foundation, Youth Synergy Taiwan Foundation, Taiwan Forever Association, Legislator Yu Mei-nu, and New Power Party. Li Ching-yu, spouse of…
An Open Letter to the Executive Yuan: Defending freedom of speech is the weapon against disinformation.
Bill to require platform operators to remove disinformation in a short period of time (i.e., within 24 hours). This incident has aroused great concern and controversy in society. Although the Executive Yuan held press conferences to clarify relevant information on 2018/12/11 and 2018/12/13 respectively, and pointed out that the Executive Yuan will “firmly defend freedom of speech” and will not propose any amendment to the Digital Communication Bill that has not passed the third reading by the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights does not believe that the relevant disputes and risks has been resolved and disappeared completely.…
JOINT STATEMENT:China’s Arbitrary Transfer of Li Ming-Che Constitutes the Violation of Fundamental International Human Rights
Today is the 586th days after the forced disappearance of Li Ming-Che, a Taiwanese human rights defender, by China. It has been more than one and half years since his arbitration detention. He was convicted for subversion of state power and is now serving his five-year term in China. The wife of Li Ming-Che, Mrs. Li Ching-Yu, has already been to China five times this year, in March, May, June, July and September, to visit her husband and found out him losing much weight. Moreover, he has had no way to communicate with his family or friends neither by phone…