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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.…

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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…

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End executions, make progress towards abolishing the death penalty

(Paris, Taipei) Last week’s execution of a convicted murderer marks a massive step back in the fulfillment of the Taiwanese government’s promise to abolish the death penalty, FIDH and its member organization Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) said today. “Capital punishment in Taiwan is an anachronistic vestige of the country’s authoritarian past. President Tsai should immediately announce an official moratorium on executions and take steps towards the abolition of the death penalty.” –Adilur Rahman Khan, FIDH Vice-President On 31 August 2018, Li Hong-Ji, 41, was shot by a single executioner at Kaohsiung Second Prison. On 15 June 2015, the…

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Condemning China’s Overreach of Jurisdiction and the Threat to Global Civil Society and Human Rights Activists

  On April 25th, 2018, China sent a letter to 44 foreign airlines, demanding that they change all references for “Taipei, Taiwan” to “Taipei, China.” As of July 25th, 37 carriers have followed Beijing’s order. Seven additional carriers made compromises by either using “Chinese Taipei” or leaving blank Taiwan’s country name altogether. On the surface, China’s ridiculous demand for name change as regards to Taiwan seems to only serve the purpose of frustrating the Taiwanese public and displeasing the international community that sympathizes with Taiwan. We have no choice but to accept the situation or to boycott airlines that have…

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China: Report for UN review calls for end of persecution of Chinese and foreign human rights defenders

 FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights and its member organization in Taiwan Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) Joint press release China: Report for UN review calls for end of persecution of Chinese and foreign human rights defenders Paris, Taipei, 29 March 2018: In a joint report submitted today for the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China, FIDH and its member organization Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) documented the Chinese government’s repressive actions against Chinese and foreign human rights defenders. The third UPR of China is scheduled to be held in November 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. “The…

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China UPR report: Joint submission by fidh & TAHR

CHINA 28th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) November 2018 Joint submission prepared by FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) and Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) FIDH The International Federation for Human Rights, known by its French acronym FIDH, is an international human rights NGO representing 184 organizations from 112 countries. Since 1922, FIDH has been defending all civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. Address: 17 Passage de la Main d’Or, 75011, Paris (France) Website: Contacts: asia@fidh.org   TAHR Founded in 1984,…

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Manifesto of the 71st Anniversary Memorial of the 228 Incident

Manifesto of the 71st Anniversary Memorial of the 228 Incident translate by 楊剛  In the evening of 27th February, 1947, one incident occurred in front of Tianma Tea House, eventually ignited the long-oppressed distress around the island, marked the beginning of the 228 incident. Island wide uprises and rebellion followed. The February 28th Incident (228 Incident) is not simply a series of mass killing, but a historic wound that stretched across all communities. These atrocities also incentivized people to reconsider the conditions of all the people: multiple iterations of colonial rule on the island and the aboriginals, the experience of…

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Freedom Of Expression Is Not A Crime! Free Li, Ming-Che Immediately!

—Joint statement from NGOs alliance for rescuing Mr. Li, Ming-Che Today (28th of November) marks the 254th day since the Taiwanese human rights activist, Li, Ming-Che (李明哲) was first forced to disappear by the Chinese authorities on the 19th of March earlier this year. It was not until two months later on 26th of May that the Chinese authority confirmed his arrest. Yet to see Li standing in his trial took us six months after his first arrest on 11th of September. This morning, Li was sentenced to five years in prison by the Chinese court for “subversion of state power.” The court…