Rights commission not fulfilling its duty: NPPBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterAlthough the National Human Rights Commission has been in existence for one year, it has not used even half of its budget, and laws governing the enforcement of its authority are not completely in place, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday. Article 2 of the Organic Act of the National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法) lists the functions and powers of the commission, including “investigating incidents involving torture, human rights violations or various forms of discrimination in accordance with its authority or in response to petition from the general public, and provide a remedy according to the law.”The main entrance to the Control Yuan’s National Human Rights Commission in Taipei is pictured on Aug. 1 last year. Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) has said that the commission’s two core tasks are to safeguard human rights in Taiwan and promote human rights education, but so far it had mainly focused on education, she said. “While we do not belittle the importance of reinforcing human rights education in the country, we want to remind the commission that it should perform all the tasks it is authorized to do,” Wang said. The NPP has proposed establishing a human rights committee at the Legislative Yuan to ensure that the National Human Rights Commission is consulted during the legislative process, he added.

Source: Taipei Times August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC