50th Anniversary of the Adoption of the ICCPR and ICESCR - Part 1 | WPN World People News

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Starting on Human Rights Day 2015, the UN Human Rights Office has launched a year-long campaign, stressing “Our rights, our freedoms, always.”

At the forum entitled “Principles of Fact Determinations and Human Rights Protections in Criminal Investigations and Administrative Disputes” on Human Rights Day 2015, Ms. Bo-Ya Chang, president of the Control Yuan, delivers a speech.

On December 10, Human Rights Day, 11 nonprofit or academic organizations, including the Association of World Citizens, NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC and associated with the UN DPI, Chinese Association for Human Rights, Taiwan Association for the Study of Finance Criminal Law, etc., held a forum entitled “Principles of Fact Determinations and Human Rights Protections in Criminal Investigations and Administrative Disputes” at the International Conference Room of National Taipei University of Technology. Invited by the event organizers, Ms. Bo-Ya Chang, president of the Control Yuan, delivered a speech at the forum. Tze-Hsiang Kao, chief secretary of the Transportation Committee of the Legislative Yuan, on behalf of the president of the Legislative Yuan; Ching-Wei Chang, deputy director of the China Times, and other prominent figures also attended the event. Led by legal and tax experts and scholars, the participants all shouted together, “Legal and tax reform—Our shared responsibility.”

Ms. Bo-Ya Chang, president of the Control Yuan, said that the Control Yuan has paid special attention to human rights protection because each month it receives over 1000 cases of petitions from the public, and over 50% of the cases are related to human rights, especially in the area of property rights. Therefore she expects the Control Yuan to help the public on the subject of human rights protection.

Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, vice president of the Association of World Citizens, stated, “State power, authorized by the people to work for the benefit of the people, all too often is a major violator of basic and natural human rights: with violations such as unjust criminal sentences that take away civilian’s rights of freedom, or unjustified tax collections that deprive people of their property. Both have caused huge amounts of pain and suffering by inflicting damages on a person’s reputation, dignity, faith and mental health. When violations such as these occur, the life blood of a nation’s culture is at stake and people’s rights to a life of happiness and peace are infringed upon.”

Fortunately, the safeguarding of human rights is preserved through the passing down of cultures from generation to generation. Dr. Hong also remarked, “The efforts made by human rights crusaders in the past constantly remind us that through education, we can raise the awareness of human rights that all men are born with freedom and equality, and we should respect one another. If an individual or the regulatory regime hold love and respect at its core of development and action and conscience as the guiding principle of policies, the principles of human rights could be consolidated as a great power to make a world of human rights a reality.”

The forum was divided into two groups, one consisting of legal and tax experts and the other of youths. The moderators of three panels of legal and tax experts were Mr. Chung-Mo Cheng, former chief justice and vice president of the Judicial Yuan; Attorney Nian-Tzu Lee, member of the Presidential Office Human Rights Consultative Committee; and Attorney Yiu-Chen Su, chair of the Human Rights Protection Committee of the Taiwan Bar Association. People in the audience said that the forum was very informative and the experts’ insightful opinions helped them better understand the issue of human rights.