Taiwan civic groups flag human rights issues in 'Two Covenants' report

Taipei, Dec. 23 (CNA) A coalition of civic groups on Tuesday released a report reviewing Taiwan's implementation of two major international human rights covenants from 2022 to 2025, warning of persistent systemic shortcomings in rights protections.

Co-authored by 33 groups, including Covenants Watch and the Taiwan International Workers' Association (TIWA), the "2025 Parallel Report on the Two Covenants" was released at a press event in Taipei.

The report was issued in conjunction with the government's National Report earlier this year, and the two will be sent to independent international experts for review next May.

The "Two Covenants" referred to in the bilingual report are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both United Nations' treaties that were incorporated into domestic law in Taiwan in 2009.

Covenants Watch's policy center director Huang Sung-li (黃嵩立) cited criticism in the report of the National Human Rights Commission, saying the body, which operates under the government watchdog Control Yuan, has long focused on handling individual cases.

The commission "has yet to build a systematic capacity for rights monitoring and policy recommendations," Huang said, according to a news release.

Huang also noted that the Constitutional Court -- which he described as "the last line of defense for human rights" -- has been "paralyzed for a long time due to political interference."

He was referring to the period from October 2024 to earlier this month, when a standoff between the ruling and opposition parties left the court largely unable to function.

TIWA Chairperson Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said the government has long promoted an image of "protecting human rights" to win international recognition, "but for the nearly 820,000 migrant workers who have no political rights, substantive protections remain little more than slogans."

She cited what she called systemic problems in Taiwan's migrant labor regime, including a private brokerage system that she described as creating monopolies, and rules restricting workers' ability to change employers.

As a result, Chen said, migrant workers are left dependent on employers and brokers in the absence of adequate systemic safeguards, with cases of sexual harassment, physical abuse and forced repatriation continuing to emerge.

The report also addresses other rights issues, including those involving the LGBTQ+ community and Indigenous peoples.

It will be submitted to lawmakers in the hope of prompting legal revisions to bolster Taiwan's human-rights protections, the coalition said.