Covenants Watch Taiwan
人權公約施行監督聯盟 | |
| Motto | Human Rights Prevail |
|---|---|
| Formation | 10 December 2009 |
| Headquarters | Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan |
Region | Taiwan |
| Fields | Human Rights monitoring, legal advocacy, awareness raising, research |
Convener | Song-Lih HUANG |
| Website | covenantswatch |
Covenants Watch Taiwan (often referred to as CW; Chinese: 人權公約施行監督聯盟; pinyin: Rénquán Gōngyuē Shīxíng Jiāndū Liánméng; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄖㄣˊㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄩㄝ ㄕ ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄢ ㄉㄨ ㄌㄧㄢˊㄇㄥˊ) is a non-governmental organization based in Taipei, Taiwan. CW was established on December 10th, 2009 (International Human Rights Day), following the adoption of the Act to Implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Chinese: 公民與政治權利國際公約及經濟社會文化權利國際公約施行法)...[1]. Since the organization has a long name in Mandarin, it is often called by its nickname "人約盟 (Rényuēméng)".
CW is an umbrella organization which brings together a number of individual human rights activists and human rights-related non-governmental organizations in Taiwan[2]. CW has played a crucial role as a collaborative platform and an information-sharing arena for human rights defenders in Taiwan, and the member organizations have various expertises ranging from anti-death penalty, social justice and environment protection to the rights of LGBTIQ. Especially, CW works closely with such human rights organizations as the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) and the Taiwan Association to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP).
It is one of two Taiwanese member organizations to the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)[3].
Works
Works in Taiwan
Treaty Review Process
CW was created to monitor the implementation of international human rights treaties by the Taiwanese government. CW was established just after the adoption of the Implementation Act of Two Covenants in order to compensate for a mechanism to ensure and guarantee the rights and freedoms listed in the Covenants[4]. CW has played a crucial role in establishing and developing a local-model treaty review process in Taiwan, and furthermore, has been involved in the treaty review processes as the lead civil society contributor[5]. Shadow reports created by Taiwanese human rights NGOs, among which CW acted as the lead taker, have been highly appreciated by the international review committees[6]
NHRI Advocacy
CW has been active in advocating the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) in Taiwan. A National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) is a governmental organization which is independent of any other governmental institutions. CW has led the NHRI advocacy to the government since 1999 in collaboration with other civil society organizations in Taiwan[7]. The government tends to understand that the Control Yuan (Chinese: 檢察院) already fulfills the role of a NHRI, and therefore, does not admit the necessity of establishing a brand-new NHRI. However, the Control Yuan does not meet the criteria listed in the "Paris Principles", and hence, is not appropriate to be a NHRI[8]
After over 20 years of tireless advocacy towards the establishment of NHRI, Taiwanese Legislative Yuan passed the Organic Act of the National Human Rights Commission/committee in the Control Yuan (Chinese: 監察院國家人權委員會組織法). The law stipulates that a National Human Rights Commission will be set up in the Control Yuan and it will consist of 10 members (President, 7 full-time and 2 part-time members). Although groundbreaking, this law is still controversial as it does not meet the aforementioned Paris Principle. In order to establish a genuine NHRI in compliance with the Paris Principle, drastic and fundamental transformations to the structure of Control Yuan are inevitable.
Awareness Raising on UN Human Rights Treaty System and Human Rights in General
In addition to government-oriented advocacy, CW is also dedicated to raising awareness of Taiwanese general public on UN human rights treaty systems and international human rights in general. CW has been organizing, in collaboration with some partner organizations in Taiwan, a weekly awareness-raising activity called "Human Rights Wednesday (人權星期三)". This weekly activity will involve general public who are interested in various human rights issues, and the theme will vary from the international treaty system, which CW excels at, to the abolition of death penalty, sovereign issues of Tibet, rights of sexual minorities, indigenous people, persons with disabilities and children, and so forth.
In 2018, CW published its first book "CRPD話重點: 認識《身心障礙者權利公約》的關鍵15講 ("CRPD Focus: 15 Key Lectures to Know the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" - Only available in Mandarin）"[9]. This book covers some of the main discussions to understand such concepts in the Convention as the definition of disability and "Reasonable Accommodation (合理調整)".
International Participation
CW also contributes to the Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council as one of the relevant stakeholders, especially the sessions regarding China. Most recently, CW submitted, in collaboration with Taiwan Association for Human Rights, a stakeholder report on human rights situations in China upon the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review regarding China in November 2018. The joint report was cited by the UN Human Rights Council and added into the Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on China[10]
References
- ↑ "About Us". Covenants Watch. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
- ↑ "About Us". Covenants Watch. Retrieved 2019-06-25.
- ↑ "Our Members « FORUM-ASIA". Retrieved 2019-06-18.
- ↑ Arnold, Rainer (2013). The Universalism of Human Rights. Springer. p. 170. ISBN 978-94-007-4510-0. Search this book on
- ↑ Huang, Song-Lih; Huang, Yibee (2019), Cohen, Jerome A.; Alford, William P.; Lo, Chang-fa, eds., "The Role of NGOs in Monitoring the Implementation of Human Rights Treaty Obligations", Taiwan and International Human Rights: A Story of Transformation, Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific, Springer Singapore, pp. 305–319, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-0350-0_17, ISBN 9789811303500
- ↑ Yu-chiao, Chen (2019-04-25). "The 'Taiwan Model' of Adopting Human Rights Treaties Without UN Membership". The News Lens International Edition. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
- ↑ Doubek, Pavel. "Outside but Aligned: Establishing the National Human Rights Institution in Taiwan | Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy". www.humanrightscentre.org. Retrieved 2020-05-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Turbulence Beneath the Still Water - Can the Control Yuan Deliver a Major Reformation?" (PDF). 2018 ANNI Report on the Performance and Establishment of National Human Rights Institutions in Asia: 228–236. 2018.
- ↑ 蔡逸靜 (2019[民108]). CRPD話重點: 認識《身心障礙者權利公約》的關鍵15講. 黃怡碧. 人權公約施行監督聯盟, 臺灣國際醫學聯盟. ISBN 9789869697903. OCLC 1144544372. Check date values in:
|date=(help) Search this book on
- ↑ "ODS HOME PAGE" (PDF). documents-dds-ny.un.org. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
External Links
- Official Website (Mandarin, English)
- Official Facebook Page
- Official Instagram Page
- Official YouTube Channel
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