Taiwan’s human rights commission stages torture prevention workshop

2023/07/12

The National Human Rights Commission conducted a workshop on the prevention of cruelty and torture July 3 to 6 in Taipei City, underscoring government commitment to protecting human rights.
 
The event’s aims included enhancing the expertise of NHRC staff and promoting exchanges between local experts and their foreign counterparts to bring Taiwan’s practices more in line with global standards, the NHRC said.
 
According to the commission, the workshop featured lectures by Anne-Sophie Bonnet and Maria de Castro Cavalli, two senior officers from Controleur general des lieux de privation de liberte (CGLPL). The invited experts spoke about the operations of the Paris-based independent organization, as well as issues pertaining to the establishment of a national preventive mechanism for addressing torture and other forms of cruelty.
 
During her opening remarks, NHRC Chair Chen Chu said the prevention of cruelty and inhuman punishment has always been one of the commission’s key tasks, even though the U.N. Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) has not yet been integrated into Taiwan’s national legal framework.
 
Chen added that, in accordance with an Executive Yuan bill on the enforcement of OPCAT, the NHRC initiated a pilot project in 2021 to establish Taiwan’s national preventive mechanism. Chen shared that she expected the workshop to provide valuable policy reference in this regard.
 
Echoing Chen’s remarks, Bonnet said her organization and the NHRC share the same values and commitment to eliminating torture and protecting the victims of cruel, inhuman punishment. The CGLPL will continue to cooperate and exchange views with relevant organizations like the NHRC to pursue this goal, she added.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)