The Government Must Ensure that Officials Respect Human Rights

The Government Must Ensure that Officials Respect Human Rights
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
September 21, 2009

A few months ago, a high school heckled President Ma, demanding that he step down. He was taken away by the police for questioning and fingerprinting. Once President Ma learned of the incident, he instructed the National Police Administration to conduct a review. The NPA found that fingerprinting was an old habit with no basis in law. The National Police Administration issued a general order. Beginning on October 1, someone merely giving a statement would no longer be fingerprinted.

Police Academy Vice Chancellor Ye Yu-lan wrote a letter to the editor. He said that people whose identity cards were stolen have found themselves under suspicion of fraud and taken into custody by prosecutors and police. This has added insult to injury. Newly appointed Interior Minister Chiang Yi-hu said he hoped to amend the existing system. In the future suspects may complete their statements where they were initially questioned. Follow up sessions would follow the same procedure.

The above two police agencies are improving their case-handling procedures, consistent with respect for human rights. These may appear to be two different cases, but not if one looks at certain indicators in the government's human rights policy. More importantly, the Ministry of Justice, through the Legislative Yuan, passed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Convention. It held a six step "human rights advancement" government personnel training camp. Thousands of central and local government officials will receive training at this camp. On this year's International Human Rights Day, the Executive Yuan is expected to implement two laws. Two years later it will finish amending the laws as part of its comprehensive human rights plans.

On the opening day of the training camp, President Ma gave a personal speech. For half an hour he spoke on the need for the government to take human rights seriously. Only then would the Republic of China's achievements in democracy and the rule of law offer a truly national vision. President Ma pulled no punches. He said most civil servants don't know what human rights are, because our past education made little mention of it. Therefore civil servants must imagine how they would feel if their own human rights were violated. Only then can they feel the peoples' pain. Ma Ying-jeou's speech was sincere. Many of the public servants in the audience paid close attention. But others were yawning, proving that President Ma's observation that civil servants do not attach much importance to the observance of human rights was correct.

Why did President Ma what he did? Because he wanted to promote human rights in the Republic of China, and ensure that they meet international standards. Human rights are also part of his campaign platform. He has a duty to fulfill his campaign promises. Ma Ying-jeou is a student of the law. His long term mission has been the promotion of constitutional liberalism, the rule of law, and human rights. Leave aside his other campaign planks for the moment. The rule of law is his top priority. That is why during his first year he urged the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan to adopt the two conventions and the two Conventions on Law Enforcement. The two Conventions on Law Enforcement are to be amended within two years, as they do not conform with existing laws. This amounts to a human rights report card by which one can evaluate the rule of law and human rights during his four-year term. He must personally stand on the frontline, and cure government officials of their habit of ignorance of human rights, or even hostility towards human rights.

The objective of Ma Ying-jeou's human rights policy is not merely to enhance the Republic of China's international status. It is also to achieve genuine respect for human rights at home. Therefore it deserves our appreciation and support. President Ma is reaffirming that the Republic of China ought to be founded on such core values as human rights. This is a goal that transcends struggles over national identity. It is enough to establish a consensus. But on the other hand, the implementation of human rights on Taiwan is not without obstacles. That's because in the past human rights education was not sufficiently universal. Society lacked an awareness of human rights. Government officials in particular failed to understand human rights. Without an aggressive leadership promoting, demanding, and overseeing human rights, it will not be easy to promote human rights from scratch.

Within a traditional society, the government should set an example about how to think. Government self-criticism can help the community become aware of human rights. Within the Executive branch, the entities most concerned with the protection of human rights are the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of the Interior is in charge of public organizations, public gatherings, and public demonstrations. The police, in turn, are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. The duties of prosecutors and the criminal justice system are closely related to the protection of human rights. The key to human rights and the rule of law is the presumption of innocence. Under this presumption, the burden of proof rests with the prosecution. Law enforcement officers often find this concept difficult to grasp. They often unconsciously make the mistake of assuming that the accused must prove his innocence. For example, they demand that all persons subject to interrogation be fingerprinted. Or they assume that anyone whose identity card has been stolen is an accomplice in a confidence game. This causes them to rush to judgment, and to have similar blind spots while handling such cases. Professor Ye Yu-lan has been educating police for years in his capacity as Human Rights Commissioner. Chiang Yi-hua, as former Minister for Research and Examination on the Council for Economic Planning, has chaired the Human Rights Commission. They are familiar with the obstacles and difficulties that lie in the way of President Ma's promotion of human rights. They must move aggressively at the macro level. They must understand the details at the micro level. They must increase respect for human rights. No one else can assume these responsibilities.

The promotion of human rights requires discovering the traps and blind spots in human rights education. Yesterday Premier Wu was being interpolated in the Legislative Yuan. He pointed out that even Chairman Trong Chai, who promoted human rights for many years, was sometimes guilty of mud-slinging. As this telling example showed, the promotion of human rights requires considerable self-examination and effort.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2009.09.21
社論－讓公務員重視人權 政府還得加把勁
本報訊

一名高三學生幾個月前向馬總統嗆聲要求下台，被警方帶走偵訊按捺指紋，馬總統得知後指示警政署檢討，發現按捺指紋只是沿襲舊習，缺乏法源依據。警政署發出通令，十月一日起，做筆錄不再按捺指紋。

警大副校長葉毓蘭投書報紙，身分證遭盜用的人因被依涉嫌九起詐欺移送檢警，南北奔波應訊，二度受害；新上任的內政部長江宜樺表示要修正現有制度，未來可以在當事人第一個應訊點做完筆錄，後續相同程序連線辦理。

以上兩起警政機關透過改善辦案流程，以符合尊重人權的做法，看似兩件小事，卻不妨看為是政府人權政策的某種指標；更重要的，則是法務部於立法院通過公民與政治權利國際公約與經濟社會與文化權利國際公約以及兩公約施行法之後，舉辦了六梯次「人權大步走」的政府人員培訓營，將有數千位中央及地方政府人員接受培訓，為行政院預計今年國際人權日實施的兩公約施行法，乃至兩年後全面修法完成的重大人權計畫暖身。

培訓營首日開講，馬總統親臨致詞，用半個鐘頭說明政府必須認真推動人權政策，台灣才能真正成就民主法治的國家願景。馬總統更不客氣的說，大部分公務員都不知道人權是怎麼回事，因為我們過去教育當中很少提到這一塊；因而公務員一定要將心比心，從自己的人權受侵害時設身處地，才能苦民所苦。馬英九在台上說的苦口婆心，台下的公務人員聚精會神的很多，但也有人在打起瞌睡。馬總統認為公務人員不重視人權的觀察，果然正確。

馬總統為什麼要這樣做？因為這是在推動台灣人權與國際標準接軌，也是他的競選政見，他有責任兌現他的選舉支票。馬英九習法出身，以推動自由主義憲法人權法治為長期的使命自許；別的政見不說，法治政見就是他的施政重點。因而他在就任第一年，催促行政院在立法院中通過兩公約以及兩公約施行法，施行法規定要在兩年內修改所有與此兩公約不符的現有法律；這是他四年任期可以檢驗的人權法治成績單，他必須親上一線，打破政府人員一向漠視甚至敵視人權政策的疏離與死寂。

馬英九的人權政策，不只是以對外開拓國際地位為唯一目標，還要切實地在國內實現實質的人權尊重，這一點應該受到肯定與支持。這項政策，馬總統也坦率直言是要賡續台灣以人權立國的核心價值，乃是超越鬥爭的國家目標，足以為台灣建立難得的價值共識；但是另一方面，在台灣落實人權不是沒有障礙，正是由於過去人權教育不夠普及，社會上的人權意識不足，政府人員更是普遍缺乏人權觀念，如果無人積極領導、推動，無人持續堅持、監督，從無到有，並不容易。

如果傳統社會觀念中政府應為民表率的思想仍有道理，政府以自我檢討的方式帶動社會人權意識進步，就是該做的重要功課。行政部門之中，與人權保障最有關係的部門，首推內政部與法務部。內政部主管的政務分歧，既是人民團體活動、集會遊行事務的主管機關，所轄警察系統又與法務部所轄檢調系統職司追訴犯罪的工作，均與人權保障息息相關。人權法治的關鍵原則就是推定無罪，指控者舉證，而檢警調人員卻也最難把握這些分寸，經常不自覺陷入要求被指控者自證無罪甚至有罪的錯誤。像是要求一切受偵訊者按捺指紋，或是將身分證遭盜用者一律假設是詐欺團體的同夥共犯，使其奔波應訊，都有類似的辦案盲點存在。葉毓蘭教授久在警察教育系統服務，擔任人權委員會委員，江宜樺部長原任研考會主委，主持人權委員會事務推行，熟諳馬總統推動人權工作的障礙與困難所在。積極從大處、從細處發現、改善人權待遇，責無旁貸。

推動人權政策，一定要從找出觀念陷阱與盲點的人權教育做起。日前吳揆在立法院答詢，指出連推動人權事務多年的蔡同榮主委，有時也不能免於揭發隱私等的錯誤政治示範，可謂一針見血地道出，人權工作需要多大的自省與努力。