On the morning of December 10, International Human Rights Day, President Ma Ying-jeou attended a ceremony for the presentation of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy's 2013 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award. He personally presented the award to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) from Myanmar, and briefed listeners on the substantive achievements of the government in its human rights work.
In remarks, President Ma first commented that 65 years ago the United Nations passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which marked an important historic milestone in the protection of human rights, and significant improvements have indeed been seen since then in human rights throughout the world. However, human rights in some places are disregarded or violated, he said, which shows that continued attention is needed. He also reminded governments around the world of the need to focus on this issue, especially because governments are responsible for many violations of human rights.
The president stated that the KHRG was founded in 1992 and has long documented human rights violations by the military government of Myanmar against the Karen people, including forced labor, village relocation, torture, and threats. Through its published human rights reports and campaigns, the KHRG has assisted in preventing persecution of the Karen people, he said, further remarking that international organizations have praised its work. For instance, he noted, the KHRG won the Peace Fund Canada Honor Award in 1995, and has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Ma further stated that political reform began to take place in Myanmar in 2010, but the pace of improvements in human rights has been slow. For example, in March of this year the KHRG discovered that the government of Myanmar had forcibly relocated villagers to other villages, he remarked. This highlights that Myanmar is still an emerging democracy that does not take human rights seriously enough, he stated, adding that international support and encouragement are therefore extremely important.
President Ma then discussed the achievements of the ROC government in its continued promotion of human rights. He stated that in February of this year, the US human rights organization Freedom House released its Freedom in the World 2013 report, in which Taiwan received a score of "1" (the highest possible score) in the category of political rights, and a score of "2" in the civil liberties category. Overall, the president said, Taiwan was classified as an electoral democracy in the same group as the United States, Japan, and Western European countries. In addition, Freedom House singled out Taiwan as a model of democracy.
President Ma stated that in 2009 he signed the instruments of ratification for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and later the enactment of an enforcement act incorporated these two covenants into domestic law. In addition, he pointed out, early this year the ROC invited international human rights experts to Taiwan to review the nation's first human rights report. He noted that the efforts made by Taiwan in this regard have been praised by the international community.
The president emphasized that another important human rights goal of the government is to add breadth and depth to cross-strait dialogue on human rights, democracy, freedom, and rule of law. This, he said, will help to reduce the distance between Taiwan and mainland China on these issues. This is the only way to further develop cross-strait peace, he stated, adding that only when both sides are free and democratic, protect human rights, and emphasize rule of law can they further maintain cross-strait peace and prosperity.