Introduction
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD) is the first of the nine United Nations core human rights
instruments adopted by the UN General Assembly that became effective after
ratification by a specified number of state parties. ICERD is also the first UN core
human rights treaty that entered into force in the Republic of China (Taiwan),
where it has the same effect as domestic law. The ROC signed the Convention in
1966, ratified it in 1970 and deposited its instrument of ratification with the UN
Secretary-General.
Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established on
August 1, 2020 pursuant to the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human
Rights Commission . As an independent body dedicated to the protection and
promotion of human rights, the NHRC has all of the elements and functions
emphasized in the Paris Principles. The NHRC’s legislative mandate includes
providing independent opinions on national reports on human rights conventions
to ensure that domestic laws and administrative measures are in accordance with
international human rights instruments.
Since its inception, the NHRC has issued independent opinions on the ICCPR &
ICESCR in 2020, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in
2021, and the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2022. This
independent opinion was prepared in 2023 in response to the initial report on the
implementation of ICERD issued by the government on December 14, 2022.
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