Shining Light into Dark Corners Human Rights Issue S 3 Defending Human Dignity Promoting the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture ince the Convention against Torture and someone, either directly or indirectly, acting in an Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading official capacity. Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, In the past, under an authoritarian regime, 1984, the convention has been widely ratified Taiwanese people suffered a myriad of cruel torture by the majority of countries around the world, and oppression that violated human rights. Despite amounting to 171 countries so far. According the freedom and democracy that we have today, to CAT, the term “torture” refers to any act the Control Yuan found that torture and other cruel, or acts by which severe mental or physical inhuman, or degrading treatments or punishments pain is intentionally inflicted upon a person (hereinafter torture and other mistreatments) still for a specific purpose, such as punishment, existed and can be found in places where personal intimidation, coercion, discrimination, etc., by freedom is restricted, such as prisons, military “Fengshan Guest House” in Kaohsiung was an important location for White Terror in the Navy. The space has been converted into a component of human rights education to help teachers and students learn about local human rights events and international guidelines on human rights. All Persons from Enforced Disappearance serve to colleges based on local historical sites of injustice, protect personal safety and due process, as well the Navy’s history during the White Terror, and as the prohibition against enforced disappearance, core articles of UN human rights conventions. secret detention, and forced labor. A version of Teaching equipment including historical sites of the documentary with English subtitles was also injustice in VR and tabletop games were developed produced to promote a greater international through the examination of case studies and inter- understanding of Taiwan’s hard-won democracy disciplinary collaboration. Interactive experiences and human rights. helped teachers and students learn about local human rights violations in order to strengthen their 3. Development of human rights teaching plans and materials 26 understanding of human rights and the rule of law. The development of the teaching plan and The NHRC commissioned the National University materials paved the way for grassroots human of Kaohsiung to develop human rights teaching rights education and an appreciation for universal plans and materials suitable for universities and human rights. On December 1, 2020, the NHRC took part in a conference on Convention Against Torture. Photo provided by: Criminal Investigation Bureau 27