The Control Yuan (CY) has made the provision of diverse services a policy goal and been dedicated to the implementation of receiving complaints via videoconferencing. The system for the latter was launched in Dec. 2020, and the following month, the CY received a letter from an inmate serving a life sentence hoping to arrange a videoconference meeting and tell his story.
On Jan. 27, 2021, the CY received its first inmate videoconference petition. This practice enables inmates deprived of physical and communication freedom to file complaints to CY members via videoconference. The first inmate videoconferencing petition since the implementation of the Control Act 73 years ago, this petition is also the first of its kind in the history of prison administration, making it extremely significant.
CY understands that inmates’ human rights are a weak link in human rights protection. As international covenants point out, inmates should be treated humanely, and their right to reasonable treatment does not diminish because of their legal status. Hence, the CY has extended videoconferencing petition availability to inmates so they, too, may express their thoughts to CY members.
The CY will continue to protect the rights of complainants under various circumstances and implement the policy goal of “petitioning without distance and communication without barriers.”