President Tsai approves Guidelines for Establishment of the Presidential Office Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee

In order to implement the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, promote historical justice and transitional justice, and establish a foundation for self-rule by indigenous peoples, the Presidential Office Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee is hereby established to coordinate and promote related matters, and to serve as a platform for consultation between the government and the various indigenous peoples on an equal footing.

The tasks of the committee are as follows:

• Collect, process, and disclose accurate historical information regarding violations against indigenous peoples and deprivation of indigenous rights caused throughout history by alien regimes or immigrants.
• Draw up plans for administrative, legislative, or other measures to provide restitution, reparations, or compensation for violations against indigenous peoples and deprivation of indigenous rights.
• Conduct a comprehensive review to identify laws and policies that cause discrimination against indigenous peoples or violate the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, and put forward amendment recommendations.
• Actively implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the various relevant international human rights conventions.
• Collect, process, and discuss information and views regarding indigenous historical justice and transitional justice.

The committee shall be organized as a task force, and shall have 29 to 31 committee members. The president shall serve as the convener. There shall be two deputy conveners; one of these shall be appointed by the president, while the committee members representing the various indigenous peoples shall elect the other deputy convener from among their own number. The other committee members shall include:

• one representative for each of the 16 indigenous peoples as stipulated by the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law and approved by the Executive Yuan.
• three representatives for all Pingpu ethnic groups; and

• representatives of relevant government agencies; experts and scholars; and representatives of indigenous civic groups.

  Election of the committee members referred to in subparagraphs 1 and 2 of the first paragraph shall be completed within four months with the Council of Indigenous Peoples providing assistance to indigenous peoples or ethnic groups. For those that fail to elect a representative by the deadline, a representative shall be selected and retained by the president from among persons recommended by various sectors of society.

  The committee members referred to in the third subparagraph of the first paragraph shall be invited to serve by the convener following solicitation of relevant views; among the committee members, persons of indigenous ethnicity shall comprise at least half of the experts and scholars.

  The term of office for the committee members shall begin when the member is retained and conclude when the term of the Presidency is concluded; when a committee member's position becomes vacant, a successor shall be retained in accordance with the provisions of these Guidelines, and the successor's term shall conclude on the day the original term was scheduled to conclude.

Under the committee there shall be a subcommittee on land matters, subcommittee on history, and subcommittee on reconciliation. These thematic subcommittees are to study pertinent issues and put them forward for discussion at committee meetings. The committee may also establish other temporary subcommittees as they may become necessary for the committee's work.

The tasks of the subcommittees are as follows:

• Subcommittee on land matters:
  • Process and publicly release information on indigenous peoples and Pingpu ethnic groups regarding the content and scope of their land records, the significance of their land, the history of their relocations, and the course of their interactions with other peoples during different historical periods over the past 400 years.
  • Process and publicly release information from different historical periods regarding land use regulations, how indigenous peoples and Pingpu ethnic groups lost their land, and the methods, social milieu, laws, and customs associated with land seizures.
  • Process and publicly release information regarding the names, locations, significance, geographical extent, and traditional norms pertaining to indigenous peoples' mythical places of origin, places of ancestral origin, sacred places, hunting grounds, ceremonial sites, geographical extent of gathering activities, and other traditional spheres.
  • Review concurrences or outdatedness between indigenous peoples' traditional spheres and current legislation, process indigenous land management policies over the world, and put forward improvement recommendations.
• Subcommittee on history:
  • Conduct historical fact-finding investigations on major historical events, loss of cultural relics, historical justice, and transitional justice relating to indigenous peoples and Pingpu ethnic groups over different historical periods.
  • Recommend policies on establishing the historical viewpoint relating to indigenous peoples and Pingpu ethnic groups.
  • Recommend policies on establishing monuments or organizing events to commemorate major historical events relating to indigenous peoples.
• Subcommittee on reconciliation:
  • Encourage communication and cooperation in society on major disputes concerning historical justice and transitional justice for indigenous peoples; facilitate substantive reconciliation among indigenous peoples and between indigenous peoples and the country.
  • Organize campaigns aimed at promoting awareness of historical justice and transitional justice for indigenous peoples; introduce examples of achievements made in historical justice for indigenous peoples from abroad; facilitate participation of all sectors of society and advance society’s understanding of such issues.

Before the end of each term of office for a committee member, each subcommittee in the preceding paragraphs shall put forward a report summarizing its efforts as reference for relevant government agencies. 

The committee shall meet once every three months in principle, and may convene extraordinary sessions when necessary. All meetings shall be convened and presided over by the convener, and when the convener is unable to attend, the meeting shall be presided over by a deputy convener.

When the committee meets, it may, in light of items on the agenda, request the attendance of government agency representatives, scholars, experts, or representatives of indigenous organizations or groups.

Before the end of each year, the committee shall publish an annual report on the implementation of its work, and shall provide it to the relevant government agencies for follow-up action.

The committee shall have an executive secretary and a deputy executive secretary, each of whom shall be appointed by the convener.

The convener may retain scholars and experts to serve as consultants to the committee.

With respect to the administrative, legislative, and other measures that the committee plans and recommends, the Executive Yuan Committee to Promote Review and Implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law shall be the entity that handles deliberative and coordination matters connected with follow-up work, and when the committee meets, the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law Committee shall dispatch personnel to report on progress in its work.

In order to carry out its duties, the committee may request that relevant government agencies provide needed documents and files or dispatch their personnel to provide explanations before the committee.

The committee shall be staffed by personnel seconded from the Office of the President, the Council of Indigenous Peoples, and other relevant agencies.

The convener, deputy conveners, committee members, consultants, executive secretary, and deputy executive secretary shall all serve without remuneration.

The funding required by the committee shall be provided by means of budgetary allocations by the Office of the President and the relevant agencies under the Executive Yuan.

These Guidelines shall take effect upon approval by the president.