Source : https://news.pchome.com.tw/living/upmedia/20230731/index-69081677286156236009.html
President Tsai Ing-wen has publicly promised that transitional justice will not stop. What do international scholars and experts say about this? International human rights experts from Europe and the United States visited the February 28 National Memorial Hall on the morning of July 28 and were grandly received by the executive director Yang Zhenlong. During the exchanges, human rights experts pointed out that Taiwan’s transformational justice is really not enough. In the afternoon, the group participated in a forum co-hosted by the 228 National Memorial and the Taiwan Institute of Economics and Criminal Law to discuss “international human rights, trends in transitional justice, and history of authoritarian persecution.” Many scholars mentioned the Taijimen case, an iconic case in Taiwan, and Questioned the situation that Hou Kuanren, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office who was a prosecutor, investigated many cases of abuse of power and law, but was not punished but was promoted. He called on the Taiwan government to restore the historical truth, face it squarely, and speed up the resolution.
The 228 National Memorial Hall and the Taiwan Economic and Criminal Law Research Association co-hosted a symposium, and many human rights scholars mentioned the Taijimen case as an indicator case. (Photography/Li Daxin)
Seven international human rights experts who came to Taiwan this time included Willy Fautre, president of Human Rights Without Borders, and Thierry Valle, president of the French Coordination for Freedom of Conscience for Individuals and Organizations. In particular, 228 is of great significance to the people of Taiwan. The key lies in the truth and redress. CEO Yang Zhenlong mentioned that the most paradoxical thing about 228 is that there are a lot of victims but no perpetrators. Who should the victims forgive?
Professor Chen Zhilong, chairman of the Taiwan Institute of Economics and Criminal Law, believes that from the Taijimen case, Taiwan is said to be a country ruled by law, but it is actually false. The regrettable part of Taiwan’s transformational justice is that there are still big problems in the pursuit of the truth. Professor Zeng Jianyuan, chairman of the National Congress Alliance for Oversight of Citizens who is a descendant of white terrorist dissidents, emphasized that as long as history is covered up, not only will justice not be achieved, but also those with power in the future may abuse their power, and persecution may continue. He emphasized that this is a very painful experience for Taiwan, and it is still suffering like this.
Eric Roux, President of the European Forum for Religion and Religious Freedom, agrees that, in terms of transformational justice, part of finding the truth is identifying time periods that contain facts that should be ascertained and repaired. This is a very important part of the transformational justice process, because excluding from the scope of transformational justice a period that in fact included human rights abuses allows lies to remain on the battlefield like landmines on the old battlefield .
Thierry Valle, chairman of the French Coordination for the Freedom of Conscience of Individuals and Organizations, said that it is in a leading position in the world, but according to 2002, the Control Yuan found that Prosecutor Hou had committed multiple illegal acts in the Taijimen case and requested him to take disciplinary action. The case was not executed under the protection of the Ministry of Justice. He mentioned that in 2009, Taiwan incorporated the two conventions into domestic law, so in addition to providing compensation and a public apology to the victims, the perpetrators of human rights violations should also be brought to justice. In this case, the Taiwan government should provide Taijimen with compensation and remedies, such as financial compensation, restoration of the organization’s reputation, and provide land and funds to build a new gymnasium to replace the one that was destroyed due to the seizure of Taijimen’s property by the Taiwan National Taxation Bureau Swiss mountain villa.
It has been 36 years since the lifting of martial law in Taiwan, but the lingering poison of authoritarianism still exists, and state violence continues to harm the people. Wei Cicong, an assistant professor at the university, gave an example of prosecutor Hou Kuanren, who was investigated by the Supervisory Committee and found to have improperly interrogated the case. In the case of Zhou Renshen, about 200 defendants were involved in the 24-year lawsuit, including about 41 prosecutors and police officers. In the end, only 8 officers and police were found guilty, and 4 police officers committed suicide during the investigation. , He questioned why there was a tragedy of casualties before entering the judicial process? Because prosecutor Hou Kuanren continued to release sensational news to stir up the storm, which had a great impact on the police circle. In addition, there was the Taijimen case in 1996. Hou Kuanren violated the secret of the investigation during the investigation process, leaked a large amount of false case contents to the media, and created the false impression that the public opinion was judged before trial, causing serious damage to the reputation of tens of thousands of Taijimen masters and apprentices. Hou Kuanren Not only was there no punishment, but he continued to be promoted.
Agorom Dike, chairman and founder of the Caribbean and African Faith-Based Leadership Conference, said that Professor Wei listed Prosecutor Hou Kuanren as breaking the law, which is impressive. Taiwan and the whole world are doing it, and the history of persecution is recorded and included in museums. Work together for transformational justice to make the world a better place. At the same time, in order to gain an in-depth understanding, they will also visit Miaoli Mountains to learn about the land illegally auctioned by administrative bureaucrats.
