When the commutation statute came into effect on July 16, 10,943 people were released from prison.
News soon emerged that some of the former prisoners had died of drug overdoses, while others had committed new offenses within days of their release.
This constituted a threat to public safety, and the pan-blue and pan-green camps were quick to blame one another for it.
Regardless of who was responsible, several problems related to public safety have come up in connection with the pardon.
Our research on crime prevention shows that a series of problems must be addressed.
Society has not been able to take in the newly released inmates.
On the fifth day after the commutation, one of the released inmates was arrested for robbery. At the police station, he cried when he recounted his woes: During the five days he had been out of jail, he had applied for five jobs, only to be turned down every time. He had no place to stay and no money; at night he slept in a park. In the end, he had resorted to robbery.
It is clear that a part of the public is not prepared to accommodate these newly released prisoners.
Former inmates are at the bottom end of society. After regaining their freedom, they face a whole new set of problems, and those who don't manage to adapt, easily fall into recidivism.
The authorities should provide more guidance, and educate society and the public about the reintegration of former prisoners, and help them find work.
Some of the pardoned criminals will repeat their crimes. Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that of the 37,607 people who were sentenced to jail last year, 23,766 were repeat offenders, constituting 63.2 percent of the total, indicating a very high rate of recidivism.
Some special groups of convicts, like thieves and drug users, strongly identify with their offense, and long-term correction of these people is difficult.
Of the 10,943 people who were released on July 16, 4,972 people had committed drug-related crimes, 1,910 had been convicted of theft and 690 convicted of fraud.
Some people convicted of violent crimes were also pardoned, constituting a serious risk to public safety, as they are likely to repeat their crimes.
We call on the government to increase its efforts immediately to aid these people to help prevent recidivism.
For a long time, the government has failed to invest in the prison and aftercare systems.
The recent recidivism of pardoned convicts makes people doubt whether correction and aftercare have any effect at all.
Work in correctional facilities and in the aftercare and rehabilitation of convicts requires high specialization.
People in such professions, however, have long working hours, sometimes work under risky conditions, rarely have holidays, are overworked because of understaffing, are underpaid, have few chances for promotion and are not given the respect they deserve.
The prison and aftercare departments, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Judicial Protection are still only departments under the Ministry of Justice. Their budgets are too small, there is still no independent specialized corrections department and they face a shortage of specialized personnel.
With the enormous task of taking in more than 60,000 people each year and helping tens of thousands of former prisoners reintegrate into society every year, the results can hardly be expected to be any better.
The government should reinforce these departments by investing more resources in them, in order to reinforce the correctional system and social acceptance.
Many advanced countries like the US invest in the police, the judiciary and the correctional facilities in a ratio of 3:1:2.
Comparing this to Taiwan, where the resources are shifted from one place to the other in attempts to make up for deficits, it is clear that the investments are too little and not balanced.
We are ardently awaiting improvement and further development of the system to improve public safety and give convicts better chances for turning over a new leaf.
Tsai Teh-hui is director-general of the Chinese Correction Association. Yang Shu-lung is the director-general of the Chinese Society of Criminology.
Translated by Anna Stiggelbout
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