During the Martial Law era, the Jingmei military detention center was notorious for violating the human rights of its numerous political prisoners.
Now known as the Human Rights Jingmei Memorial Park, the Council for Cultural Affairs this year decided to rename the former detention center Jingmei Culture Park and renovate certain buildings to allow artistic and cultural groups to use the space.
The Jingmei detention center witnessed the unbearable darkness of the White Terror era — which followed on the heels of the Chinese Civil War — in which many people were detained and jailed for most of their lives.
How can the government unscrupulously distort and trample all over the historical meaning of the site?
The memorial park should be preserved to highlight the significance of human rights rather than be decorated and embellished as a cultural park.
More importantly, not only should the name be changed back to the Human Rights Jingmei Memorial Park, but the government also needs to face Taiwan’s history through concrete action.
The relevant authorities should conduct a thorough survey of the site in working toward establishing a national museum, together with accompanying legislation.
The government should then open the site to school trips for civic studies and awareness of history.
The preservation of the site should be part of efforts to prevent human rights violations from happening again.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently signed the Act Governing Execution of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (公民與政治權利國際公約及經濟社會文化權利國際公約施行法), but this does not mean that there has been improvement in human rights protection in Taiwan.
The government must act, lest it end up being no different from the regime of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who froze the Constitution and encroached on human rights.
If the government only pays lip service to protection of human rights, the constitutional meaning of its behavior would be no different to that of Chiang when he declared Dec. 25 Constitution Day. This would be most ironic.
It is unwise to issue noble statements about the White Terror while refusing to learn its lessons, just as it is unacceptable to ignore the history of human rights violations while behaving in like manner.
It is also cowardly to fear admitting to historical mistakes and trying to cover up the truth.
An unwise, malicious and cowardly government is neither qualified nor capable of leading a people.
We call on the government to preserve the Human Rights Jingmei Memorial Park, push through legislation protecting human rights and establish a national human rights memorial hall at the site.
In addition, we emphasize that only by facing the darkness of history can we embrace a bright future.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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