Following the Lunar New Year holiday, the newly elected legislature, dominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), proposed a host of bills aimed at achieving transitional justice — which has long been blocked by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — such as legislation to deal with the KMT’s ill-gotten assets and the removal of portraits of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) from public buildings.
The KMT said the moves were attempts at “settling old scores” and “ethnic division,” and even went so far as to call it “transitional hatred.”
The social unity that formed following the earthquake that hit southern Taiwan on Feb. 6 has already disintegrated into the same old bickering between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, casting a pall over president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) incoming government even before she takes office.
The government could follow the following suggestions to achieve transitional justice so that the process does not deteriorate into “transitional hatred.”
First, it should not be forgotten that transitional justice is based on human rights. It is not a winner-takes-all proposition, nor is it about the institution of a new dynasty. It is centered around the implementation and protection of human rights; not around the settling of old scores or political struggles where the victor reigns supreme over the defeated.
Taiwanese should remember what Tsai told her supporters before January’s election: “This is not about defeating people, it is about defeating the difficulties facing our nation.”
Tsai’s words moved her audience, because Taiwanese have been caught in ugly infighting that has resulted in social stagnation. They are fed up with the state of affairs, and the nation’s leaders must use their intelligence and wisdom to propose long-term solutions and adopt a tolerant approach to lead the nation forward.
That is why transitional justice is based on human rights: It is not intended to incite hatred, but rather to build social consensus on mutual respect and to help perpetrators and victims overcome their animosity and abandon their hatred so that a divided society can unite and move forward.
For example, when South Africa abolished apartheid, it passed legislation to establish a truth commission. That is the only way to reflect on the past and make society face mistakes together. It also helps reaffirm the importance of human rights and encourages perpetrators to come forward of their own accord and face the victims or their surviving relatives to promote reconciliation and repair relations.
Human rights violations should be condemned and punished, but the value of human dignity, the possibility of seeing the good in people and giving a person the opportunity to repent and turn a new page is very different from seeking revenge, in which vendettas might go on for generations.
Therefore, it is natural that victims should have their dignities restored and be granted compensation in the pursuit of transitional justice, but this does not mean that perpetrators should not be given commuted sentences or clemency if they admit to their mistakes and offenses. Addressing the responsibilities of perpetrators in this manner makes it clear that transitional justice is not a matter of settling scores or gaining political power, and it expresses the tolerance that is inherent in human rights.
Taiwan’s democratization is still beset with problems. The nation is facing a third power transition and the first DPP-dominated legislature, but if Taiwanese fall back into the futile blue-green infighting, or if the majority continues to force its will on the minority, or leadership by a minority, that would not be for the nation’s best interests, nor would it lead to a new political environment.
Transitional justice must not become an excuse to engage in the same old blue-green infighting, and, if human rights values are being properly highlighted and are not distorted, transitional justice would not lead to social division — instead, it would lead to social reconciliation.
Without transitional justice, social division and hatred will continue to affect the nation’s democracy and the division between the pan-blue and pan-green camps will continue unabated.
Like former South African president Nelson Mandela said: “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
This is to be a test for the nation’s leaders and whether they are able to take the first step on the way toward achieving transitional justice.
Lin Chia-fan is chair of the Department of Civic Education and Leadership at National Taiwan Normal University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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