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Opposition snubs meeting on 228 bill

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Sing-nan yesterday explains a bill aimed at bringing to justice those responsible for the 228 Incident and government crimes during the martial law period. PHOTO: CNA

A meeting of the legislature's Judiciary Committee that was to review legislation holding family members responsible for the 228 Incident and the White Terror era did not take place yesterday because of insufficient attendance, after legislators from the opposition parties boycotted the meeting.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), who, along with caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓), Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) and 30 other DPP legislators, initiated the legislation, said that the proposal was about clearing up White Terror incidents through judicial processes and learning how officials from the former government had oppressed citizens.

Wang said the proposal stipulates that relatives of those responsible would represent their family members by attending the hearings and that they would enjoy legal rights and be protected from bearing criminal responsibility for the acts of the deceased.

The DPP legislative caucus yesterday held a press conference to make the details of the proposal public.

"I think this [proposal] demonstrates hatred. It is very different from Taiwanese people's belief in tolerance."

Ma Ying-jeou, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate

Wang Tuoh said the facts about the killings would only be learned through investigations and that because many documents related to killings that took place during that period have been classified as confidential, the DPP had no choice but to come up with the proposal to facilitate the investigations.

Wang Tuoh said the relatives of those responsible would attend the hearing and be confronted by victims' families, but would not be expected to assume criminal responsibility.

Wang Tuoh said the proposal would help most Mainlanders clear their names and that of their ancestors as the outcome of the investigations would demonstrate that most of them had nothing to do with government repression.

Approached for comments on the matter, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday defended the proposed legislation.

Hsieh said the bill was intended to give the subsequent generations of people responsible for the crimes committed during the White Terror era a chance to defend their ancestors rather than to affix blame for past crimes.

"The proposed legislation means well, so please don't misunderstand it," he told reporters in Taoyuan County yesterday.

At a separate setting in Taipei City, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that while the DPP has every right to enact such a law, the legislation could not be allowed to go too far.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to stop blurring the lines and twisting the DPP's good intentions.

While underscoring the fact that the proposed bill did not seek to implicate families of the now-deceased perpetrators of the 228 Incident, he said that the KMT must nevertheless recognize that it shares a large part of the blame for the imposition of martial law.

"The KMT owes Taiwanese an apology and an explanation about whether a `career student' gathering information for the KMT during the White Terror era is still active and even running for president," he said.

Shieh said that innocent people would not be implicated under the proposed law and that the families of the perpetrators could offer their side of the story to counter any wrongful accusation made against their ancestors.

Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), director of the DPP's Culture and Information Department, urged the KMT and its presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), to face the truth about the 228 Incident and admit that many Taiwanese were persecuted during the White Terror era.

"What is he afraid of?" she said. "As a presidential candidate, he owes the public a clear explanation of his position on human rights."

In response, Ma blasted the DPP caucus yesterday over the proposed legislation.

"I think this [proposal] demonstrates hatred. It is very different from Taiwanese people's belief in tolerance," Ma said in Hsinchu.

The bill would require the deceased oppressors' spouses, immediate family members or third-degree relatives to exercise the oppressors' "litigious rights and obligations."

Those rights, the document says, include the right to attend hearings, the right to defend the persecutors and the right to apply for investigation into seized evidence.

The obligations detailed by the bill include the obligation to "endure" the trial, the obligation to be present during the trial and the obligation to be confronted by prosecutors or plaintiffs' lawyers.

"The DPP put forth such a bill ahead of [legislative and presidential] elections. Obviously it was trying to incite conflict and opposition to gain electoral advantage," Ma said.

He said the number of relatives of those believed responsible for 228 and the White Terror -- as defined in the proposed bill -- was "unprecedented."

Although it is impossible for the KMT to entirely mend the hurt of the families of the 228 Incident victims, Ma said the previous KMT government has "done its utmost" to compensate them by offering an apology and erecting a plaque in commemoration of the victims.

Meanwhile, the KMT caucus also lashed out at the DPP caucus over the bill, saying that it contradicted Hsieh's promotion of "reconciliation" and "coexistence."

Speaking at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) urged the DPP to stop using the 228 Incident to "deceive" voters, on the grounds that the bill did not take into account the desires of the victims' families.

"This is a bill that violates human rights," KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) said.

KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said the DPP was "trying to publicly humiliate the family members of the oppressors."

KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), grandson of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), said that the DPP's proposal was "unacceptable" and "ridiculous."

The proposed bill reflects the DPP's anti-democratic mindset, Chiang said.

"This is not just a personal matter, rather it is a case critically linked to Taiwan's democracy and judiciary," he said.
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