The Transitional Justice Commission has gained access to the National Security Bureau’s secret files on 21 cases from the White Terror era, including files on independence advocates Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) and Chen Wen-chen (陳文成).
Commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) said at an international conference on transitional justice in Taipei yesterday that the commission has reviewed the files and would commence interviews with people linked to the incidents.
More than 2,000 documents have been reviewed and new historical facts are being uncovered, she said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
On Feb. 28, 1980, Lin was being tried for treason at a military tribunal, when his mother and two seven-year-old twin daughters were stabbed to death at their home.
Chen’s body was found on the campus of National Taiwan University on July 3, 1981, a day after the now-defunct Taiwan Garrison Command claimed to have released him from custody.
No further details would be disclosed for now to avoid compromising the investigations, she said.
Asked about the pace of the commission’s work, Yang said it is following up on multiple leads, but that officials must proceed carefully so that the commission’s findings would be reliable and able to survive legal challenges.
The commission is holding discussions with academics and experts as it prepares long-term plans that it intends to present to the government in May next year, as it does not expect to complete its mission in the allotted two years, she said.
South Korea in 1996 passed a law to investigate government atrocities in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and its Ministry of National Defense has only recently organized an investigative body, she said, before calling on the public to be patient about transitional justice.
228 Memorial Foundation chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) said that the foundation is drafting a report on Taiwan’s transitional justice project and would submit it for the commission’s consideration later this year.
An English-language translation of the report is expected to be published some time next year, Hsueh added.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS