The Central Taiwan Antinuclear Action Alliance is set to hold an antinuclear demonstration in Greater Taichung on Dec. 7. While applying for the demonstration route, police required that the alliance provide copies of every picketer’s national ID, making demonstrators feel like they were being blacklisted. The alliance has voiced its opposition and alleges that police are reverting to tactics from the White Terror era to deter them from demonstrating.
The Inspection Section of the Greater Taichung Police Department’s 6th Precinct says that the unit’s demand that picketing applicants provide copies of their national IDs is in accordance with the Assembly and Parade Act, and is only used by police for review purposes, adding that in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act the information is kept confidential and will not be leaked.
Tsai Chih-hao, the alliance’s Greater Taichung convener, says that on the eve of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) national congress in Greater Taichung two weeks ago, the police, under a premise of “concern,” visited his office several times to check how many people would be attending the event to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou, what sort of contact various organizations had with each other, and the goings-on of important figures. This is tantamount to those in power using the police system to collect intelligence, and spy on and control people’s movements, making some private organizations feel unsafe, Tsai says.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者蘇金鳳
Tsai says that when he complied with the law in applying to the police for the alliance to hold an antinuclear demonstration on Dec. 7, the police requested that picketers from the alliance provide personal data and include copies of their IDs, something he had never come across before. He is therefore dubious about police motives for requiring copies of national IDs. The police responded by saying that they merely want to check whether any applicants are wanted criminals, or underage and make sure they are demonstrating of their own volition.
Tsai says that if the police want to check for wanted criminals all they have to do is check the ID numbers that are already included on the event roster, and asks why they require copies of everyone’s national IDs only in Greater Taichung, while none of the other counties and cities in Taiwan have such requirements. Could it be that Greater Taichung is bringing back martial law?
With regard to how police have acted, legal experts say that the Assembly and Parade Act only stipulates that applicants must provide the name, sex, occupation, date of birth, national ID number, and home address and telephone number. The “procedural regulations for police agencies processing citizens’ applications for assemblies and parades” also do not require that picketers provide copies of national IDs, so experts say that police agencies must avoid arbitrarily interpreting the law.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
中台灣廢核行動聯盟十二月七日將舉行廢核遊行,但申請遊行路線時,警方除要求聯盟提供糾察人員的身分證字號、地址及電話外,還要附上身分證影印本,讓糾察人員有被列管之感,聯盟表示抗議,認為警方有白色恐怖之嫌,將讓人不敢擔任糾察人員。
台中市警六分局督察組指出,要求申請單位提供糾察員的身分證影印本,完全是根據集會遊行法的規定,純粹僅供警方內部審核,且基於個資法精神,絕對保密資料不會外洩。
中台灣廢核行動聯盟台中市召集人蔡智豪表示,兩週前國民黨在台中舉行全代會之際,警方就以「關心」名義,多次到他辦公室查訪民間社團有多少人會前往全代會抗議馬英九,及各團體之間的聯繫狀況、重點人物的動態,此乃統治者透過警察系統,情蒐監控民間各種動向,此舉已讓民間社團感到不安。
十二月七日聯盟要舉行廢核遊行,蔡智豪表示,他依法向警方提出申請,警方不但要求聯盟提供糾察人員的相關資料,還要附上身分證影印本,此為過去未有之情況,他質疑警方要求提供身分證的動機,警方則回應,想要了解是否有通緝犯、未成年者及名冊上的糾察人員是否出於本人自願。
蔡智豪強調,名冊上已有身分證字號,警方只要一查,就可知道是否為通緝犯,為何必須提供身分證影印本?而且為何只有台中市才要,其他縣市都不要,難道台中市要搞戒嚴嗎?
針對警方做法,法界人士指出,集遊法只規定在填具申請書時,載明糾察員姓名、性別、職業、出生年月日、國民身分證統一編號、住居所及電話號碼,至於「警察機關辦理人民申請集會遊行作業規定」中,也無要求附上糾察員的身分證影印本,警察機關不宜自行擴張解釋。
(自由時報記者蘇金鳳、許國楨、林良哲)
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