Community business owners and employees of the high-security prison on Green Island took to the streets yesterday to protest the Ministry of Justice's recent decision to close down the prison within a year.
The protesters, numbering over 200, said that shutting down the prison and its accompanying vocational training center for inmates will adversely affect the local economy and the rights of the two institutions' 86 local employees who might not all wish to leave the tiny island.
The protesters urged the Ministry of Justice to conduct a local opinion survey first and postpone its plan to close down the prison, which once housed such political prisoners as noted writer Bo Yang (柏楊) and former DPP Party Chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德).
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan announced Dec. 31 that the two institutions will be closed within a year. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) recently visited the island and asked the ministry to close down the facilities to "return justice to the people of the island."
The first human rights memorial in Asia was erected on Green Island in 1999. The memorial reads: "In that age, many mothers cried endless nights for their children imprisoned on the island."
Green Island is now part of the East Coast National Scenic Area. It is known for its saltwater hot springs -- said to be one of only three in the world -- coral reefs and coastal scenery.
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