Mon, Jul 01, 2002 page2

• Officials mull publicizing identities of sex offenders

  • By Tsai Ting-I / STAFF REPORTER
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  Last September a multiple rapist who has been dubbed the "Hwakang Wolf" (華崗之狼) was barred from enrolling as a freshman at National Taiwan University following a public outcry.

  Almost a year later, the government is trying to establish a system that will publicize the identities of sex offenders, even though human-rights activists oppose the idea.

  New polls indicate that the public and most academics support the idea of making public the identities of those who have been convicted of sex crimes.

  Human-rights activists, however, warn that implementing the idea wouldn't be better than keeping the offenders in jail.

  In the Sexual Harassment Prevention Council's latest study, released last week, more than 80 percent of the respondents supported the idea of making the offenders' identities public.

  The figure is based on a Central Police University survey of 1,100 respondents.

  "Most of the respondents believe that Taiwan has poor public security and some 70 percent said that authorities should enforce stricter regulations. This group even thinks that the offenders should wear `sex offender' labels on their clothes," said professor Frank Huang (黃富源), dean of student affairs at Central Police University.

  But Huang warned that the government shouldn't adopt such measures before looking at other potential changes.

  Authorities are now building a database on sex offenders as part of the 1996 Anti-Sexual Harassment Law. The law states that the media cannot publish the identities -- and any clues to the identities -- of sex offenders.

  However, the government has no policy for handling convicted sex offenders once they are released from prison.

  "We should set up certain measures to monitor these sex offenders, but making their identities public is no solution," said Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), head of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.

  Women's rights groups, however, said that sex offenders frequently commit more crimes after they are released.

  "Notifying the communities in which these former offenders live is very important, especially as most of the offenders often repeat their crimes," said Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), director of the Garden of Hope Foundation.

  The women's rights groups' proposal is taken from the US' "Megan's Law" -- legislation that is named after a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994 by a paroled sex offender who had moved into her neighborhood.

  The legislation provides for public notification of the identities and whereabouts of convicted sex offenders after their release from prison.

  Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲), secretary-general of the Sexual Harassment Council under the Ministry of the Interior, said that the council is attempting to establish a new system to monitor sex offenders after they are released from jail.

  The question of whether to publicize their names and how to do so are still being discussed. Lin said the council would try to balance society's interests and human-rights concerns.

  "In some countries that practice the notification system, some sex offenders' houses were burned down on their way from jail to their homes," Lin said.

  The council plans to submit a proposed amendment to related legislation during the Legislative Yuan's next session.
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