Preserving infamous former prisons and turning them into museums may help to teach future generations important human rights lessons, speakers at a panel on prison museums said yesterday.
The panel — part of the Green Island Human Rights Arts Festival — was held yesterday by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) at the Taiwan Human Rights Memorial in Jingmei (景美), Taipei.
The Jingmei human rights memorial park is home to the courtrooms where political prisoners were tried during the 1960s to the 1980s period of the Martial Law era, and the facilities where they were imprisoned.
PHOTO: CNA
Political prisoners from the former Jingmei martial law prison stayed in very small cells with toilets located inside the cells.
They were often tortured, abused and forced to work as cheap labor, former political prisoners said in a video shown prior to the beginning of the panel.
“It’s important to preserve these buildings so that people can be reminded of what once happened here — if we don’t know our history, it may repeat itself,” CCA vice-chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) told the audience.
“If we’re unaware of it, human rights abuses could continue to happen in any corner of society — maybe in different forms — even in a democracy,” he said.
Guest speaker, Rich Weideman, public affairs chief for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California, agreed that former prisons have important educational value.
He has worked as a tour guide at Alcatraz Island prison since 1980 and participated in the design of education curriculums about the prison.
Alcatraz was first used as a military base to protect San Francisco from attacks in the 1850s. It was turned into a military prison in 1909, and then a federal prison in 1934.
The prison was closed in 1963, and it was officially inaugurated as a tourist attraction in 1972.
“People have many misconceptions about prisons, because Hollywood movies and the media glamorized life in Alcatraz,” he said. “Therefore I think a tour of the prison presents a very good educational opportunity.”
To show what life on Alcatraz was really like, visitors follow in the steps of prisoners from the moment they arrived on the island. The tours are accompanied by voice recordings of former prisoners, guards and their families, telling their stories, Weideman said.
“It’s very important [for tourists] to get into the mindset of these prisoners — and some actually leave the place in tears,” he said.
“If what we do keeps even one kid out of prison, it’s worth the effort,” he said.
Park Goo-yong, a philosophy professor at South Korea’s Chonnam National University, and one of the planners of the May 18 Liberty Park in Gwanju, South Korea, shared similar views.
The May 18 incident happened in 1980 when tens of thousands of South Koreas demonstrated against military dictator Chun Doo-hwan — who had just taken control of the government following a coup — but were faced with a violent crackdown.
In order to commemorate the event, the May 18 Liberty Park was created in 1998 to preserve the martial-law courtroom and the military prisons.
“For many Koreans, the May 18 incident belongs to the past, and people only think about it every May,” Park said. “With the park and preservation of the historic space, we intend to educate our children about the history, so that they can learn about the core values of the uprising.”
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or