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.”
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS