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Civic groups stage mock funeral as they call for law’s urgent amendment

More than 20 civic groups supporting revision of the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) held a mock funeral in front of the Legislative Yuan yesterday, calling on lawmakers to amend the law as soon as possible.

“Offer flowers! Offer incense! Bow to the deceased!” the moderator called as mourners paid their respect to the “deceased,” as is customary in a traditional Taiwanese funeral.

Instead of a portrait of the deceased, a photo frame with the words “the Evil Assembly and Parade Law” was placed in the middle of the ceremony.

The mourners were representatives of organizations that have been prosecuted under the Assembly and Parade Law or support a revision of the law.

“We’re holding a funeral here for the Assembly and Parade Law, which restricts freedom of assembly and our right to public protest instead of protecting them, hoping that a true revision of the law could be made as soon as possible to make it a law that actually protects freedom of expression,” Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) told the demonstrators.

The law stipulates that rally organizers must submit an application for assembly and parade permission six working days before a planned demonstration is to be held.

The law also places several locations — including the residences of the president and vice president and some government office buildings — off-limits to demonstrations, gives police officers the power to disperse demonstrators and sets penalties for violating the law.

While the groups demanded that these clauses be removed from the law, government institutions, such as the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police Agency, argued that a revised law would not be much different from the current one, saying that only about 0.352 percent of applications are rejected on technical grounds.

Humane Education Foundation chairman Shih Ying (史英) disagreed.

“It’s true that government bodies have been applying the law loosely, but we should not be deceived,” Shih told the crowd. “Because when it’s necessary, the government can still make a very harsh interpretation of the law.”

Shih cited examples of alleged police brutality when Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taipei earlier this month, saying the police behaved very differently toward demonstrators during a campaign aimed at toppling former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 2006.

“In 2006, four police officers were dispatched to remove one demonstrator, whereas this time, demonstrators were dispersed by police wielding batons,” Shih said. “We cannot trust the government, that’s why the law needs to be revised.”
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