Pan-green lawmakers yesterday called the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) “ridiculous” for stating in a report that documents found last week at an abandoned MOJ building relating to the White Terror period should be destroyed.
The documents, along with body parts in jars, were discovered last week after the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that they had been left scattered at the Investigation Bureau’s abandoned Ankeng Guesthouse in Taipei County.
The guesthouse, once used as an office by the notorious Taiwan Garrison Command, was used to question dissidents and criminal suspects during the Martial Law era.
Among the documents found inside were records of the interrogations of late DPP chairman Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介), and the late writer, human rights activist and one-time political prisoner Bo Yang (柏楊).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said the caucus yesterday received a copy of an investigation report conducted by the ministry regarding the documents found at the Ankeng Guesthouse.
The report said that the documents should not be stored carelessly as they were information about individuals that pertained to their personal privacy.
“If the documents no longer need to be kept on file, they should be reviewed gradually and destroyed accordingly,” Lee cited the report as saying.
“What kind of an investigation report is this?” Lee said during a press conference yesterday, slamming the content of the report as “unacceptable.”
“Many of the documents found at the Ankeng Guesthouse are important information from the White Terror period. It is ridiculous that the report nowhere mentioned how relevant personnel should be held responsible — in terms of their due legal and administrative responsibilities — for scattering those documents without proper management in the first place,” Lee said.
“The DPP caucus demands the Minister of Justice shoulder her share of political responsibility if the Ministry of Justice is so casual in its handling of this matter,” he said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
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