The US-based Formosan Association for Human Rights (FAHR) in a letter on Saturday condemned the “inhuman imprisonment conditions” faced by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and called on the Presidential Office and Ministry of Justice to “set aside political motives” and grant Chen the hospital stay he needs to return to full health.
Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption, was granted a temporary release from Taipei Prison on Tuesday for a medical checkup at Taoyuan General Hospital because of heath concerns. A series of tests revealed that he was suffering from an acute coronary syndrome and significantly reduced blood flow to the heart, a potentially fatal condition, the letter said.
Taipei Prison ignored Chen’s repeated requests for a hospital checkup for a month until pressure from 13 legislators persuaded it to relent, it said.
However, the prison authorities had planned to return Chen to prison immediately after the checkup.
Chen is currently in the intensive care unit after undergoing an urgent cardiac catheterization procedure on Wednesday. A small tumor was also found on his prostate during the examination.
“FAHR also calls for the opposition parties and people in Taiwan not to tolerate such inhuman treatment of a former president by the current [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] government in Taiwan,” it said.
Having been in prison for more than 1,200 days, Chen’s health has deteriorated rapidly, the letter said.
Although the letter made no reference to the matter, Chen’s entourage last week also determined that the former president had been given the anti-anxiety medication Ativan. According to his office and family members, the drug was administered without his consent.
Doctors at Taoyuan General Hospital attributed Chen’s poor health to long-term deprivation of sunlight, lack of exercise and an inactive lifestyle.
Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said last week that his father faced “inhuman conditions” in jail and was allowed only 30 minutes of outdoor activities a day.
Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) cited security concerns and respect for a former head of state for barring Chen from working in the prison factory.
“Early this year, for nine straight days, he was even denied his daily exercise time,” the letter said, -adding that unlike other inmates, who could work eight hours a day in prison factories, Chen Shui-bian had essentially been confined to a small, damp cell 24 hours a day. “Chen is not even allowed a desk and is forced to write on the floor. Such imprisonment conditions are a direct violation of the minimum requirements for prison conditions sanctioned by the UN, which says: ‘every prisoner who is not employed in outdoor work shall have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily if the weather permits.’”
“It is apparent that the inhuman imprisonment conditions [have led] to the rapid deterioration of Chen’s [Shui-bian] health,” it said. “FAHR condemns such inhuman and unlawful treatment against any prisoner, never mind a former president of Taiwan, twice democratically elected.”
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