Representatives from media worker groups and academics yesterday accused the Taipei City Police Department of using excessive force against reporters in recent protests and trying to evade public scrutiny of what they described as police’s infringement of freedom of the press.
The violent eviction of reporters on March 24, when thousands of protesters occupied the Executive Yuan compound, and on April 28, during an overnight antinuclear sit-in on Zhongxiao W Road, violated the media’s right to report, the representatives told a press conference.
Citing the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the representatives condemned the police’s actions and called on the police to stop impeding with media freedom and using violence against reporters.
Photo: CNA
The National Police Agency and the Taipei City Police Department refused to send officials to the press conference because such an appearance would represent “tacit recognition” of the complaints, said Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), who hosted the press conference.
Hsu said that if the police choose to ignore the Constitution and international covenants and refuse to be held accountable, she would not rule out proposing a regulation in the city council to regulate police treatment of reporters.
The media representatives — from the Association of Taiwan Journalists, the Association of Taipei Photojournalists and independent journalists’ trade unions and television companies’ unions — said the accusations of excessive police force were backed by video footage and photographs.
Some of the photographs and several video clips documented police violence and use of water cannons against journalists and photographers were on view at the press conference.
“The past two months was a period that saw the most police interference with news reporting in recent memory,” Public Television System (PTS) Trade Union president Wang Yen-chieh (王燕杰) said.
At least three PTS reporters were evicted or suffered violence on March 24, Wang said, including one woman who was deliberately targeted with a water cannon, despite standing far away from the demonstrators.
Citing the police’s eviction of journalists from the lobby of the Executive Yuan before they began removing protesters from the building, and the physical assault against two photographers on a pedestrian overpass on April 28, Association of Taipei Photojournalists president Chiou Rung-ji (邱榮吉) said the police had ignored the Council of Grand Justices’ constitutional Interpretation No. 689.
The interpretation stipulates that journalists’ freedom of movement, freedom from bodily and mental harm, and freedom from interference in the public domain must be protected.
“Infringement of journalists’ right to report was primarily why Taiwan’s media freedom ranking in the world dropped this year — from 47th to 48th in the Freedom House ranking and from 47th to 50th in the Reporters Without Borders ranking,” Association of Taiwan Journalists president Chen Hsiao-yi (陳曉宜) said.
A country without respect for media freedom cannot call itself a democratic country, National Taiwan University journalism professor Chang Chin-hwa (張錦華) said.
It was a “stupid move” on the part of the police to try to keep their misconduct from being reported by removing journalists and photographers, because the public could record what was happening with their smartphones.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS