Victims of political persecution who were jailed on Green Island (綠島) during Taiwan’s Martial Law era plan to revisit the outlying islet later this week — this time to commemorate human rights by participating in an arts festival.
The Green Island Human Rights Arts Festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, has invited about 100 former political prisoners and their families as guests of honor to the island, the Ministry of Culture said.
Saturday is the 63rd anniversary of the island’s first imprisonments during the White Terror era, a period in which the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) persecuted people accused of being communists and dissidents.
The festival is to open with a screening of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which tells the story of one of recent history’s most prominent political prisoners.
The next day, a memorial concert is to be held by former political prisoners and their families, as well as local primary-school children and musicians from Taiwan and Japan.
Dance and drama performances are also scheduled, the Ministry of Culture said.
In 1951, more than 1,000 political prisoners were sent to “Freshman Disciplinary Camp” on the islet, where they were stripped of their personal freedoms and subjected to forced labor and “psychological reformation.”
Today the island is home to fewer than 3,000 permanent residents.
Former prisoner Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖) was only 19 when he was sentenced to 10 years on the isolated islet. His offense was participating in a book club in high school.
Tsai said he will never forget the painful memories, including severe beatings.
However, the ordeal transformed him from a vulnerable boy into a strong advocate for human rights, he said.
Wang Yi-chun (王逸群), director of the Preparatory Office of the National Human Rights Museum, said the aim of the event is to raise public awareness and hopefully prevent such an event from recurring.
Source: MINISTRY OF CULTURE
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