The future transitional justice promotion committee is to prioritize the establishment of a national political archive, committee chairman nominee Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) said.
The Executive Yuan on Friday delivered files on the nine committee member nominees to the Legislative Yuan for review.
In his file, Huang said that under his leadership, the committee would work closely with the National Archives Administration to expedite the disclosure of classified political files.
The committee would pour resources into collating overseas political data, Huang said, adding that he hopes that the committee would be able to share its files with the archives agency, the Academia Historica and the National Human Rights Museum.
Another priority is to commission experts to compile an investigative report aimed at “uncovering the truth” about incidents that occurred during the authoritarian era, the documents said.
A team of law, politics, history, social science and human rights experts would write the report, which would not only outline history, but also define the “red line” on human rights that should never be crossed by those in power, Huang said.
Committee member nominee Yang Tsui (楊翠) said in her file that there should not be forgiveness without also holding perpetrators responsible.
Victims should be given the opportunity to share their experiences so that their anguish can be felt by society and serve as a reminder of past mistakes, Yang said, adding that only then could reconciliation be attained.
Committee member nominee Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) said that the vast majority of Taiwanese have a linear assumption that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and their agents were the main perpetrators of human rights violations.
The committee’s work should include identifying perpetrators within the system and determining their accountability, Yeh said.
Committee member nominee Hsu Hsueh-chi (許雪姬), an expert on interpreting files from the White Terror period, said it is important that the context in which political files were created be taken into account to avoid causing victims or their families more pain.
Although Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) political files that predate World War II are not legally required to be collected, they might help people gain insight into post-war Taiwan, Hsu said.
Only when perpetrators and victims can agree to work together to establish historical facts in the name of promoting human rights and social justice can there truly be mutual trust, committee member nominee Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬) said.
Society has been quick to impose the concept of “live and let live” on the two groups, but it no longer fits today’s society, she added.
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight
Television presenter Mickey Huang (黃子佼) yesterday was indicted for allegedly possessing sexually explicit videos involving minors. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Huang after the High Prosecutors’ Office found deficiencies in its initial probe and on April 19 returned the case for further investigation. Earlier last month, Huang had been given two years of deferred prosecution. Prosecutors said that they found in their latest investigation that Huang had been a member of the online forum “Chuangyi Sifang” (創意私房) since Feb. 12, 2014. He purchased sexually explicit videos involving minors, and had downloaded images and videos that featured the breasts and sexual organs of young