The government remains steadfast in its commitment to facilitating transitional justice and preserving the stories of those persecuted during the White Terror era, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
“On the path of transitional justice, we will remain steadfast,” Tsai told an event marking Human Rights Day, observed annually on Dec. 10, at the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City.
Such efforts, especially to raise public awareness of what happened in Taiwan between 1949 and 1992, would help create a freer and more equitable society in which the values of democracy and human rights are protected, she said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Tsai administration first pushed for transitional justice in December 2017, when the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) was promulgated.
Efforts to carry out transitional justice have included investigating cases of political persecution and determining whether the victims in those cases should be exonerated or compensated, or both.
The government has also preserved sites where state wrongdoings occurred, such as the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park, which was a detention center, Tsai said, adding that it has promoted the teaching of White Terror history through school curriculums and cultural events.
These efforts aim to give the public an understanding of the harm inflicted by the authoritarian regime on society, while consolidating democracy and the rule of law in Taiwan, she said.
The government had since January confirmed 1,829 compensation claims by White Terror victims, awarding more than NT$3 billion (US$95.62 million) in total, she said.
Many of those cases were processed by the Transitional Justice Commission, which was not authorized to award compensation, and then handed over to a foundation created in January to restore the rights of victims of authoritarian rule.
Retired businessman and former political prisoner Yang Kuo-yu (楊國宇) urged the government to step up efforts to educate young people about the country’s authoritarian past and preserve historical sites of injustice.
The 91-year-old also called for the continued pursuit of the truth about what happened during the White Terror period.
Yang was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1950 at the age of 18, after being falsely accused of “taking part in rebellious groups,” government information showed.
Following his release in 1960, Yang started working in textiles, gradually working his way up in the industry before expanding to other businesses, such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
He was exonerated earlier this year.
Yang was among the former political prisoners recognized at yesterday’s event for donating to the National Human Rights Museum.
He donated to the memorial park a violin that he had throughout his incarceration on Green Island.
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