Taiwan's Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Transitional Justice – Taiwan’s Truth
and Reconciliation Commission to investigate White Terror Era – 30,000 believed
killed in historically suppressed time known as the Period of National
Mobilization for the Suppression of the Communist Rebellion – that is to begin
on March 1.
All 228 Incident documents
declassified
SEEKING TRUTH: The president
announced the release of 4,617 documents, along with plans for a three-year
probe into materials relating to the massacre and its aftermath resident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced the declassification of all historical
records relating to the 228 Incident, saying that the measure is critical to
establishing the truth and expediting transitional justice.
“Pushing for transitional justice is
one of the most important missions for Taiwan’s democracy, but we often have to
discern the truth from the mists, with the most crucial yet complicated task
being uncovering and collecting the relevant documents, which are scattered
across various government agencies,” Tsai said on Facebook.
Tsai’s Facebook post came after the
government released a press release touting similar moves, in which it said the
speedy declassification of confidential files was aimed at meeting the public’s
expectation of transitional justice.
Tsai said collecting such material
is also fundamental to the government’s efforts to compile a report on
transitional justice, “as many traces of history can be found in past
government documents, which reveal the names of the people involved, related
incidents or other key elements.”
Of the National Achieves
Administration’s documents relating to the 228 Incident — which total 1.37
million pages — 4,617 documents were classified, but they have all now been
declassified in their entirety, Tsai said.
“In addition, the related political
files containing a total of 990,000 pages from 83 different government
divisions were listed as pending transfer [to the administration]. The transfer
process is expected to be completed by the end of June,” Tsai said.
The Cabinet plans to allocate
additional funds to the National Archives Administration to facilitate a
three-year-long investigation and collection of political materials relating to
the 228 Incident and the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the
Communist Rebellion, which is to begin on March 1, Tsai said.
“That will provide the foundation
for the writing of our investigative report on transitional justice,” she said.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown
launched by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against civilian
demonstrations following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947. The event
marked the beginning of the White Terror era, during which thousands of
Taiwanese were arrested, imprisoned and executed. Historians estimate as many
as 30,000 people were killed.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex
Huang (黃重諺) said the latest development, goals and purposes of the government’s
transitional justice commitment are expected to be the focal points of Tsai’s
first speech on the 228 Incident as president.
“Pushing for transitional justice is
a necessary process for any democratic nation undergoing a transition from
authoritarian rule… It is the government’s responsibility to deal with illegitimate
party assets, uncover the truth about human rights violations and problematic
policies enacted during the rule of the authoritarian regime, and to restore
people’s rights,” Huang said.
The transitional justice bill and
the political archives bill have been listed as the Democratic Progressive
Party caucus’ priorities in the current legislative session, Huang said.
After the passage of the bills into
law, an investigative report on the White Terror era is to be published and a
truth and reconciliation commission established, Huang said.
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