Presentation at the 24 March webinar “The UN Day of the Right to Truth on Human Rights Violations: The Tai Ji Men Case in Comparative Perspective”
HRWF (02.04.2021) – Today I am very honored to join in the United Nation’s Day, the day for the truth concerning gross human right violation and for the dignity of victims.
The day for the truth, the core is to protect those who seek the truth and justice, providing active remedies to victims and to restore their dignity.
The right to the truth is truth for every person. The right to know the truth usually arises in the event of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian laws. Victims of executions, enforced disappearances and torture, as well as families of missing persons and children trafficked by children, have the right to know what happened to them. The right to know the truth means a full understanding of all aspects of the truth, the specific environment that participated in the concentration, including an understanding of the situation in which the violence occurred and why it occurred.
Now this day of the United Nations has the goal to make transitional justice. We have the strategy for the transitional justice: To remember this day of human right to the truth and recognition of human right victims in Taiwan and in all the countries in the transition from violence to peace we are all in a great challenge to transit from injustice to justice, from political lies to truth, from human right violations to protection of human dignity, from conflict to peace, from social alienation to reconciliation.
But today we still confront a (the) greatest human right violation in Taiwan 25 years ago, the R.O.C. government had prosecuted Tai Ji Men and confiscates and robs more than 50 pieces of lands of Tai Ji Men. The live internet broadcast had attracted more than millions audience island wide audiences. I am the one who personally join the protest before the Ministry of Justice, the office for confiscation Enforcement.
I respect Tai Ji Men. Tai Ji Men is not depressed, and Tai Ji Men will never give up to fight for the justice and its human right of property and religious freedom of human right. Now what we must do? We must inquire and require the government to return the confiscated properties.
In this case, the Justice means:
– we have (to) put criminal prosecution to Hou Kuan-Jen
– we had required the ministry of Justice and its prosecutor Hou Kuan-Jen to apologize for its illegal prosecution against Tai Ji Men
-R.O.C. Government has to return the illegal confiscation of the more than 50 pieces of land
– We had to require the truth seeking and recognition of victims of Tai Ji Men
-The government and its human right committee has to investigate and set up a truth seeking institution.
It means, it is a long way of justice for people in Taiwan and the members of Tai Ji Men. We compare the 228 massacre (in Taiwan) and the tax persecution 228 against Tai Ji Men because these two cases have the same structure:
In both tragedies, only victims are prosecuted, perpetrators were never punished.
There’s no official seeking the truth from the side of government
There’s no recovery and no recognition of victims.
There’s no compensation to Tai Ji Men.
There’s no reconciliation.
It means, it brings the consequences (that):
– If the perpetrators of human right violations are not to be held accountable, the violations will never end (but) will continue.
– If the severe violations are not be enlightened with truth seeking and truth documentation, there will be no true and fair judiciary.
– If the control Yuan does not investigate and give to the TJM victims the compensation and the return of their property, the ministry and the government of R.O.C. will become robbers and will not be trusted any more and not be respected by all the people in Taiwan.
-And Taiwan people will not tolerance the situation of lies and state crimes from the side of the Government.
In the case of Tai Ji Men, we must awake all the people in Taiwan, to bring the enlightenment to our society. So to know the whole truth, to seek the truth is very important for us, and I personally know Tai Ji Men, they are right now, they are not depressed. You know, Tai Ji Men is right now the biggest human right movement in Taiwan. They try to make ta taxation and legal reform. The legal reform and institutional reform is very important for transitional justice. Transitional justice means in the core justice that every person has to look after justice. We have to make justice realize in Taiwan.
Today is the day for the truth, the day to seek the truth, the day to bring the dignity to Tai Ji Men. We all wish that our government can hear the voice of our people. They can hear the voice who are looking for justice, looking for peace and looking for the trust between the government and the people. I think the biggest, greatest human right movement will be started by Tai Ji Men and our reform group.
So today I am very happy, I encourage the government, I encourage also every person in Taiwan. We must be brave, we will not give up, we will look for the compensation, we will require the government to return the property of Tai Ji Men. We will become the bravery fighter for human right and justice in Taiwan.
We have to start to seek the truth, and the truth and justice for every person in Taiwan.
Thank you!