Civic groups yesterday slammed the government for making the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) “even stricter than before"by requiring protesters to notify the authorities before staging demonstrations.
The history of the act can be traced back to 1988, just after martial law was lifted.
post-martial era
It was written to avoid social upheaval in the post-Martial Law era, while seeming to protect the public right to hold rallies.
Activists have long criticized the act for restricting freedom of expression rather than protecting it.
The act requires demonstrators to apply for a permit before any protest takes place and grants police the power to disband a demonstration.
It also prohibits demonstrations near government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions.
CIVIC GROUPS
Civic groups, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), the Judicial Reform Foundation (JRF), the Green Party and the Youth Labor Union, yesterday held a joint press conference to protest potential revisions to the act that would make it even stricter than before.
They chose yesterday to make their concerns public because amendments will go to a general vote in the legislature today.
Although both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party legislators, as well as the Cabinet, support the notification system, they argued over whether it should be mandatory or voluntary.
THE SAME
TAHR chairman Lin Chia-fan (林佳範) said that requiring demonstrators to notify the authorities beforehand was essentially the same as asking for approval first because it still goes against the concept of demonstrators having the freedom to notify government officials.
However, “a voluntary notification system allows demonstration organizers to decide for themselves whether it is necessary to call on the government for assistance,” he said.
Taipei Bar Association secretary-general Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) said that if lawmakers supported a mandatory pre-notice system, they should conduct a statistical analysis of how many demonstrations complied with the notification system and how many violated it.
“A very limited number of unannounced demonstrations ended in violence,” Kao said.
ABOLITION
The groups also called for the abolition of the powers police have to disband demonstrations, as well as a slimmed-down version or complete abolition of the areas that are off limits to demonstrators.
Under the proposed amendment, “if a person were to yell protests near [President Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九] the person would immediately be taken away by the police,” Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
“[The amendment would] blur the lines of police exercising their power,” Pan said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS