Human rights groups are to hold a memorial march for the 228 Massacre, they said on Tuesday, urging Vice President and president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to give transitional justice bills a boost in the legislature.
Writing jointly in a news release, the Nylon Chen Liberty Foundation and Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute said that the special memorial march, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, is to mark the 77th anniversary of the incident.
The march is to take place in Taipei and other groups have expressed interest in attending the event, they said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The 228 Massacre refers to a mass shooting of protesters by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government on Feb. 28, 1947, that triggered bloody crackdowns on suspected dissidents across the island, inaugurating the White Terror era.
The groups said that they call upon the Legislative Yuan to implement transitional justice, adding that all political parties have a responsibility to deepen Taiwan’s democracy and defend its national sovereignty and human rights.
KMT lawmakers should confront the party’s historical mistakes, return the assets it illegitimately appropriated during the White Terror, and support the repurposing of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, they said.
The group said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should remain true to its stance on sovereignty and progressive values by continuing the party’s support of transitional justice legislation, adding that the Taiwan People’s Party can leverage its crucial minority towards this end.
Legislative efforts to hold persecutors accountable, protect historical sites connected to the White Terror and reform the management of the memorial have all stalled in the legislature, they said.
Breaking the gridlock would go a long way to healing historical wounds and bringing out a reconciliation between the nation’s ethnic groups and political parties, the groups said.
Last year’s partial passage of amendments to the Political Archives Act (政治檔案條例) and Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) were a step in the right direction, but not enough to realize transparency, they said.
The national security establishment and other government offices controlling the archives are urged to follow disclosure rules and not fight the law, the groups said.
“The many unaccomplished tasks of transitional justice is worrying,” they said, adding that the DPP government and legislative caucus should release a roadmap or timetable for transitional justice bills.
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