The Taiwan Jury Association and families of victims of military injustice today called on the government to restore the Military Injustice Petitions Committee as soon as possible, to protect the rights of military personnel and provide victims of military abuse and their families a platform to seek justice.
President William Lai (賴清德) last week announced plans to reinstate the military court system that was disbanded in 2013 to hear Chinese espionage cases and other offenses involving Taiwanese service members.
The association has drafted a bill to create the Military Human Rights Protection and Military Injustice Relief Act (軍中人權保障及軍冤救濟條例) and is requesting that the government reinstate an independent, fair and transparent committee to hear petitions, association chairman Jerry Cheng (鄭文龍) said today at a media conference held at the Legislative Yuan.
Photo: CNA
Restoring military trials is an important aspect of protecting national security, he said.
However the government must simultaneously establish an independent body to effectively investigate cases and help victims of military abuse, otherwise efforts to protect military rights would be rendered meaningless, harming morale and the image of Taiwan’s armed forces, Cheng said.
In 2013, the Executive Yuan temporarily suspended all military trials during peacetime and set up the Military Injustice Petitions Committee after the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), who allegedly died from abuse while serving in the military, Cheng said.
The committee ceased operations after just one year, he said.
The reinstated committee would not replace or infringe upon prosecutorial investigations, but would rather supplement any shortcomings, he said.
As an independent second-tier government agency overseen by the Executive Yuan, the committee would not be subject to limitations under the Basic Code Governing Central Administrative Agencies Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法) as suggested by the bill, he added.
According to the bill, the committee would be composed of academic experts, public representatives and lawyers, with at least half of the members recommended by military abuse victims’ families, he said.
It would handle cases for active-duty personnel and alternative service personnel in severe instances of injury, death, disappearance or mental incapacitation during service, he said.
In cases where improper discipline or other illegal behaviors are found to have violated the rights of military personnel, the committee would propose restitution, compensation or reparations in accordance with the law, he added.
“What we want is the truth,” the victims’ families said today at the media conference.
Speaking with CNA last week, the Judicial Reform Foundation also expressed concern that the previous legal framework would be restored. The NGO noted that the military court system was disbanded in 2013 because of multiple cases of human rights violations and cover-ups among military personnel.
The Executive Yuan planned to discuss further details about reinstating the military trial system next month, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said today.
At a press briefing, Lee said Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) would convene a Cabinet meeting early next month to review a plan for restoring and overhauling the system, as well as a timeline for putting it into action.
Lee said the government would "build up a new system" that ensures independence, fair trials and due process in future military trials.
The government is committed to addressing "the aspects of the previous system that were criticized and did not adhere to the Constitution," Lee said, without elaborating.
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