死當台灣：馬英九專有的癖好

死當台灣：馬英九專有的癖好

美國華府人權行動中心創辦人 傑克希利

節譯者：凃瑞峰

2013-10-03

在一個政治成熟的社會或自由民主國家，一個政治人物的民調若掉到10%以下，就像是世界末日，絕對是空前絕後。台灣的國民黨主席馬英九不但創下這項世界紀錄，他的支持率還有可能繼續探底。馬英九剛剛藉大是大非之名，開鍘了立法院長王金平，逼退了法務部長曾勇夫，手法粗糙, 殘酷無情,造成台灣朝野舉國譁然，成為眾矢之的。馬的對策是打電話給各個媒體高層，拜託他們多說好話，體恤他脆弱的自尊。他以為關說媒體、替他抹脂擦粉，他的政績就會光鮮亮麗。台灣媒體長期被藍營壟斷，關說媒體可能相當管用。然而馬英九為什麼會做出這種反民主的舉動，即使把國民黨推入歷史灰燼，也在所不惜？

馬的前任陳水扁是台灣有史以來，第一個從民國黨手中贏得政權的台灣人。他以台灣獨立為選舉主軸，當選後雖然不得不為政治現實低頭，改走較溫和路線。然而他堅持台灣主權，嚴防台灣被中國併吞。為此，他不願意對中國全面經濟開放，擔心台灣的產業會被中國吸乾，造成台灣勞工失去保障。

在馬英九死當台灣的同時，陳水扁正被關在台中監獄，他的健康一日不如一日，醫療人權被剝 奪，他手抖、站不穩、講話結巴，與以前活力充沛、智力超人的陳水扁相比，判若兩人。然而馬英九仍不特赦，不讓他回家療養。

這在一個多黨政治的民主社會，絕不會被人接受，國民黨因此被國際視為實施政治報復，因為它不能忍受它的政權受到挑戰。馬英九對台灣年輕人(20 - 24歲) 14.77% 的高失業率毫不在乎，反而專心在報復陳水扁，違反政權和平轉移的原則，更是迫害人權的實例。

我們要正告馬英九，關說媒體是現代文明社會絕不容許的劣行，他要關心的應該是台灣的經濟和年輕人的未來。他也該承認錯誤，讓陳水扁回家，挽回台灣在國際的人權形象。然而馬英九似乎已經橫了心，要繼續蠻幹下去。為此，我們決意再次造訪台灣，除了參加台灣東吳大學在11月的人權研討會外，我們還要調查台灣人權現況，特別是陳水扁的司法正義與人權。

我們期望馬英九能從善如流，善待陳水扁前總統，廢除死刑，真正遵守國際人權公約。

The Shutdown in Taiwan: Ma Ying-jeou's Peculiar Obsession

Jack Healey, Founder, Human Right Action Center, Washington D.C., USA

Published on Huffington Post, 10-2-2013

In a politically mature society, in a free democracy, getting an approval rating of less than 10 percent is apocalyptic for one's own political career and often for one's party. And yet it would appear that Taiwan's KMT President Ma Ying-jeou has achieved this and is heading lower in his approval ratings. Having just fired the Speaker of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's unicameral parliament, Wang Jin-pyng and Justice Minister Tseng Yon-fu, it is hard to guess how much further he will range in his commitment to alienate all but an inner circle of his supporters. Feathers are flying across party lines to sort out how and why these things have transpired. In answer to these criticisms, Ma has called for newspapers to tread more softly on his fragile ego, as if stifling a press adds to the luster of any presidency. Then again, given the history of the blue end of Taiwan's political spectrum, the metaphorical use of stifling might also include a rather more real-world implication. Why would Ma seek to pursue a policy at odds with principles of mercy and justice when it seems on the verge of resigning his own party to history?

Ma's predecessor, Chen Shui-bian, won power away from the dominant KMT for the first time in Taiwan's history. He ran on a ticket of Taiwanese independence, even as he moderated his stance upon election. Importantly, he was thought to not only be a voice against being assimilated into the undemocratic practices of the People's Republic of China but stood against opening the floodgates of commerce out of a fear that Taiwan's industries would be swallowed into the giant economy without strong enough worker protections. In the midst of all this turmoil, the former president sits in prison while having his medical conditions neglected and grows weaker with each day. A symbol of hope to some and a fool to others, his stuttering, shaking hands, and increasingly unsteady gait show him a shadow of his former self and yet Ma will not grant him a release or pardon. This does not bode well for a multiparty democracy that is untempered by regular transitions of power between parties, and particularly poorly for the KMT to be visiting such behaviors upon a former head of state who was the first to challenge KMT supremacy.

Though tied up in our own budgetary and healthcare debates, the American political system has sat up and taken notice. Democrats and Republicans have shown a rare bit of bipartisan concern over the behavior of the Ma government. Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sherrod Brown of Ohio are joined in this by Congressman Andrews of New Jersey in voicing their concern for the condition of the former president. Secretary of State Kerry himself was asked about Chen Shui-bian during his last testimony on the Hill.

With overall unemployment lower in Taiwan than in the United States, the figure to watch is one that shows unemployment among younger people (ages 20 to 24) to sit at an uncomfortable 14.77 percent, higher than it was at the beginning of the year. President Obama won two terms with the energy and power he was able to bring forth from this sector of American citizens, but Taiwan's unemployment rate surely spurs younger generations to leave the island to seek their economic future in other nations. President Ma seems less concerned with the brain drain that he is imposing on Taiwan's future and resulting financial despair, too busy removing the last vestiges of hope from a prisoner denied full medical access. This does not augur well for the stability and progress in transitioning to a mature democracy nor respecting basic human rights.

Mr. Ma has plenty to deal with in terms of matters of state importance and concern. He might consider the economic losses that future generations will struggle with or even the future reputation of his own political party at home and internationally. Let the press do their job without intimidation either stated or implied. Media intimidation has no place in a modern society. Importantly, acknowledge your missteps and send Chen Shui-bian home. Do it for your party's future. Do it for Taiwan to be able to maintain international respect for its accomplishments. Do it because it is the right thing to do. In a time when so many governments are restricting the observance of universal human rights, Taiwan stands able to be remembered for standing apart. The question is whether Ma Ying-jeou will continue to lag behind forward nations in doing the right thing or whether he will stand in the forefront of setting an example. At the moment, we fear that he is doing the former rather than the latter. We intend to return to Taiwan in November for a Human Rights Conference at Soochow University there and will arrive early to seek meetings with all segments of the political spectrum to inquire after justice and rights with regards to Chen Shui-bian's treatment among other human rights concerns in Taiwan. For the future of Taiwan and for the international observation of human rights, we urge the ethical treatment of the former president, the abolition of the death penalty, and the address and observation of other universal human rights norms.