Chen and Ma: Belated Birthday or Aborted Democracy?
Jack Healey,
Founder, Human Rights Action Center
Taiwan's Chen
Shui-bian celebrated his birthday just over a week ago from a prison. An early
activist to push people beyond the one-party authoritarian rule that was a
hallmark since the rise of the Kuomintang to power
after the civil war in China, Chen helped create Taiwan's main opposition party when
the very act of founding was illegal and subject to consequences. In a meteoric
rise, he became the mayor of Taipei and eventually the first (and to-date only)
opposition president for two full terms. Since leaving office, Chen was
engulfed in corruption charges and sentenced to a lengthy term of
incarceration.
The Human
Rights Action Center sent a delegation to Taiwan in 2012 to investigate the conditions
of Chen's detention. We found that there was substantial evidence that his
incarceration involved systematic medical neglect that both worsened
pre-existing conditions and created new conditions, some of which seem bound to
be permanent in either their presence or degree. We further recognized that the
peaceful transition of power between opposing policies is critical to the
functioning of democratic principles and that putting a former president into
challenging prison conditions is not usually seen for charges of non-violent
behavior.
This man,
once vibrant, is now withdrawn and unwell looking. The renowned quickness of
wit and charismatic voice is gone and has been replaced by a mere shell of his
former self. There are numerous irregularities and departures that have been
made from standard medical practice repeatedly during his incarceration,
ranging from treatment refusals to examinations conducted under the most wildly
rushed conditions. There have been attempts to restrict medical information
releases to other physicians, the family, and the media and we can say that the
motivation seems to be that of concealment rather than privacy. While we
appreciate the transfer of Chen Shui-bian to "more reasonable" cell
conditions, it is difficult to see what the motivation is to not release him
entirely as a gesture of compassion, reconciliation, and perhaps an
acknowledgment that the undeniable KMT abuses of the past weren't pursued with
prosecutorial zeal because of the need for solid transitions of power and the
development of a mature polity. Can it be so unusual for the KMT to consider
the same concerns for itself and its future or is the larger party hijacked by
a radical few, not unlike the recent Tea Party hostage-taking in the United
States with a government closure?
Much has been
made about Chen's presumptions of either innocence or guilt. While we think
that innocence would imply a much higher level of abuse by Ma Ying-jeou and his
cohorts, let us confront those who insist on his guilt and presume that he is
in fact guilty. To those who protest his guilt, we say clearly: It doesn't
matter. Even if one loses one's freedom under incarceration by the State, it
doesn't have one iota of impact on one's human rights. Chen's treatment during
incarceration has been excessive and not up to the presumed standard of medical
care that one is required to provide to a prisoner, someone who is quite
precisely under state control. But our concern is deeper than that and is
simply that the sustained imprisonment of Taiwan's first democratically elected
head of state from outside the single-party who wore the mantle of
authoritarian abuse for decades does not bode well for Taiwan being a democracy
at all. Let's put it more clearly: If you want to save Taiwan, you should want
to save Chen Shui-bian. If he dies in prison, if he remains both broken and
locked away from his family and not-inconsiderable base of supporters, the
damage that will be done is real. Taiwan's democracy will die on the vine
before fully blooming. Chen's supporters and other parties in opposition to Ma
Ying-jeou, indeed much of Ma's own party members, will hear echoes of a much
uglier time in Taiwan's past.
Taiwan has
made many strides forward in regards to human rights in spite of certain areas
of concern in spite of the persistence of gaps in people's equality, an increase in the use of the death penalty, and an uncertain
future in balancing development concerns with the imperative to protect the
environment and people's health. There are serious debates to have and these
should be embraced with mutual engagement and civility across Taiwan's
political divides. Indeed, the pending conference on human rights at
Soochow University is a good sign of the potential for such debate.
However, the recent behaviors on the part of Ma Ying-jeou to effectively try to
purge others from their positions, to extend his grip on power beyond the end
of his eligibility for elections, and to have refused our requests for meeting
with his office in November are too concerning to go unremarked and bode poorly
for the future.
We urge the
Ma government to engage in the compassionate release and pardon of Chen
Shui-bian, to respect diversity across and within political parties, and to
embrace the norms of international human rights. We urge citizens everywhere to
contact their own government to represent these concerns regarding these
behaviors and to support forward strides in human rights in Taiwan and
elsewhere in the world. We call on Taiwan's media and politicians on all sides
to be available for discussions that are constructive and encouraging.
We hope that
this is the last birthday that Chen Shui-bian has to spend in prison. We hope
that this is the last year that the political polarization seems to get worse
in Taiwan between parties. After an embarrassing shutdown of government in
Washington, D.C., it is time to get on with the business of engaging in the
daily life of politics. It is high time that Taiwan deserves to loosen the grip
of a small minority of political extremists and allow civility to return to
normal there too. We hope that Taiwan is able to transcend the current crisis
and to join an international community where human rights respect is the norm,
not the exception.
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