Political arrests and detentions in Taiwan

Erosion of Justice in Taiwan

17 January 2009

Dear President Ma,

We the undersigned, scholars and writers from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, consider ourselves long-time supporters of a democratic Taiwan. We write to express our concern regarding the erosion of the judicial system in Taiwan during the past few months.

On two previous occasions we have publicly expressed our concerns to Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng, but the Minister's responses are troubling in their persistent failure to acknowledge that there even is a problem, and in their attitude of denial that the judicial process is flawed and partial. We trust that our raising our concerns with you as President will be treated as advice from international supporters of Taiwan's democracy who care deeply about the country and its future as a free and democratic nation.

First we may mention the fact that your administration has not yet acted upon recommendations - made both by Freedom House and Amnesty International - to conduct an independent inquiry into the events surrounding the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin, and in particular the police behavior and infringements on basic freedoms. The establishment of a scrupulously neutral commission is essential if there is to be a fair and objective conclusion on the disturbances that occurred during the Chen Yunlin visit.

Second, we are concerned about the legal proceedings in the case of former President Chen Shui-bian. The switch of the case from a three-panel court that released him on his own cognizance on December 13th to a court that subsequently re-incarcerated him on December 25th - both Christmas Day and Constitution Day -- seems to have resulted from political pressure from KMT members of the Legislative Yuan. In his commentary in the South China Morning Post of January 8th 2009, Prof. Jerome Cohen presented details of such political interference in the judicial system, while the Associated Press on January 4th also gave incisive insights in the process that took place.

Third, we are deeply concerned by the widespread pattern of leaks to the media regarding ongoing cases - leaks, which because of their content and nature can only have come from the prosecutors' offices. As was reported by the Associated Press on January 4th 2009, prominent observers in Taiwan such as Prof. Wang Yeh-lih of National Taiwan University charge that these leaks come from prosecutors, who "…consistently violated the principle of guarding the details of investigations during the Chen case." This pattern of behaviour displays a distinct bias in the judicial system and a disregard for fair and impartial processes.

The lack of attention to professional judicial standards reached a new low with the skit by several prosecutors who satirized those whom they are prosecuting. We are disturbed by Minister Wang's defending this as "just for fun". Press agencies quote the Minister as saying: "It was just a play to help everybody relax. There's no reason to take it too seriously."In our view the actions by the prosecutors and the comment by Minister Wang display a lack of judicial professionalism and political neutrality.

We reiterate that any cases of alleged corruption must be investigated, and that if the defendants are found guilty in a scrupulously impartial process, they should receive just punishment after trial. We thus emphasize that the political neutrality of the judicial system is a fundamental element in a democracy. The examples mentioned above indicate that the investigative process has been conducted and sensationalized to the extent that both the right of the accused to a fair trial, and the presumption of innocence have been seriously jeopardized. Justice through the rule of law is essential to Taiwan's efforts to consolidate democracy and protect fundamental human rights.

In addition to the harm done to the personas of those accused, the international image of Taiwan has suffered. A president of a country bears political responsibility for the conduct of his subordinates' actions, and we therefore urge immediate and decisive action to correct the severe flaws in the process that are staining the national honor, perhaps irreparably.

Taiwan's judicial system must be not only above suspicion but even above the appearance of suspicion of partiality and political bias. We appeal to you, Mr. President, to restore the credibility of the judicial system in Taiwan and ensure that your government and its judiciary and parliamentary institutions safeguard the full democracy, human rights and freedom of expression, for which the Taiwanese people have worked so hard during the past two decades.

Respectfully yours,

Signatories:

Names of those who joined later are marked with a *

1. Ambassador Nat Bellocchi, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan
2. Coen Blaauw, Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Washington DC
3. Stéphane Corcuff, Associate Professor of Political Science, China and Taiwan Studies, University of Lyon, France
4. Gordon G. Chang, author, "The Coming Collapse of China."
5. David Curtis Wright, Associate Professor of History, University of Calgary
6. June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami, Florida
7. Edward Friedman, Professor of Political Science and East Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison
8. Terri Giles, Executive Director, Formosa Foundation, Los Angeles
9. Mark Harrison, Senior Lecturer, Head of of Chinese School of Asian Languages and Studies, University of Tasmania, , Australia
10. Bruce Jacobs, Professor of Asian Languages and Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
11. Richard C. Kagan, Professor Emeritus of History, Hamline University, St. Paul Minnesota. Author, "Taiwan's Statesman, Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia" and other works on Taiwan
12. Jerome F. Keating, Associate Professor, National Taipei University (Ret.). Author, "Island in the Stream, a quick case study of Taiwan's complex history" and other works on Taiwan's history
13. Hon. David Kilgour, former Member Parliament and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, Canada
14. Daniel Lynch, Associate Professor, School of International Relations, University of Southern California
15. Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania
16. Donald Rodgers, Associate Professor of Political Science, Austin College, Texas
17. Terence Russell, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Manitoba
18. Christian Schafferer, Associate Professor, Department of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology, Chair Austrian Association of East Asian Studies, Editor Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia *
19. Randall G. Schriver, Armitage International; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia - Pacific, US Department of State *
20. Michael Stainton, York Center for Asia Research, Toronto
21. Peter Tague, Professor of Law, Georgetown University
22. John J. Tkacik Jr., Formerly Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Washington DC
23. Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
24. Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond, Virginia
25. Gerrit van der Wees, Editor Taiwan Communiqué, Washington DC
26. Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus, the London School of Economics & Visiting Scholar, George Washington University *
27. Stephen Yates, President of DC Asia Advisory and former Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs