Logo No. 6

After voting by all the students in Taipei/Hsinchu/Taichung/Tainan/Kaohsiung, logo No.6 is decided to be the logo of this movement!!

Action Statement 1108

Movement Origins

We are a group of university professors, students, cultural workers, and citizens who are concerned about Taiwan's current state of disorder and future development. Over the past few days, we have seen numerous instances of police overreaction and suppression, which have caused injury to citizens exercising their right to free speech. Through reports in the media, we have come to realize the seriousness of the current situation. It is no longer a technical question of excessive law enforcement tactics, nor is it simply a partisan issue between supporters of various political parties. This is a proliferation of state sponsored violence that is challenging and attacking civil society. Our concern over this state of affairs led us to peacefully protest at the gates of the Executive Yuan, beginning at 11AM on November 6. At 4PM on November 7, we were dispersed by the police. We have since regrouped at former Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where we plan to engage in a long term struggle.

Against Police Overreaction and the Suppression of Human Rights

Inappropriate acts taken by police in recent days include the following: Forcibly shutting down major highways, prohibiting citizens from waving the national flag in public, prohibiting citizens from stating that "Taiwan does not belong to China" in public, confiscating the personal property of citizens, such as flags and signs with slogans, forcibly detaining citizens filming areas near the Grand Hotel with handheld camcorders, without following due process, preventing citizens from flying balloons protesting toxic Chinese food products, and forcibly detaining citizens on a moped carrying a Tibetan flag, ordering the closure of a music store playing Taiwanese music. The police have tried to justify these repressive actions by claiming violations of the Assembly and Parade Law, the Social Order Maintenance Law, and invoking the Regulations on Police Duties, while ignoring the fact that their actions are in violation of the Constitution, Civil Law, and other higher level laws guaranteeing the peoples' free speech and property rights.

On the Importance of Personal Freedom

We believe in the importance of freedom. Imagine for a moment what would have resulted had the government ordered the police to crack down on the 2007 Red Shirt demonstration in front of the Presidential Office. The citizens of Taiwan would not have had the opportunity to listen to other opinions. It was only because they were not dispersed that different voices could be heard. Only by being exposed to numerous different viewpoints, can we learn how to determine for ourselves the quality of different opinions. This is an essential requirement for a functioning civil society which illustrates the importance of free speech. It is because free speech is so important that its protection is enshrined in the Constitution. Other laws must support the Constitution, facilitating its execution and specifying its limits. Despite this, the Assembly and Parade Law -- left over from the authoritarian days of martial law, gravely damages the right to free speech. By requiring protesting citizens to acquire a permit for a lawful demonstration, rather than simply notifying the government beforehand, it allows protests to be declared illegal before they even take place. Its excessive provisions for restricted areas off limits to protesters, allows governmental organs to insulate themselves from being challenged by public opinion. By granting the police excessive powers, it allows the police to take the place of judges in a court of law.

CONCRETE APPEALS

Amend the Assembly and Parade Law

We provide the following suggestions for revising the Assembly and Parade Law: (1) Change the current permit system to a notification system. The government has no right to examine the peoples' motivations beforehand, and declare unfavorable demonstrations to be illegal before they even take place; (2) Re-examine the current provisions for restricted areas. Demonstrations and marches allow unarmed citizens without any other means to make their grievances known and petition for redress. The current restricted areas do not allow the people to challenge governmental agencies; (3) Clarify permissible actions by the police in enforcing the law. Do not grant a blank check for the police to exercise whatever methods they see fit; (4) Make the new law an administrative law, rather then penal law. Compare to other laws, the current Assembly and Parade Law leads to heavier punishment than the other illegal actions, which is obviously violating the principle of proportionality.

Cope with Police Personnel Engaging in Inappropriate Behavior

The recent clashes between the people and the police have left us with a great sense of sorrow. We have been asked why we have not stood out to condemn violent mob behavior. To this, we provide the following response: We are determined to protect and support the people in freely expressing their opinions, and condemn any and all acts of violence, be they from the people or the police. From the many events of the past few days, we have seen that while violent acts on the part of the people can be regulated by law, law enforcement agencies can also abuse their power to justify unlimited brutality without any appropriate restriction or regulation. It is because of this that we condemn the government and the police for increasingly ignoring the law, and for inappropriate use of force to violently suppress the rights of the people to freely express their views. We request that a full investigation be carried out to identify police officers who abused their authority, and that appropriate punitive measures are taken. Additionally, the directors of the police and national security agencies who are ultimately responsible must step down.

President Ma must Apologize

The use of force by police is a symbol of state sponsored violence, and should only be used when absolutely necessary to safeguard the rights of the people to life, liberty, and property. Its use should never be employed without the utmost care. However, police agencies are only passive mechanisms that execute the orders issued to them. The positions and directives of the government, as well as the ruling party, will directly impact how rank and file police officers go about their duties. We condemn the administration of President Ma Ying-Jeou for trampling on the spirit of freedom and democracy that are fundamental to the foundation of our nation, and demand that he apologize.

Launch a movement of Civil Disobedience

We are a movement of civil disobedience initiated by students, and with students as our core. When the government invokes the unconstitutional Assembly and Parade Law, or abuses lawful governmental authority, subsequent governmental actions are illegitimate. The people have a right to refuse to obey illegitimate governmental actions. We hope that all people who agree with our statement will join us in this movement to demand that President Ma Ying-Jeou and Premier Liu Chao-Shiuan apologize to all citizens; that National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-Chiun and National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-Ming step down; and that the Legislative Yuan immediately amend the Assembly and Parade Law so that it does not threaten the rights of the people.

The original version: http://action1106.blogspot.com/2008/11/1106_7181.html

Support from the US

In a joint statement, 18 Taiwanese-American groups described the nation as ‘a police state’ and said Taiwan’s hard-won rule of law was destroyed:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/11/09/2003428104

Protest Statement

Starting on November 3, with the visit of representatives from China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) to sign various agreements with our government , police officers have engaged in numerous abusive acts against peaceful protestors from various dissenting groups, under the guise of "keeping the peace". These acts have included arbitrary searches and prohibitions, seizure and destruction of property, physical assault, dispersion, and even arrest and detention. The vast majority of the victims of this police brutality were nowhere near ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin, and were simply passing, standing, or photographing various areas when they were victimized.

Through reports in the media, we have come to realize the seriousness of the current situation. It is no longer a technical question of excessive law enforcement tactics, nor is it simply a partisan issue between supporters of various political parties. This is a proliferation of state sponsored violence that is provoking and attacking civil society. All these oppressive acts, which ignore human rights and democratic values are reminiscent of martial law. Even legislators from the ruling party have expressed concern over this issue to the Executive Yuan, only to see the chief authority - Premier Liu, dodge responsibility while providing only the flimsiest of excuses. We are stunned and outraged by this response, as well as ashamed and increasingly uneasy.

We must ask: Does increasing cross-Strait exchange require Taiwan to lower its standards of freedom and democracy, in order to achieve the same level of repressive authoritarian rule that China has?

In only a few short days, the liberal democracy that the people of Taiwan have fought so hard for has nearly collapsed amid massive police presence in the city, and the atmosphere of fear and repression that it brings. Behind its police state-like barricades, our government remains blinded by its delusions of a "meeting of historic proportions", and indulges itself in its receptions and banquets. Through this all, the peoples' constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech and movement have been cast aside, and even forgotten.

As many of their actions are unconstitutional, it is not surprising that not a single police officer before the cameras has been able to definitively state what law empowers them to carry out the orders issued to them by their superiors. Police officers are supposed to be civil servants charged with protecting the people. Yet under the outrageous requests issued from above, they have become thugs restricting and punishing the people for expressing their opinions. We have no intention of blaming individual police officers who can only obey orders issued by their superiors. Rather, we solemnly demand that the highest authorities in the government bear the largest share of political responsibility for these abuses.

We are simply a group of university professors, students, cultural workers, and citizens who are concerned about Taiwan's current state of disorder and future development. At 11AM on November 6, without any support or mobilization from any political party or civic group, we will assemble at the gate of the Executive Yuan in black clothes and face masks symbolizing our painful protest, and will join hands sitting in civil disobedience until our requests are met. Our requests include:

1.President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan must publicly apologize to all citizens.

2.National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun and National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chaoming must step down.

3.The Legislative Yuan must revise the Parade and Assembly Law, which currently restricts the rights of the people.

Informationen auf Deutsch / Information in German

Einige Informationen über die Ereignisse auf Deutsch (Information in German):

Was im Vorfeld passierte:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,588782,00.html

Der Polizeistaat (der Blog eines NDR Journalisten):
http://taipeh.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/der-polizeistaatsbesuch/

Proteste gegen das Versammlungsgesetz:

http://www.china-observer.de/index.php?entry=entry081110-045850

Interviewing the Student Protesters in Tainan

I stopped by the student protest in front of the gate of NCKU on Da Shue Rd in Tainan and spoke to a spokesperson for the protesters:

How long are you going to be out here?

"We are going to stay until tuesday. If the government hasn't given us a response by then, we'll probably continue. But we'll vote on that. If everyone decides to continue, then we'll continue." (more)


Because of the comment below, I decide to post a more relevant article from the author of the former article posted here: "Painful to live in fear, isn't it?" by Micheal Turton