Shining Light into Dark Corners 38-Year-Long Martial Law: Living in Constant Terror Martial Law in Taiwan refers to the period between May 20, 1949, and July 15, 1987, in which the government severely violated fundamental and constitutional human rights by denying the right of free speech, assembly, and publication. During that time, political criminals, even though they were civilians and not soldiers, were tried in a military court. At that time, the government closely monitored citizens through a massive intelligence system where the informants or whistle-blowers were lured, menaced, or encouraged by “patriotism” to betray their friends and relatives and even fabricated crimes, thus fostering an atmosphere of mistrust Testimony on detention at Ankang Reception House Yao Chia-wen (sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment over the Formosa Incident): We were deprived of sleep during the interrogation... We spent all days sitting on chairs and were not allowed to sleep for more than ten days. I don’t know if it was a basement or the light was blocked out. It was always pitch dark. Chen Chu (sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment over the Formosa Incident): We were brought here in blindfolds and handcuffs. I have no memory of the layout or the routes in this place. I don’t even know what this place looked out. Once we got here, we were subjected to about 72 hours of non-stop interrogation. among the people and overall dread of politics. This had a huge negative impact on Taiwanese society. Political criminals were frequently mentally and physically tortured via secret imprisonments, The 38-year-long Martial Law changed the coerced confessions, and deprived of fair trials. lives and destinies of countless people and Sentences or detentions were often arbitrarily their families; it left deep scars that influenced extended or even changed to death penalties, following generations and severely curbed the and while in detention, many were tortured or held development of democracy and freedom in in solitary confinement. Furthermore, the families Taiwan. Coincidentally, this period of time also of political prisoners were under surveillance, turned out to be an era of vigorous developments monitored, and their rights to work and freedom for international human rights conventions. On September 21, 2020, the NHRC commissioners visited the former Xindian Military Prison of the Ministry of Defense accompanied by Transitional Justice Commission Chairperson Yang Tsui and Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang. The prison was the longest-serving of all the sites used for holding political prisoners (1952-1989). Former inmates recalled how between 20 to 30 people were packed into each cell. The NHRC inspecting the facilities used for processing political prisoners during the Martial Law period of movement were restricted; basically, they were akin to prisoners in an invisible jail. The victims of political violence were interrogated, put into detention, put on trial, imprisoned, re-imprisoned in reformator y institutions, or immediately executed. In this process, the authorities broke the constitutional order of liberal democracy and the principle of fair trial. In addition, they also violated Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;” Article 9 NHRC Chairperson Chen Chu returned to Ankang Reception House on September 21, 2020. The round view port on the cell door allowed the guards to see every inch of the cell. For the detainees exhausted by hours of questioning, the faces that appeared at random in the monitoring port induced fear and hallucination. 22 which protects liberty and security of person; Ar ticle 14 which ensures fair and public hearings; and Article 2 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Interrogation Detention, trial Ankang Reception House, etc. Jingmei Detention Center, etc. Imprisonment (Fixed/Life sentence) Re-imprisonment (Correctional training) Xindian Military Prison, Green Island New Life Correction Center and Oasis Villa, Taiyuan Correctional Prison, etc. The 3rd Occupational Training Headquarters on Liuqiu Island, etc. Firing Squad Burial in mass graves at Liuzhangli Note: The main sites used by firing squads in northern Taiwan were located along Xindian River. Better-known sites included Machangding and the Ankeng Execution Grounds. 23