Justice commission modelled on bodies in South Africa and South America probes killings during years of martial law.

Al Jazeera
Date: May 25, 2020
By: Violet Law

Soldiers perform the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the statue of founding President Chiang Kai-shek. The Transitional Justice Commission aims to redress some of the wrongs committed during Taiwan's nearly 40 years of martial law [File: David Chang/EPA]

Taipei, Taiwan – In 1981, the body of Chen Wen-chen, a rising-star of mathematics on a visit home from the United States, was found on the campus of National Taiwan University the day after he had returned from overnight interrogation at the police headquarters.

Only this month did his family get official word that Chen had probably been killed by the secret police. Suspected deaths like Chen's that took place in Taiwan during the island's nearly 40 years of martial law would have been consigned to the dustbin of history – but not for an investigatory body tasked with ferreting out the facts.

Modelled after truth and reconciliation commissions in Africa and South America, the Transitional Justice Commission was established in 2018 to redress human rights abuses and other atrocities before Taiwan became a democracy.    [FULL  STORY]