‘COMPLICATED’:Aboriginal legislators criticized the review for leaving out alternative versions that would have addressed the historic injustices against their communities

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 23, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming, left, yesterday raises his hand

during a review of the transitional justice bill at a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee in Taipei. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Draft legislation for promoting transitional justice yesterday passed out of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, but after a sharp debate, the final draft left out a proposal covering the restoration of historic Aboriginal rights.

Yesterday was the first day of line-by-line review, which concluded when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators walked out of the meeting late in the afternoon after losing votes to expand the scope of the draft legislation to include Aboriginal issues, along with a range of other historic injustices and controversies.

The draft legislation proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus focuses on the human-rights abuses perpetrated by the KMT government during the Martial Law era, calls for the establishment of a special committee to investigate abuses and proposes legislation on issues such as opening government files, rectifying unjust verdicts and removing symbols of authoritarianism.     [FULL  STORY]