Author ｜
Jui-chiang Su
Abstract ｜
This study aims to discuss how some opposition party councilors─ so-called “Five Dragons and One Phoenix”─ in the Taiwan Province Council who were more conscious of human rights, discussed personal freedom in the council in an era in which national violence prevailed and human rights were trampled on in post-war Taiwan. In order to do so, this article explores issues such the reflection on the political and legal systems, the requirements of the proper legal procedure, the appeal of the trial and relief mechanism, etc., by discussing the martial law system, the rules governing crackdown on mobsters, the abuse of arrest, the use of torture, the jury system, the compensation for unjust verdicts, the pardon system, etc. From their statements, we may find the width of their concerns about the human rights issue, their perseverance, as well as their control over issues of the time. Nevertheless, although they had discussed a broad range of issues, the depth of their discussion was very limited. Besides, having gone through a national violence-prevailing era, their statements surprisingly seldom mentioned concrete cases and personal experiences in the 228 event and the White Terror, which rendered a considerable damage to personal freedom. Moreover, although Chiang Kai-shek was deeply involved in political violence in post-war Taiwan, they appealed to the authorities to pardon political prisoners on his birthday and on his reelection for president. This is also worth our review.
keywords ｜
Taiwan Province Council, Five Dragons and One Phoenix, personal liberty, human rights, national violence