Thirty-two years ago, the noted writer and historian Bo Yang was arrested after he published a translation of a comic strip that authorities saw as a seditious criticism of the government. He was put in prison without a trial and barely escaped the death penalty.

Bo Yang was one of thousands of victims of the "White Terror" in Taiwan that began in 1949 when the ROC government enacted the Emergency Decree and ended only when the measures were lifted in 1987. The interim years were a dark time for human rights protection in Taiwan.

During that period, the government sought to instill a sense of patriotism within the citizenry through media and education, in part by emphasizing the interests of the nation rather than the rights of individuals. The public was misled into accepting the government's authoritarian rule and rigid ideology. Freedom of speech was nonexistent and those who advocated human rights or civil liberties were often portrayed as betrayers of the nation.

In 1977, after spending nine years and 26 days in prison, Bo Yang was released because of pressure on the government from the human rights diplomacy of the United States and the efforts of human rights campaigners such as Amnesty International.

"One will truly value freedom if he has ever lost it; and one will understand fear and value life if he has ever faced death," the writer remarked. Since his release, he has devoted himself to the cause of improving human rights conditions in Taiwan.

Last year on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, Bo Yang and a group of fellow former political prisoners returned to the place where they were incarcerated on Green Island, lying off Taiwan's southeast coast. They took part in a dedication ceremony for the Green Island Human Rights Memorial, which was built with support from the ROC Office of the President under the supervision of the Human Rights Educational Foundation chaired by Bo Yang.

A stream of water pouring into a fountain in the center of the monument symbolizes the flow of tears described in an inscription on the wall. It reads: "During that era, how many mothers wept through the long nights for their children imprisoned on this island?" The memorial is a legacy to the people of Taiwan, representing the government's reflection upon past mistakes and the closure of a tragic era in the island's history. "It is a joy that the nightmare of the White Terror has disappeared and that we can now dispel the hatred and heal the pain. But we must never forget the mistakes the government made in order to prevent them from happening again," Bo Yang said at the dedication ceremony. His foundation has joined other nongovernmental organizations in lobbying for the passage of legislation to protect human rights and establish a national human rights commission.

But as Bo Yang has noted, "Human rights are not purely political in nature; they involve the essence of life itself, including ethical, family and social values." Although the ideal of human rights can be protected by a legal system, only the true understanding and acceptance of its various tenets by a given society as a whole can ensure its ultimate survival.

In his book "The Ugly Chinaman," Bo Yang used the metaphor of a "pickle jar" to describe the character of Chinese society, in which he says the dark side of the old culture has been preserved without being reflected upon.

The traditions of feudalism, orthodox Confucianism and the examination system for civil service have resulted in a lack of cultural dynamism that fostered the traits of ignorance and arrogance in the national character, according to Bo Yang. At the same time, a rigid social structure built around the family unit destroyed the concept of independent reasoning, discouraged individuals from expressing honest emotions and distorted the nature of interactions and relationships among people.

"All sorts of turmoil have arisen from the two extreme traits of arrogance and subservience, which prevent people from cultivating either individual dignity or respect for the dignity of others," Bo Yang added. He believes that the full development of the human personality and the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms can be achieved only through education.

On the same day as the memorial dedication last December, a workshop for primary school and high-school teachers was also held on Green Island. The seminar was organized by a group of professors specializing in various disciplines such as education, politics, psychology and medicine. Since 1996, they have been developing study materials and training pilot teachers for human rights education. The project involves four levels, covering preschool, the nine-year compulsory education system, high school, and university and college.

The traditional approach to education in Chinese culture tends to put teachers in a domineering role. Students often show nervousness, fear or intimidation when in the presence of authority figures and do not develop sufficient levels of self- affirmation. They may try to meet teachers' expectations and preferences while losing the ability to make their own decisions and judgments. Such a system does not help students learn how to deal with people as equals or to accept responsibility in adulthood.

Providing an environment wherein students can develop as individuals is the priority for human rights educators. This differs from the traditional teaching method in that students learn from their own experiences and are stimulated by interacting and discussing with others. They are also encouraged to explore their emotions and express themselves freely and openly. Students' opinions and participation should be respected and encouraged in formulating coursework and activities.

While students are taught the meaning, basic concepts and importance of human rights, the aim of human rights education is to facilitate them in becoming individuals by developing their own sets of values and beliefs. Finally, the ability to act independently and to respect and practice human rights concepts should be cultivated.

To implement this plan, some teaching materials formulated in other countries were acquired and a group of teachers was recruited to observe interactions among students and between teachers and pupils in local primary schools and nursery schools. Based on their observations, scripts for plays and stories for use in the classroom were compiled. Ideas for additional teaching materials and activities were developed during training sessions.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education announced that human rights instruction would be incorporated into the nine-year compulsory education system from next year. In preparation, Tang Mei-ying, a professor at the Municipal Teachers College in Taipei, and a group of colleagues finalized the details for integrating the human rights material into the existing primary and junior high-school curriculums.

Under the two themes of human rights content and practice, several teaching units were combined into syllabuses of language, social studies, science, arts and culture, and athletics courses.

They are designed to cultivate self- awareness and self-development, understanding of one's rights and abilities, and appreciation of differences between individuals and cultures. Students will be taught how to express themselves and respect, care for and cooperate with others. In addition, they will be exposed to various areas of international human rights theory and practice, including children's rights, group mobilization and information research and dissemination. The efforts to develop a high-school program were led by Pesus Chou, a professor at Yang Ming University who helped found the Yang Ming Crusaders, a volunteer group engaged in public health work.

Among its activities, the group runs summer camps for high-school students to promote human rights with an emphasis on health-related issues. Having also received training at the teaching workshops, the members of the Yang Ming Crusaders are an early success story for human rights education in Taiwan.

At the college and university level, a course developed by Mab Huang, chairman of the political science department of Soochow University in Taipei, will examine the origins and basic concepts of human rights, international human rights law and the function of nongovernmental organizations in related issues.

The course was tailored to meet specific needs of students in Taiwan on the basis of a survey conducted by Soochow University professor Huang Shiow-duan, who investigated how such influences as family background, ethnic identity and political orientation had shaped students' attitudes toward human rights-related issues.

Undergraduates will engage in discussions based on documentary programs and speeches by specialists on the human rights movement and various social and political topics. Graduate students will conduct research on the philosophical foundation, historical development and legal framework of human rights thought.

Human rights education was introduced to Taiwan only recently, but local institutions have already begun to cooperate with one another and with overseas institutions such as the Human Rights Information Center of Osaka, Japan.

However, some obstacles have emerged as well. Because social activism in Taiwan had its origins in the campaigns for civic and political freedoms during the latter years of authoritarian rule on the island, many people associate the concept of human rights only with its political aspects. Having experienced the instability of that period of social transformation, they tend to be skeptical about the ideals and goals of human rights.

Resistance also comes from school administrators and teachers in primary and high schools who insist on retaining traditional values and methods in education.

Dan Jau-wei, a professor at the Municipal Teachers College who specializes in philosophy of education, explained that the concept of rights is alien to Chinese culture. People see rights as a matter of self-interest or privilege that is at odds with the traditional emphasis upon obedience and obligation. He pointed out that social structures in which rights are an ethical component tend to be more definable and effective in resolving disputes. "Because people in Taiwan are not familiar with the vocabulary of 'rights,' the consciousness of human rights is still underdeveloped," Dan said.

However, signs of change are emerging. "Some teachers were skeptical when they first participated in the training workshops," Tang Mei-ying of the Municipal Teachers College noted. "But after learning what human rights are really about, they usually came to appreciate the importance of human rights education and found the discussion and activities stimulating." Human rights activists in Taiwan no longer put their lives at risk attempting to rescue political prisoners from dark cells. However, they face perhaps an even more difficult task in trying to instill new ideals into a deeply entrenched value system. "Human rights work is a never- ending effort," Bo Yang said. "We should be vigilant because if we are relaxed and idle, these rights could once again be taken from us."