Tragedy and Tolerance--The Green Island Human Rights Monument

Published: 07/1997
Source: Sinorama
By: Daisy Hsieh

Somewhere clouds at sundown set an old town ablaze, and views of hills draw notes from Tartars' pipes, but on this lonely isle cries ring through the night as sleeping sea dragons spout a sanguinary haze.

When wind and rain halt at last for dawn to gaze through a cell's barred window and upon its wall, fresh blood drips from the executioners' hall. Will the people slumber still, or stir to rage?

These lines from Bo Yang's "Cries on Green Island" de-scribe the author's grief and indignation at nearly a decade spent as a political prisoner there.

But rather than stirring rage and tragic acts of revenge, those sentiments have been transcended, so that Green Island is now site of Asia's first monument to human rights. Its establishment also serves as a milestone in Taiwan's pursuit of peace and justice.

When the northeast monsoon was at its peak in early December, stormy skies, strong winds and ferocious waves made coming to this small island off Taiwan's southeast coast feel like boarding a forlorn little boat that was liable to capsize at any moment. The sensation was all the more intense on Kungkuan Beach at the extreme northern tip of the island, where the incoming weather first hit shore and the winds howled so loud that they seemed to be protesting to Heaven.

The contrast was all the more striking, then, when musical strains conveying peace and harmony floated over the sands on December 10. To the accompaniment of violins, harps and other instruments, public officials and private citizens numbering nearly 100 in all sang "Amazing Grace." The song gave voice to the aspirations of Taiwan's people, both resonating deeply with the island's tragic history and welcoming a new era.

The singers had gathered for the ground-breaking ceremonies for a monument to human rights being erected by the Human Rights Education Foundation. The monument is intended specifically as a memorial to the victims of Taiwan's "white terror," which began in 1949-50 when the ROC declared martial law and enacted the Measures to Eradicate Espionage during the Period of Communist Rebellion and ended with the repeal of martial law in 1987. During this period, many were jailed after being falsely accused of crimes or practicing civil disobedience.

No more mothers' tears

"Scheduled to be completed in the year 2000," explains the writer Bo Yang, who is chairman of the foundation, "the monument will bear just one sentence: 'In that era, how many mothers spent nights crying for their children locked up on Green Island!'" In 1968 Bo himself entered the prison there for the crime of "espionage." He had sarcastically translated the word "fellows" in a Popeye comic strip as "quan guo jun min tong bao," a favorite phrase of Chiang Kai-shek's that literally means "my fellow soldiers and countrymen." By the time Bo was released, he had lost nearly a decade of his life and his marriage to boot.

For Bo and other former residents of the "Oasis Villas," as the prison was actually called, the place still has a strong pull on their emotions. "Even now, just mentioning the two words 'Green Island' causes very strong feelings to stir within me." Whenever Bo hears "Green Island Serenade," for instance, he sobs so hard that he can't speak. The depth of his sentiments has brought him back to Green Island several times. Worried that the island's significance might gradually be forgotten over time, Bo three years ago established the Human Rights Education Foundation, which has raised money and lobbied the government for a memorial to be erected on the beach in front of the prison.

"Originally it was going to be called the 'Memorial of Tears,' but on the advice of many, we changed it to the 'Human Rights Monument,' so that it would take on a broader significance in promoting human rights generally. Bo hopes that if funds are sufficient, the surrounding area can be designated a human rights park. Future generations would thus be able to come and reflect upon what happened here.

"The government's past mistakes are understandable and can be forgiven, but under no circumstances should they be forgotten," Bo Yang says. "If they are, then the same things can happen all over again to us or our children. By covering up, fleeing, or distorting history, people just end up repeating the same mistakes." The memorial announces to the world that Taiwan's nearly 50 years of white terror is in the past, and that the nation will never fall into the same trap. It offers a way forward, toward a future in which mothers will never have to cry again.

Reeducation center

Not even two kilometers long, this beach has indeed borne more than its share of tragedy. Because Green Island is formed from volcanic rock, it used to be called "Fire Island," but in 1949, its name was changed to Green Island after the verdant pastures that cover it. A well-known popular song, "Green Island Serenade," gave the island a certain romantic cachet.

Its meandering coastline, formed of volcanic rock that has been eroded by its long contact with wind and water, is quite striking. Steep cliffs and towering rocks backed by a thick emerald carpet of grass, magnificent coral reefs, pristine white sand beaches and blue sky and water combine for beautiful scenery. No wonder, then, that after the repeal of martial law the island was included in the East Coast National Scenic Area in February of 1990.

But during the nearly 50-year reign of white terror, the mere mention of Green Island was enough to make people turn pale. The island has an area of 16.2 square kilometers but a population of only about 3,000. Isolated at sea, it was first used as a site of a prison during the Japanese era. After the repeal of martial law, the provincial authority in charge of public security turned Green Island into a "reeducation center" for reforming criminals whose thinking needed changing or whose political views were problematic.

In the Historical Documents about Political Cases in the 1950s during the Era of Martial Law, one victim, Wang Nai-hsin, describes how prisoners went to Green Island back in those days. "In the middle of the night we were awakened by a great racket [in a jail in Taiwan proper], and our names were called. We were ordered to get up and pack our bags. Then we were brought out into a plaza, where we were handcuffed to a partner and tied by the waist into groups of ten men. When it was almost dawn, we were brought to the docks in Keelung. Every man was given three moldy bread rolls, and then we were herded into armored landing craft in the harbor that were awaiting our arrival and ready to go."

"Apart from having thought-reform classes," recalls Shih Hsien-hua, the secretary of the White Terror Resistance Association, "we also had to work maintaining the grounds and buildings, raising pigs and growing vegetables." The work building the prison walls made the deepest impression on him. Originally there were no outer walls, but the inmates were ordered to go down to the beach to collect rocks to build castle-like bulwarks. "So it was that we built the walls for our own imprisonment."

Shih Hsien-hua, a native Taiwanese, was learning Mandarin at a supplementary school in 1949 when he was implicated in an espionage case involving his teacher. He was imprisoned on Green Island for 13 years. The year before last, when he and fellow victims formed the White Terror Resistance Association, the first thing they did was to return to Green Island to reflect upon the suffering they went through there. About 90 former prisoners returned together only to find that the prison administration had torn down a portion of the wall. They were all deeply saddened by this destruction, and one former inmate drew a sketch of the old prison from memory. On the day of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Human Rights Monument, Shih brought a poster that he had made based on that drawing, and unrolled it for everyone to see. "Although these memories are painful, we don't want to forget them, because we don't want our experiences there be buried and obscured."

The 13th List

"The white terror was extremely broad in scope," explains Lee Hsuan-feng of The Historical Research Commission of Taiwan Province. "It spanned differences of provincial origin, gender and political affiliation, and even affected members of the government and the military. Lower-, middle- and upper-class people were all at risk, everyone from generals to small shopkeepers."

"Among those arrested were quite a few who actually were spies, but most were unjustly accused, and they were forced to live in the most abominable of conditions and suffer cruel punishments. The longest time served was 34 years and seven months. When first imprisoned, this man was 26 years old. He didn't leave until he was a white-haired 60-year-old." Lee explains that the jail has already published 12 lists of inmates. But when some prisoners died on Green Island, no-one came from Taiwan to collect their remains, and so they were buried there in common graves. They comprise a "13th list." Today you can still see their tombstones.

"Those who survived Green Island have a need for emotional release after a half century of anger and humiliation," writes Lee. "Apart from documenting their experiences, so that they have a chance to set the record straight for a true accounting of history, it is also important to preserve old sites to allow those who suffered so greatly there to release the tears they suppressed for so long, so that their tragic pain is lessened." In the course of performing research, commission staff came to explore the old site and took photographs of their findings.

Apart from the relics of oppression on Green Island, in recent years the government has designated Machangting near Taipei's Youth Park, where political prisoners were interrogated and executed, as a memorial garden. And the common grave near Liuchangli in Taipei County, where more than 200 victims of the terror were buried, has been turned into a memorial tomb in an effort to offer condolences to the dead.

There has also been compensation of a more practical, financial sort. In June of last year, the government announced the "Regulations Governing Compensation to Those Falsely Imprisoned as Spies Under Martial Law." Six months later, the Executive Yuan established a trust fund and work began to identify the victims and process paper work. NT$60 billion was appropriated, and the government began to accept applications from the relatives of the victims. The highest awards, granted to relatives of those who were executed, are for NT$6 million.

New jails over old wounds

Among the many visiting Green Island was Shih Ming-te, now a member of the Legislative Yuan who was arrested for his involvement in Kaohsiung's Formosa Incident of 1979. He was even one of Bo Yang's cellmates for several years. Back then, when the original prison fell into disrepair, and the inmates were moved to the Oasis Villas, they had to live more than 10 to a cell. The atrocious conditions and the constant criticism and thought control are hard for Shih Ming-te to forget even now.

When he returned to the Oasis Villas last year, Shih was surprised to find that the jail was once again being rebuilt and physical evidence attesting to the way they lived there was being destroyed. He found himself seething in anger. "What was most reprehensible was that those who had been the oppressors, under the banner of promoting forgiveness, had destroyed evidence-all so that people will forget." Shih notes that memorials have been established all over the world since World War II so that people will not forget war atrocities. These include Holocaust memorials for those Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps, and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial to those who died from the dropping of the atom bomb, as well as the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. "Only courageous and self-reflective peoples set up memorials."

"Since the government is sincere in showing a willingness to build the memorial, why won't it boldly preserve the remains of those old jail structures, just as America has preserved Angel Island, which is bound up with the suffering of Chinese immigrants in America?" asks Shih. Although Oasis Villas has already been half torn down, they can still halt further destruction and take emergency efforts to save the prison buildings, so that the people of the world can see their original appearance and the Oasis Villas can become a cultural asset. Currently, work there has stopped, pending government orders.

Whether preserving old structures or building new monuments, all these efforts are being made so that fleeting emotions and memories find some concrete representation. "Human beings are creatures that crave monuments and memorials; man wants to be remembered and wants to remember others," says Han Pao-te, president of the Tainan National College of the Arts, who is designing the monument. Han, who once wrote an article about the importance of the memorial aspects of architecture, points out that since ancient times people have used architecture to cling to feelings and concentrate memories. Whether what happened was cause for joy or suffering, "We all like to reflect upon our feelings about the past. Memorials provide a way to link the present with the past, a way for our emotions to cross gulfs of time and space."

From remembering to educating

With this conception, both private individuals and members of the government are supporting the erection of the monument. "People's lives were wasted when they were imprisoned for many years here because of their beliefs and political views," said Premier Vincent Siew, who spoke as master of ceremonies at the monument's ground-breaking. "In truth, freedom of belief is a God-given right, and no one should be imprisoned for political reasons." Past history shows us, Siew noted, that human wisdom is often distorted by mistaken judgment, with deep regrets later. There is the hope that with the establishment of this memorial, Green Island will experience a rebirth, in which the unhappy memories will settle and a beautiful new future unfold.

The financial contributions the project has received convey the importance that the people of Taiwan attach to it. "Apart from contributions from the government and private individuals, the largest have come from businesses," says Hung Ching-chin, a member of board of the Human Rights Education Foundation who works at the Social Medicine Research Center at National Yang Ming University.

While the monument is being built to make a record of the past and provide emotional release for those who suffered tragically, it is also important to work toward a future in which human rights are better respected. Pesus Chou, a National Yang Ming University professor who is executive director of the Human Rights Education Foundation, points out that among the foundation's chairman, executive director and 12 board members, only Bo Yang actually experienced political oppression. The others are all people who work in the fields of culture, education, law, or business and who feel that Taiwan's human rights education still needs strengthening. They organized this foundation in the hope that it could perform such work.

For instance, in order to instill respect for human rights in people's daily lives, the foundation has promoted the concept of sexual equality and mutual respect and designed a "Human Rights Marriage Certificate" that states that the two partners in marriage ought to enjoy equal rights. Over the past two years, the foundation has also sponsored trips by National Yang Ming University's "Red Cross Team" to remote towns in Hualien and Green Island during summer vacation to teach junior high school students about human rights. This has in turn led to these students' gaining a new understanding about people's rights to life, health and freedom. When freedoms, for instance, impinge upon others' rights to life and health, there ought to be self-imposed limits and a sense of self-restraint. "The monument is just a beginning," says Chou. "The real long-term goal is education."

Human rights are universal

"There is much about human rights education in Taiwan that needs improvement," says Mab Huang, chairman of the Political Science Department at Soochow University, who has long been an active proponent of human rights in Taiwan. Apart from political rights, human rights issues involving gender, disadvantaged groups in society, and human rights education in schools all need attention. "Taiwanese society used to be full of violence in marriages, child abuse and discrimination against the elderly, the handicapped and other disadvantaged groups," says Huang. Although various advocacy groups are fighting forcefully on their behalf, from a legal standpoint there is still little that prevents violations of their human rights.

"Criminals in Taiwan can still be sentenced to death for 160 different offenses," says Cheryl Lai, vice chairman of the Taiwan Human Rights Association, which has been established for 15 years, during which time it has worked to get the government to discard its black list and release prisoners of conscience. "Foreigners convicted of crimes here enjoy no protection of their human rights, and we do little to support the advance of human rights in neighboring countries."

Lai points out that human rights work is a long-term project. Perhaps it is no longer as dangerous as it was when the object was to save people from dark jail cells, but now it puts one to even sterner tests, such as taking on twisted and deeply entrenched value systems and fighting against ethnic discrimination.

Mab Huang notes that current definitions of human rights are usually taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights made by the United Nations at the end of World War II. That document was the result of people in a great variety of nations seeing mass ethnic extermination and other atrocities and thus coming to the conclusion that there was a need for an international agreement urging all the world's nations and peoples to respect human rights and prevent atrocities. Stress was put on the idea that these rights should be enjoyed regardless of ethnic group, gender, language or religious beliefs. It stressed that everyone ought to enjoy such basic human rights as the right to work, the right to an education, the right to medical treatment and health care, and the right to participate in elections.

He believes that more attention needs to be paid to the concept of human rights being a part of basic education. "The ROC had a representative at the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," says Huang. "But 50 years later, descriptions of the declaration are still absent from elementary school and junior-high texts, where they could be used to provide basic human rights education."

Forgiveness

Chai Sung-lin, the president of the Chinese Association of Human Rights, points out that the concept of human rights is a product of the past two centuries, and that it has been constantly expanding, so that now, in addition to basic human rights enjoyed by individuals, rights demanded by social classes and ethnic groups, and rights of national sovereignty, "There should also be rights governing the relationship between human beings and the natural environment, other species, and the universe."

Aren't memorials aimed at something more than just getting us to remember our history lessons? Don't they want us move toward universal peace?

"The noblest duty of those who have suffered is to light the fires of forgiveness!" declares Shih Ming-te. What we should be doing today isn't cursing those who previously held power. Rather, we should be engaged in self-reflection. "What the people of the 21st century will need most is to reconcile their differences. Countries need to reconcile their differences with other countries. Individuals need to reconcile their differences with other individuals. We need to make peace with nature, and we need to make peace with ourselves. If people dwell in their tragic feelings and their anger, there's no way to move forward."