The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) published a project report, "Summary of Rights Infringed by Illegal Acts of the State Investigated by the Control Yuan Over the Years." Conclusive opinions and recommendations of the international review of reports on the ICCPR and ICESCR in 2013 and 2017 emphasized compensation for victims and disclosure of historical truths, and the government should guarantee adequate access to state files by victims and researchers. The NHRC organized original files from investigations by the Control Yuan into related cases and urged the Control Yuan to disclose investigation reports, which have great significance to restoring the rights of victims or their family members.
Disclosed 18 Reports of the Control Yuan
In March 2021, the NHRC began to review, analyze, and compare investigations related to major political events and found that the investigation report of 18 cases involving human rights and transitional justice had not been disclosed when the period of authoritarian rule ended, such as the "Incident of April 6, 1949," "Case of Lin, I-Hsiung," and "Chen Wen-Chen Incident." The NHRC summarized the file name, file number, investigation opinions, and subsequent responses from agencies regarding the investigation reports that were not disclosed, requested that four committees of the Control Yuan review the reports and approve the online disclosure of the reports, and asked the National Archives Administration, National Development Council to allow access to catalogs of national files so that the public could freely browse and apply for file use.
The NHRC Highlights Injustice and Seeks the Restoration of Rights for Victims in Historical Cases
The NHRC report pointed out that a common element of the "Incident of April 6, 1949," "July 13 Penghu Incident," and "R.O.C. Navy White Terror Incident" was that the victims' rights that were infringed were not in the scope of compensation according to laws in the past, and this caused them to suffer injustice. Furthermore, the investigation report on the "Luku Incident" was completed in 2017; the incident was a prominent political case during the White Terror due to the large number of people arrested and sentenced. The NHRC analyzed the files and found that a letter had been sent to the former Transitional Justice Commission after the investigation, requesting it restores the rights of 6 tortured villagers. However, there still have not been any results. The NHRC has asked the Executive Yuan to handle this case according to current transitional justice laws and has received an initial positive response, raising hopes of restoring the rights of victims and their family members by the law as soon as possible.
The NHRC Urges the Executive Yuan to Reconsider the Necessity of Confidentiality Files for Historical Cases
Finally, the report highlights that the National Security Bureau and Investigation Bureau have rejected the Control Yuan's request to access files related to the investigation of the "Bo Yang Popeye the Sailor Man Incident," citing national security concerns. In order to ensure the revelation of historical truths and foster mutual trust and reconciliation in society, the NHRC recommends that the authorities reconsider the necessity to maintain the confidentiality of these files based on national security grounds.