The Transitional Justice Commission is marking the end of its first year of work. The government set up the commission a year ago on Friday, charging it with uncovering the truth about the abuses of Taiwan’s post-war authoritarian government.
In a radio interview Friday, the commission’s acting chairperson, Yang Tsui, looked back on the commission’s accomplishments and the challenges it has faced in the past year.
Yang said the commission has overturned unjust convictions from the authoritarian period, collected political documents from the era, and put together a documentary film on state surveillance of campuses during the 1980’s.
However, Yang said that it takes time to gather historical documents that could help uncover the truth behind the wrongs of the past.
Yang said that the National Archives Administration has recently tracked down more than 130,000 documents, the largest cache it has yet assembled for the commission. However, only 20,000 of the documents have arrived. The rest are still being transferred and may not start arriving until next year.
Yang also said that some documents the commission has requested have not been handed over, while others have been rendered unreadable due to redactions.
The commission was set up with a two-year mandate. Yang said that in its second and final year, the commission will step up efforts to collect and declassify documents. She said it will also propose strategies for future historical research, put forward a plan to rid Taiwan of authoritarian symbols, and work with the government to plan and promote human rights education.
