|
Police ¡¥concern¡¦
worries activists
NO RIGHTS: Farmers who wanted to take part in
protests in Taipei were visited by ¡¥concerned¡¦ police, which infringed their
rights, activists say
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Rights activists yesterday slammed police over their ¡§show of concern¡¨ to
farmers in Miaoli and Hsinchu Counties prior to a demonstration against land
expropriation scheduled to take place in Taipei today, calling it a violation of
people¡¦s freedom of expression.
INQUIRED
Members of self-help organizations in both Dapu Borough (¤j®H), Jhunan Township
(¦Ë«n), Miaoli County and the Erchongpu (¤G«®H) community in Jhudong Township (¦ËªF),
Hsinchu County, told the Taipei Times yesterday that local police officers
inquired whether members of the organizations would take part in a demonstration
against forced land expropriation organized by residents of Leshan Village, (¼Öµ½)
in Taoyuan County¡¦s Gueishan Township (Àt¤s), scheduled to be held in Taipei
today, and asked them to report to local police stations if they plan to
participate.
Dapu and Erchongpu are both farming villages facing land expropriations to make
room for science park projects, while plots of land in Leshan Village are to be
turned into an airport express train station, an industrial zone and social
housing complexes.
¡§We¡¦re not planning to take part, but even if we¡¦re going to, it¡¦s not our
business to talk to police because we¡¦re not the event organizer,¡¨ Dapu
Self-Help Organization spokeswoman Yeh Hsiu-tao (¸¨q®ç) said. ¡§This is not
something that should happen in a democratic country.¡¨
NOT FIRST TIME
Yeh said that this was not the first time that police had interfered had with
them. During the peak of their protest activities last year, she said, ¡§the
police kept an eye on the our organization¡¦s leader almost 24 hours a day.¡¨
Liu Ching-chang (¼B¼y©÷), a member of the Erchongpu Self-Help Organization, and
head of the Alliance for the Defense of Farming Villages, said that local police
have also contacted her to ¡§show their concern¡¨ about whether the organization
would participate in the rally today.
¡§I think this is a violation of our rights. It¡¦s our right to speak out for
ourselves and to defend our properties,¡¨ Liu said. ¡§Everything we¡¦re doing is
legal and they¡¦re showing too much ¡¥concern¡¦ for us.¡¨
¡§But of course, we¡¦re used to it already,¡¨ he added.
Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Tsai Chin-hsun (½²©u¾±) said
such an act by the police is ¡§unacceptable in a democracy.¡¨
¡§Monitoring the people before they even get on the street is very inappropriate,
and is harassment,¡¨ Tsai said. ¡§We have become used to such monitoring, but many
other people would feel threatened and scared if they get phone calls from the
police prior to taking part in demonstrations, and would then probably just
decide not to do so.¡¨
REPRESSION
¡§If that happens, it¡¦s repression of the freedom of expression,¡¨ she added.
On the other hand, a police officer in charge of maintaining order and security
during demonstrations in Taipei, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei
Times that they would always ask for information on rallies from organizers
because they needed to know what kind of situation they would face.
PLANNING
¡§For example, we would need to know how many people would be there, so we could
plan traffic control measure,¡¨ the officer said. ¡§We also need to know the
necessary amount of manpower we have to deploy to keep demonstrations proceeding
smoothly.¡¨
However, the officer admitted that there are some police precincts overreacting
to demonstrations, ¡§and may do things that violate citizens¡¦ legal rights to
rallies and assemblies.¡¨
|
