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Public urged to call
KMT lawmaker out over military reform
By Loa Iok-sin and Chris Wang / Staff reporters
Civic group Citizen 1985 yesterday published Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislator Chen Cheng-hsiang¡¦s (³¯Âí´ð) office telephone numbers so the public can
overload the lines to protest what the group said was his blocking attempts to
revise the Code of Court Martial Procedure (x¨Æ¼f§Pªk).
In a posting on its Facebook page, the group said that while the proposal to
transfer jurisdiction of some military criminal cases to the civilian judiciary
during peacetime has been listed as a priority on the agenda at the ongoing
extraordinary legislative session, amendments to the code ¡§have been referred to
cross-party negotiations, making it impossible to adopt any changes during the
extra session, all because of Chen¡¦s boycott.¡¨
The group was referring to Chen¡¦s opposition to the proposed revisions during a
meeting of the legislature¡¦s National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee last
week.
¡§You don¡¦t trust the military courts today, you will not trust the civilian
courts tomorrow, what judiciary are you going to trust?¡¨ Chen reportedly said at
the meeting.
He was quoted as saying that the changes ¡§would destroy the military¡¨ and that
he trusts the military more than the Criminal Code.
Aside from urging the public to call Chen¡¦s and the KMT caucus¡¦ offices to voice
their discontent and clog the phone lines, the group also demanded Chen
apologize and resign, adding that if he refuses to do so, the KMT caucus should
remove him by voiding his party membership.
When asked to comment yesterday, Chen dismissed the group¡¦s claims.
He said he agreed that the proposed revision may help solve some problems, but
that any changes should not interfere with the military¡¦s training system.
¡§For example, if special forces training tactics can be deemed ¡¥abusive,¡¦ how do
we train our soldiers?¡¨ Chen said. ¡§Do we want a military that is incapable of
fighting?¡¨
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) panned the KMT¡¦s vow to
implement military judicial reform as insincere.
In a four-point address to a protest by tens of thousands on Saturday, Premier
Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì) promised that the Executive Yuan would push to allow cases
of abuse in the military to be tried in civilian courts in peacetime.
The DPP caucus told a press conference yesterday that all legal cases in
peacetime should be handed to civilian prosecutors.
Jiang¡¦s pledge of a two-phase reform plan would not implement a complete reform
of the military¡¦s judiciary, DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (°ª§ÓÄP) said.
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (§dªÃèû) said there were two flaws in the current
system: the coexistence of the civil and military judiciary, which violates the
principle of judicial monism, and the Ministry of National Defense¡¦s supervision
of military prosecutors and courts, which contradicts the principle of
separation of powers.
The KMT has come up with the two-stage plan to make sure the military judiciary
will not be eliminated, Wu said.
Citing French writer Emile Zola, who said the idea of discipline undermines
military tribunals¡¦ capacity for fairness because for soldiers, discipline is
obedience, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (¿½¬üµ^) said the military judiciary should
not be independent.
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