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US campaign launched
to help Chen
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in Washington
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) has launched a campaign to
urge members of the US Congress to help former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
FAPA president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said Chen’s medical condition has “seriously
deteriorated” and he is in desperate need of medical attention.
Chen is serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being convicted on
corruption charges.
As part of FAPA’s campaign, Taiwanese-Americans are being asked to write to
their representatives and senators to petition Taiwanese prison authorities to
grant Chen a conditional release for a comprehensive medical.
Kao is also asking Taiwanese-Americans to tell their political representatives
that they are gravely concerned about Chen’s condition.
“Chen’s doctors attribute his poor health to long-term deprivation of sunlight,
lack of exercise and an inactive lifestyle [sic]. Unlike other inmates, he is
only allowed 30 minutes of outdoor exercise each day,” he said.
“Such imprisonment conditions are a direct violation of the minimum requirements
for prisoners as sanctioned by the UN,” Kao said. “Concerns over [former]
president Chen’s incarceration have been raised on a number of occasions over
the past few years, both by members of Congress as well as by international
scholars writing to President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九].”
“However, the Ma administration has been totally unresponsive to these human
rights concerns,” he added.
The ultimate aim is to persuade the administration of US President Barack Obama
to “prevail on the authorities in Taiwan to allow former president Chen medical
bail so he can receive adequate treatment for his medical conditions.”
Chen is being held at Taipei Prison in Taoyuan County and earlier this month he
was allowed to go to Taoyuan General Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with
acute coronary syndrome and significantly reduced blood flow to the heart — a
potentially fatal condition.
It was also discovered that for the past 14 months he has been prescribed a
psychiatric drug, Ativan, without his knowledge or consent.
The exam also revealed a prostate tumor, among other undisclosed conditions.
Chen, who served as president between 2000 and 2008, was indicted on charges of
corruption in November 2008, only months after leaving office.
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