Violent Police Who Can't Be Found Even by Calling the Police: "I Want the Truth About March 24" NGO Joint Press Conference

Following two years of judicial proceedings, the truth behind the "Executive Yuan Violent Clearance Incident" that broke out between March 23 and March 24, 2014, remains unclear. Not only have the officials who ordered the clearance escaped accountability, but even the police officers who assaulted citizens have yet to be identified. On the eve of the incident's second anniversary, the 318 Anti-Black Box Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Lawyer Team and multiple civil society organizations held a press conference today (March 10) in front of the Legislative Yuan, strongly calling on the new legislature to proactively exercise its investigative powers to thoroughly clarify the truth of the incident.

Article 14 of the Constitution and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly guarantee people the freedom of peaceful assembly. Furthermore, Articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights require the government to protect the right to life of the people while prohibiting the practice of torture. However, during the "Executive Yuan Violent Clearance Incident," in order to fulfill the order for a "time-limited clearance," the police brazenly resorted to disproportionate enforcement methods, using police equipment to harm crowds peacefully sitting-in, which clearly violated constitutional and covenant norms. Although injured citizens filed private prosecutions with the Taipei District Court and provided video footage of the assaulting police officers in hopes that the judiciary would clarify the attribution of responsibility, the administrative authorities unexpectedly responded to the court's inquiries with "Person Unknown," raising suspicions of deliberate concealment.

In addition, following the incident, the Internal Administration Committee of the Legislative Yuan immediately established the "Special Task Force for Reviewing Documents on the Truth of the Executive Yuan's Suppression of the Anti-Service Trade Agreement Student Movement" on March 27, 2014, to investigate the origin and cause of the incident. However, relevant agencies such as the Executive Yuan and the National Police Agency of the Ministry of the Interior brazenly refused to provide information under the pretexts of "confidential information," "non-disclosure of investigations," and "no relevant data found." Ultimately, the Internal Administration Committee could only conclude its efforts by freezing a portion of the budget. Ironically, while neither the nation's legislative nor judicial organs could find the police officers who assaulted people, the media continued to expose news that the police had already identified at least four assaulting officers. It is evident that the administrative agencies not only show contempt for the judiciary, but the parliament's power to review documents has also proven insufficient to check the inertia of the executive branch.

In response, Amnesty International specifically pointed out in its Amnesty International Report 2015/16: "No thorough, independent and impartial investigation had been carried out by the end of 2015 into the excessive force used by police on 23 and 24 March 2014 to clear protesters from and around the Executive Yuan, or into the government's overall handling of the 'Sunflower Student Movement'." Conversely, the "National Human Rights Report on the ICCPR and ICESCR" drafted by the executive branch earlier this year failed to mention the "Executive Yuan Violent Clearance Incident" even once.

As an oversight body, the Legislative Yuan should properly utilize its investigative powers to thoroughly uncover the truth of the incident in order to fulfill the oversight and check-and-balance functions conferred by the Constitution. Therefore, the 318 Anti-Black Box Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Lawyer Team and civil society organizations hereby call upon:

1. The Legislative Yuan to exercise its investigative power and immediately establish an investigation committee to look into the origin and cause of the "Executive Yuan Violent Clearance Incident."
2. The investigation results to be compiled into a report and submitted to the international review committee for the Second National Reports under the Two Covenants as supplementary comments.

Appendix: Progress List of Private Prosecution Cases

No.	Date of Private Prosecution Filed	Private Prosecutor	Defendant
			Assaulting Police Officer	Huang Sheng-yung (then Commissioner of the Taipei City Police Department)	Chiang Yi-huah (Then-Premier of the Executive Yuan) Wang Cho-chun (then Director-General of the National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior) Fang Yang-ning (Then-Chief of the Zhongzheng First Police Precinct, Taipei City Police Department)
1	2014/04/01	Elderly Mr. Chou	Not prosecuted by this private prosecutor	The legal team attempted to merge this case with the Chou Ni-an case for trial, but it has already been refused by the judge and dismissed by ruling.	Under trial. Elderly Mr. Chou passed away on 2015/03/31. His daughter applied to assume the litigation in accordance with the law, but the court has not yet granted permission for assumption.
2	2014/04/15	Dr. Wang	This case is currently applying for a constitutional interpretation. The court's judgment dismissing this case is already final, and the legal team is applying to the Grand Justices for a constitutional interpretation. In addition, the legal team attempted to merge this case with the Chou Jung-tsung case and the Chou Ni-an case for trial, but the latter has already been refused by the judge and dismissed by ruling.
3	2014/04/16	Legislator Chou Ni-an	Dismissed by the court	Under trial by the Taipei District Court.	Dismissed by the court. The court's judgment dismissing this case is already final. The legal team is attempting to apply for this case to be merged into the Chou Jung-tsung case for trial.
4	2014/04/21	Hsiao O-O	Not prosecuted by this private prosecutor	Dismissed by the court. The legal team attempted to merge this case with the Chou Ni-an case for trial, but it has already been refused by the judge and dismissed by ruling.
5	2014/04/25	Lin O-O and 18 others	Under trial
6	2014/05/07	Huang O-O and 22 others
7	2014/06/13	Hsu O-O	Dismissed by the court
8	2014/06/30	Chou O-O	Under trial
9	2014/09/12	Chiang O-O	Dismissed by the court
10	2014/09/23	Liao O-O	Not prosecuted by this private prosecutor

List of Speakers

Chou Ni-an / Plaintiff, Former Legislator
Attorney Kao Yung-cheng / Convener of the 318 Anti-Black Box Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Lawyer Team
Attorney Yu Po-hsiang / Convener of the 318 Anti-Black Box Service Trade Agreement Pro Bono Lawyer Team
Attorney Lai Chung-chiang / Convener of the Economic Democracy Union
Associate Professor Huang Hou-ming / Taiwan Association for Democracy Protection
Lin Fei-fan / Initiator of Saw Tô Chèng-tsèng (Taiwan March)
Sylvia Chi / Secretary General of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Associate Professor Hsu Wei-chun / Alliance for Constitutional Reform

Supporting Organizations

Judicial Reform Foundation
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Taiwan Labour Front
Association for Innocence Project Taiwan
Humanist Education Foundation
Green Citizens' Action Alliance
Ta-Tso-Wei-Hsin
Taiwan March
Economic Democracy Union
Covenant Watch
Taiwan Association for Democracy Protection
Alliance for Constitutional Reform
Yung-Soo Legal Foundation
Parliamentary Observatory / Congress Watch
Democratic Front Against Cross-Strait Trade Agreement
Citizen Congress Watch
Amnesty International Taiwan
Black Island Nation Youth Front

Press Contacts

Attorney Chen Yu-fan / Deputy Executive Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation