30,000 Taiwanese protest after 'abused' soldier dies

[HereIsTheNews]

30,000 Taiwanese protest after 'abused' soldier dies

Sunday, 21 July, 2013, 4:23am

Protesters sit down during an anti-military rally outside the Defence Ministry in Taipei. Photo: AP

More than 30,000 people yesterday protested in Taipei, demanding justice for a corporal who died after being allegedly abused in the military by his superiors.

The case has sparked public outrage over the military's controversial punishment system amid mounting criticism of the government of President Ma Ying-jeou for failing to protect human rights, which he had vowed to uphold.

Holding placards reading; "We want the truth" and "Punish the perpetrators", the protesters rallied outside the Defence Ministry building. They sang spoof military songs mocking the ministry for imposing improper punishments on military conscripts.

"With so many people coming here to demand truth, President Ma and Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu should heed their voices so that justice can be upheld," said the corporal's uncle in the protest. The protesters included parents whose sons had died, through alleged abuses or accidents, while they were serving in the military.

Hung Chung-chiu, 24, died on July 4 from what his brigade said was "heatstroke", which he suffered while he was in solitary confinement just three days before his discharge from the army.

He was sent to the brig on June 28 for violating military rules by carrying a camera-equipped cell phone.

Military investigators later found that Hung had been denied drinking water while being forced to exercise excessively amid hot temperatures.

Further investigations by military prosecutors indicated Hung had been put into confinement allegedly because of grudges involving a master sergeant who, with the help of the deputy brigade commander, ordered Hung to be confined before he was discharged.

"On behalf of the Defence Ministry, I solemnly offer my apology to you all," Vice-Defence Minister Andrew Yang told the protesters before bowing to them. He asked the public, especially parents of those whose children are military conscripts, to give the military a chance to "correct previous mistakes and find out the truth".

Hung's death has created a political storm with opposition politicians lashing out at the Ma government for failing to protect human rights in the military. Local critics and news media also said the tragedy would only discourage people from volunteering for military service, which Ma had hoped to make mandatory from next year.

Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu tendered his resignation earlier this week, but was asked to stay on by Ma.

So far, four officers, including the deputy brigade commander, Col Ho Chiang-chung, have been taken into custody on abuse charges, while 37 other military officers have been slapped with punitive measures.

Facing faltering popularity amid his failure to lift the economy, and mounting criticism of the military, Ma yesterday met Hung's family, expressing his deep regret, and promised to have the authorities "conduct a thorough review of the relevant system to avoid abuse of power in the future".

 

[Desire]

Suspicions mount as video sheds little light on corporal's death
CNA and Staff Reporter 2013-07-21 15:16

A gate blocks the entrance of the Investigation Bureau's lab in Taoyuan in northern Taiwan. (Photo/Chen Yi-cheng)

Suspicions mounted in Taiwan on Saturday after the military said a key 80-minute portion of a surveillance video that may have offered insight into the recent death of an Army conscript was blank because the cameras stopped working.

Chief military prosecutor Maj Gen Tsao Chin-sheng said authorities are now looking into why the surveillance cameras stopped functioning during the 80 minutes from 2 pm to 3:20 pm on July 1.

The video monitored the area of a military detention facility where 24-year-old Army corporal Hung Chung-chiu was forced to do strenuous exercises as part of his punishment, and the missing period was when Hung would have been in view.

Hung collapsed from heatstroke after doing similar drills on July 3, and he died a day later, just three days before he was due to be discharged at the end of his compulsory military service.

There had been hope that the July 1 video could offer clues into how Hung was treated in the brig and whether he was pushed beyond what his body could manage.

Some speculated that the 80-minute section had gone missing or had been erased by military personnel to cover up improper treatment, but the Investigation Bureau raised hopes on Friday when it said it had "restored" the original content of the video.

Tsao said that in fact the bureau did restore the video, and it continued to run without being deleted, even as the 16 recording lenses all malfunctioned, without offering details.

Tsao insisted that the cameras were not manipulated and that if the system's power had been cut off, the screen would have been black rather than simply blank, without clearly explaining if the 80 minutes of video actually exist or not.

Hung's family and a legislator were skeptical of Tsao's claim that no human manipulation was involved in the missing 80 minutes.

Hung's mother could not understand why there were no images in the "restored" video and accused the military of deliberately dragging its feet in the investigation.

Hung's elder sister said the family has asked the military to preserve all evidence related to the case, without receiving any response, and it was not notified of the video being restored on Friday.

If the 80 minutes of video do not exist, it means that they have been deleted, the sister contended.

"The family cannot trust any military personnel or prosecutors," she said, asking for the intervention of a neutral third party to take over the investigation.

Legislator Chen Ting-fei of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party said that if a continous screen suddenly turned black, "what could possibly be the cause if not for human manipulation?"

Meanwhile, Tsao said that Sgt Chen Yi-hsun, a non-commissioned officer who was supposedly responsible for monitoring the situation of those in disciplinary confinement, was detained on Friday night.

Tsao said Chen was detained on suspicion of abusing subordinates under the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces. Those convicted under the statute are subject to a prison term of between three and 10 years, and up to life imprisonment if a subordinate dies.

Three officers have been taken into custody to date over the soldier's death, including Col Ho Chiang-chung, deputy commander of Hung's unit — the 542 Armor Brigade.

The other two are Maj Hsu Hsin-cheng, a company commander in the Army's 542 Armor Brigade in Hsinchu county in northern Taiwan, and Staff Sgt Fan Tso-hsien.

So far, more than 30 commissioned and non-commissioned officers have been disciplined over the case, but no criminal indictments have been handed down as yet.

 

[borom]

...........Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu tendered his resignation earlier this week.........

This is what any person of integrity , self respect and honour should immediately do when something serious goes wrong in any area under his jurisdiction.
Cannot solve housing problem, haze/ponding/dengue/rats infestation, shortage of hospital beds/high cost of health care, constant breakdown of MRT's-those ministers still drawing million dollar salaries and talking about how to clean hawker centre roofs!
Remember Mas Selamat?