Having co-organized the "Human Rights in Life" exhibition, the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo, the National Human Rights Museum (NHRM) and Tokyo-headquartered Scholars Network for Education Trips to Taiwan (SNET Taiwan) launched a preview session on International Day of Democracy on Sep. 15.
Those present at the session included ROC Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and members of the Taiwan Political Prisoner Rescue Association.
Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo pointed out that this is its first Taiwanese human rights exhibition held in Japan as well as the first time that the NHRM has held an exhibition abroad since its establishment in 2018.
The exhibition details Taiwan's transition from authoritarian rule of democracy through the display of notes written in Japanese by victims of political oppression Uyongu Yata'uyungana (高一生), Huang Tien (黃天), Ho Chuan (何川), and Wang Yao-hsun (王耀勳), and interview videos of Chen Chung-Tung (陳中統), Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖), Liu Chia-chin (劉佳欽) and Tsai Kuan-yu (蔡寬裕).
The exhibition also introduces the organization established in Japan during Taiwan’s White Terror period: Taiwan Political Prisoner Rescue Association.
In a speech, ROC Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh put forward three thoughts on his experience of the democratic movement.
Firstly, human rights and freedom do not fall from the sky, and dictatorship does not automatically disappear. It is necessary for political and democratic movements to gain momentum, which will in turn change politics.
Secondly, the human rights movement must be accompanied international forces in order to succeed. The oppressors would say that they are interfering in internal affairs and the movement must not appeal to the international community the same way the oppressor isolates the victims in domestic violence cases. Therefore, international rescue is very important.
Finally, the rulers would attempt to weaken the democratic movement through violence, bribery, scandals, coaxing, and spies. Thus, human rights activists must be firm and cautious in order to succeed.
Divided into four themes, the "Human Rights in Life" exhibition will last until Nov. 15, 2021. For more information, please visit https://snet-taiwan.jp/twhr/.