11/9/2003 12:11 AM
Subject: Concerning human rights abuses at National Cheng Kung
UniversityTo: louwei.chen@msa.hinet.net
Ms. Chen
The China News
9 November 2003
Dear Ms. Chen,
I would like to update you on recent events.
As you know, there have been repeated violations of laws at
National Cheng Kung University. I believe you contacted the Ministry of
Education and the NCKU Faculty Union to confirm this. These abuses
showed no regard for the rights of faculty or the reputation of the
university.
A culture of arrogance has developed among some officials at our
university. They don't believe they should enforce the law but that
they are the law.
This belief discredits democracy in Taiwan. Democracy is a
government of laws, not officials.
But at NCKU, officials "interpret" or select laws for personal
ends. So they use an Employment law in one case and the Teacher's law
in another. They "interpret" a Ministry ruling and obstruct justice for
more than two years. They claim a final appeal is not final. They
invoke laws or ignore them at will. They decide whom to harass or
protect, claming to be lawful either way.
For example, a student's secret letter was promptly circulated at
hearings to insure my dismissal. Yet for more than two years I've tried
to have this student disciplined, with no success. The Dean of Student
Affairs, Ko Huei-chen has used every tactic of delay and every excuse to
prevent it.
Does a dean have the right to decide the duties of her office? Is
National Cheng Kung University a lawful institution or is it controlled
by a gang with official titles and a lawyer to represent them?
But a lawyer cannot excuse them. Democracy is a government of
laws, not lawyers. Since when do lawyers replace laws in a democracy?
Can a lawyer defy a Ministry ruling and cost taxpayers millions of
dollars in needless litigation and back pay?
At issue are not only laws, but also moral principles. Officials
who appeal to human rights to criticize Mainland China ignore the rights
of foreigners here. But they lack the moral sense to understand this is
wrong in Taiwan if it's wrong in Mainland China. Like children, they
think of themselves with no respect for the rights of others.
Thus the idea of compromise is beyond their understanding.
Although I promised not to pursue the dismissal of the student mentioned
above if she apologized, I was ignored. Instead I was asked to show
sympathy for her and drop the case. Yet officials repeatedly revive
accusations against me, even after a Ministry ruling in my favor. What
happened to the principle of sympathy? In the same way, officials
ignore my patient appeal for justice, then blame me for filing lawsuits.
Such officials may lack a normal sense of shame. Young people and
some criminals seem to have a more developed sense of shame than
officials involved in this case have shown.
Although I won the Ministry ruling, I am denied a formal apology.
Instead, the university lawyer contests my right to compensation,
although the International Charter for Human Rights considers
compensation a right.
A final appeal is also a right. Yet officials still revive
accusations I defended against at the Ministry hearing.
Taiwan claims to be a democracy. But a democracy needs constant
care. Old habits die hard. Some officials find clever ways to use laws
to suit themselves rather than the law. They interpret laws as they
wish and solicit or ignore accusations as they choose. This looks like
rule by law but it's really law by rule-an unchecked power to accuse
some but excuse others. This is not the road to democracy but the end
of the road.
Such behavior is encouraged by supervisory agencies that fail to
punish officials who not only violated rights, but also defied a
Ministry ruling. Instead, the current university president, Kao Chiang,
will likely be reconfirmed by the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, the
Control Yuan claimed, without reasons, that nothing was improperly
done. In other words, there are laws in Taiwan, but no law, since laws
can be ignored without penalty.
However, laws are useless unless abuse of the law, or due process
of law, is exposed. For this reason, Thomas Jefferson believed a free
press was the main arm of a free government.
Apart from my own rights, neither Taiwan education nor Taiwan
democracy can prosper ruled by a gang of unethical bureaucrats more
concerned with protecting themselves than upholding laws and moral
values.
Sincerely,
Professor Richard de Canio
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(06) 237 8626
(06) 2757575-52235
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