More Taiwanese Police Misconduct

From Friday's Taipei Times:

Now, the Tibetans in question WERE breaking Taiwan's assembly law by demonstrating without permits.  The police response was however, also unbounded by law.  Doubtless, judges are granted a measure of discretion when adjudicating these types of cases.  But I'm pretty sure there's not a single statute on the books that authorizes law enforcement to pick up suspects and just abandon them SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF FRICKIN' NOWHERE.

The most sinister interpretation of this is that the police were trying to send a signal.  Engage in forbidden dissent, and we can make you "disappear".  Temporarily — though that could change in the future . . .

And the kindest interpretation?  OK, Taiwanese authorities wanted to remove Tibetan protesters from Liberty Square (or Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, or whatever it's being called these days).  Possibly on the basis of "numerous complaints" from Communist Party tourists from China.  But Taiwan's higher-ups didn't want the Tibetans jailed because that might turn them into an international cause celebre.  So instead the cops were instructed to remove the ralliers and make their lives difficult, on the theory that that might help dissuade them from illegally protesting again in the future. 

According to this explanation, the police acted out of cowardice, not deliberate malice.  No real harm done then, and problem solved.  Gin and tonics all around.

No harm done — except when one of these poor bastards gets dropped off by police and meets with an unfortunate accident.  Because it's 3 am, remember?  Pretty easy time to get mugged, or run over, or what-have-you.  And when that happens, who's morally (if not legally) responsible?

The police department that put him there at three in the morning, that's who.

UPDATE:  Today's Taipei Times comes to some of the same conclusions, but also pointed out the fact that the Tibetans didn't speak Mandarin — which made it difficult for them to return back to Taipei after the police drove them from the city.

Also of concern is the behavior of police in apprehending Tibetan protesters at the same location and, in some cases, taking them to the hills of Neihu District (內湖) — in Taipei City terms, the middle of nowhere — and dumping them there. In some cases the hapless Tibetans did not even have the language skills to ask for directions.

It is not clear what this technique might be called in the National Police Agency officers’ manual, but from a legal standpoint it borders on abduction.

Dumping protesters in remote locations is a practice that must cease forthwith. If not, the police will once again invite scrutiny from international rights observers — not something that they would relish given the thoroughgoing incompetence of senior police in dealing with foreign observers.

I ran to the supermarket a few times in the wee hours of that morning, and it was a bit nippy.  I was only outside for 5 or 10 minutes, though, and it was probably colder in the mountains around Taipei, too.  Wonder if any of the Tibetans were dressed for it?