The prison that kept political prisoners for the longest period of time
Taiwan Military Prison of the Ministry of National Defense, also known as Xindian Military Prison, was formerly the Taipei Military Prison located on Qingdao East Road. At that time, Taipei Military Prison was right next to the “Detention Center of the Military Law Office of Security Command” and the “Detention Center of the Military Law Bureau of Ministry of National Defense,” sharing the same space that was converted from a Japanese-era army warehouse. After the mass arrests of the White Terror in the 1950s, the space of the Taipei Military Prison was no longer enough, and was therefore relocated to No. 42, Juguang Road, Xindian District, New Taipei City (then No. 1977, Jingyi Road, Xindian Township) and was renamed “Taiwan Military Prison of the Ministry of National Defense,” only one hill away from the “Ankeng Execution Grounds.”
In 1973, it was renamed “Xindian Prison of the Ministry of National Defense,” also called “Mingde Villa,” or “Zili New Village” as a cover. During the martial law period, the prison mainly kept political prisoners such as Lei Chen, Su Dong-chi, legislator Ma Chengfeng and Chao Chih-hwa of the Hukou Incident. In the 1980s, several important figures of the Kaohsiung Incident were kept in this prison, including Huang Hsin-chieh, Yao Chia-wen and Chang Chun-hung. The Xindian Military Prison imprisoned political prisoners from 1952 to 1987, when all the political prisoners were released because of the lifting of martial law, this record of 35 years making it the prison that kept political prisoners for the longest period of time.
▲ The front door of the former Military Prison with the title Mingde Villa. (Source: Concluding Report on the Investigation into Historical Sites Associated with the White Terror Period in Taiwan, National Human Rights Museum, 2015)
A strict prison modeled after the radial-shaped Pennsylvania system
Xindian Military Prison covered an area of approximately seven hectares. Surrounded by red brick walls, the prison had five buildings constructed in radial shape modeled after the Pennsylvania system. The five buildings were reinforced concrete buildings and were named “Ren cell block,” “Yi cell block,” “Li cell block,” “Zhi cell block” and “Xin cell block.” Political prisoners were mostly kept in Ren cell block and Zhi cell block. “Xin cell block” (now called “Zhong Prison”), which was closest to the street outside, was given to the Ankeng Branch of the Detention Center of the Military Law Office under the Security Command (Ankeng Detention Center for short) for use, and a separate entrance was set up.
▲ Xindian Military Prison adopted the radial-shaped design of the “Pennsylvania system.” (Photo: Hong Long-bang/Source: Concluding Report on the Investigation into Historical Sites Associated with the White Terror Period in Taiwan, National Human Rights Museum, 2015)
▲ The exterior walls and watchtower of the Xindian Military Prison. (Source: Concluding Report on the Investigation into Historical Sites Associated with the White Terror Period in Taiwan, National Human Rights Museum, 2015)
According to the testimonies of victims, in the 1950s and 1960s, the military prison adopted strict management and often tortured and abused prisoners. In addition, the prison imprisoned more prisoners than it could handle, so the space was crowded as one cell would hold over 30 people. According to the appendix “Recent Situation of Xindian Military Prison” from a report by the Control Yuan in 1955, the prison was designed with a capacity of 1,800 people and yet 2,411 people were imprisoned inside, 30 percent more than its original design. 870 of those detained were political prisoners. The conditions in the cells were terrible and overcrowded. Even the wet sink used for washing had to be used by prisoners to take turns sleeping.
The light inside the cells was dim and there was a lack of water. Living inside such a dark and crowded space, prisoners often had rheumatic disorders. Nine factories were established for prison labor, four inside and five outside the prison. Inside the prison was mostly for heavy prison labor such as metalwork, sand casting and sand turning. Besides exploiting prisoners’ labor power, the prison also provided terrible, unpalatable food. In order to have something to eat in addition to the two daily meals, victims had to convert the money sent by family members into meal coupons for fried bread sticks, clay oven rolls etc., so that they could buy food or fruit sold by the prison officers outside their cell doors, which allowed prison officers to make a profit.
“Self-discipline cells” (single cells, self-reflection cells) were also set up in the prison. Serious “violators” were put inside the cells with handcuffs and shackles. Political prisoners called them “black cells,” and it was a punishment method that intended to inflict claustrophobia. The so-called “sick room” in the prison kept patients of all kinds in the same place; blood spat out by patients was not sterilized nor washed away, and some victims died in the prison due to cross-infection.
▲ The Ministry of National Defense invited journalists at home and abroad to visit the military prison. This picture was taken at the reading corner for female prisoners. (Source: Central News Agency)
After the lifting of martial law, Xindian Prison continued to be used as a military prison, until the November 2005 “Jingjin Program” (the National Armed Forces Streamlining Program) when it was abolished. Prisoners were moved to the Tainan Prison of the Ministry of National Defense (Tainan Liujia Military Prison, also known as Rixin Villa). The original site has been used as the Sindian Drug Abuser Treatment Center of the Agency of Corrections under the Ministry of Justice since April 3, 2006.
▲ The original site of Xindian Military Prison, which is now the Sindian Drug Abuser Treatment Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice. (Source: Sindian Drug Abuser Treatment Center, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice website)
At present, Ren cell block, originally for the detention of political prisoners, is now used as a drug abuser treatment center, whereas Xin cell block and Zhi cell block are left unused. Places such as the “Longquan Execution Grounds,” a small Kṣitigarbha Temple for praying before and after executions, a “Xiezhi” (a Chinese mythological creature) statue inscribed with the words “repent and be saved,” the former area where prisoners would be let out of their cells, the mortuary, and the cells of the “Xin cell block” where political prisoners were kept are preserved in their original state.
▲ The “Xiezhi” statue with the inscription “repent and be saved” is preserved from the White Terror period to this day. (Source: Transitional Justice Commission, Executive Yuan)
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