Dawn over the Ocean: Chiou Ho-shun's Forgotten 32 Years - Tainan Special Exhibition Opening

Co-hosted by Amnesty International Taiwan and the Chiou Ho-shun Rescue Team, the special exhibition "Dawn over the Ocean: Chiou Ho-shun's Forgotten 33 Years" held its opening reception in Tainan today (April 8). Running from April 8 to May 1, the exhibition features a simulated detention center, a simulated visitation room, torture-related videos, handwritten letters by Chiou Ho-shun, and case-related archival materials, supplemented by QR codes for audio guides to help visitors better understand the exhibition. Today's opening reception invited local organizations and community partners concerned with human rights, justice, and the death penalty to attend and view the exhibition, hoping that more people in southern Taiwan will come to know, care about, and support Chiou Ho-shun through this event.

Annie Huang (Chiu I-ling), Secretary General of Amnesty International Taiwan, stated that the exhibition will run until May 1, with three fascinating lectures scheduled for April 9, April 16, and April 23 respectively, sharing stories about wrongful convictions, the death penalty, and the journey of companionship and rescue. Although the exhibition venue is not large, the space is filled with thoughtful designs. She hopes everyone will bring people who haven't seen the exhibition yet, and that more young friends will join in supporting Chiou Ho-shun. We have already collected over 100,000 signatures domestically and internationally demanding that the President pardon Chiou Ho-shun, but regrettably, these voices have yet to shake the government.

Tsai Meng-chu, the principal curator of the exhibition and designer cum advocacy specialist at the Judicial Reform Foundation, expressed her initial gratitude to Amnesty International Taiwan for its Tainan office, which made it possible for this exhibition to be held in Tainan. Preparations for this exhibition began in November 2020 with the team of volunteers, and at first, they did not expect it to be on such a grand scale. With over a decade of rescue efforts behind the Chiou Ho-shun case, there is a vast amount of first-hand material, including data organized by the defense counsel. Through the exhibition, we have found that providing this information does indeed enhance public awareness of the Chiou Ho-shun case. The greatest significance of the exhibition is allowing the public to see the complete picture of the case, which also helps consolidate emotional solidarity. Furthermore, she hopes there will be opportunities in the future to bring the exhibition into campuses.

Attorneys Yu Po-hsiang, representing the Chiou Ho-shun Rescue Team, mentioned that the exhibition content is exceptionally rich, traveling from Taipei, Chunan, and Taichung to Tainan, allowing more people to see it in an increasingly creative manner. To Yu Po-hsiang himself, this case is a part of his life, and of course, to Chiou Ho-shun, it is the entirety of his life. In fact, participating in the rescue carries profound significance for Taiwanese society. Beyond ensuring that the suffering of the victims' families is seen, it also serves as an indicator of whether Taiwanese society can truly confront its past and achieve a mature rule of law and democracy. The difficulty in rescuing wrongful conviction cases lies in whether society can face the case head-on and overturn it. In the case of Chiou Ho-shun, a considerable number of citizens are willing to face or confront this case, but the government is still unwilling to do so. Therefore, Attorney Yu once again called upon President Tsai Ing-wen to pardon Chiou Ho-shun.

Wu Ching-wen, Executive Secretary of Tainan New Sprouts, stated that since the establishment of Amnesty International's Tainan office in 2021, local community partners in Tainan have had more opportunities to learn about Amnesty International and other human rights issues. She also looks forward to publicizing this exhibition through various methods going forward, giving the public an opportunity to witness the Chiou Ho-shun case. Wu Ching-wen mentioned that she had been looking forward to this exhibition for a long time and was thrilled to finally have the chance to see it in Tainan. Moving forward, she hopes to join everyone in supporting Chiou Ho-shun through letter-writing campaigns and other means.

Hsiao-lin of the Tainan Hong Kong Concern Group shared that she first learned about the Chiou Ho-shun case while attending a lecture by the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty at the Tainan Cheng Chung Book Co. At that time, she strongly hoped that Chiou Ho-shun would have the opportunity to be released as soon as possible, because it is unreasonable for such circumstances to still occur in a democratic and free society like Taiwan. Hsiao-lin noted that she deeply admires everyone's years of perseverance and that the exhibition materials are extremely rich. She personally found the simulated prison cell most interesting because everyone knows many people are locked up in prisons in Hong Kong, and she hopes to gain a deeper awareness and understanding of prison conditions through these exhibits.

Lin Tung, Director of the Southern Office of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), mentioned that since the "Dawn over the Ocean" series of exhibitions began in 2020, whenever TAHR set up booths or held lectures in Kaohsiung, it was clearly perceptible that many young people seeing the stickers or postcards would say, "I know about this case." Lin Tung pointed out that when she first joined TAHR, many people were still unclear about or had not even heard of these wrongful conviction cases, such as Su Chien-hho, Hsu Tzu-chiang, and Chiou Ho-shun. However, over the past two years, she has truly felt a significant rise in awareness on campuses. She once again expressed gratitude for the efforts of the rescue team and hopes everyone will encourage more friends in the south to attend the exhibition and gain a deeper understanding of the incident. She hopes TAHR will have the opportunity to exhibit "Dawn over the Ocean" in Kaohsiung as well, but most of all, she hopes President Tsai Ing-wen will pardon Chiou Ho-shun.

Li Ch'ien-ch'ien, President of the National Cheng Kung University Ling-Er Club, stated that the Ling-Er Club has paid relatively little attention to wrongful conviction or anti-death penalty issues in recent years. She expressed deep gratitude that such an important exhibition is being held so close to NCKU, giving the club an opportunity to bring this issue onto campus. For the Ling-Er Club, the Chiou Ho-shun exhibition focuses not only on wrongful convictions or the death penalty, but more importantly, serves as an indicator of our ability to reflect on past mistakes. The club itself is deeply concerned with state or police violence within judicial procedures, and she is glad that this exhibition introduces these issues from various perspectives.

"Dawn over the Ocean" uses cultural and arts exhibitions to enable more people to pay attention to and deeply understand Chiou Ho-shun's life story. "Hai-wang" is Chiou Ho-shun's childhood nickname; on the day he was born, his hometown of Lungfeng Port experienced a bountiful harvest. However, the storms and waves in Chiou Ho-shun's life have prevented him from returning home to this day. "Dawn" symbolizes the clearing of the weather after the rain and the light of freedom after enduring hardships. It is hoped that this will bring strength and blessings to a man who has spent more than thirty years behind bars.