The Control Yuan, the country’s top government watchdog, has called for the erasure of an illegal-hunting conviction against Tama Talum, a Bunun man pardoned by President Tsai Ing-wen (???) last year after the charges were deemed “partially unconstitutional.”
Despite his pardon, “justice has not been served” for Tama Talum, who is also known as Wang Kuang-lu (???) in Chinese, Wang Mei-yu (???), a member of the Control Yuan, said in a press release on Saturday.
Tama Talum was sentenced in 2015 to three and a half years in prison for using an illegal rifle and killing protected species without permission, but the Constitutional Court later deemed the verdict “partially unconstitutional,” resulting in the case being referred back to the Supreme Court.
Tama Talum avoided prison after President Tsai issued a pardon “out of respect for Indigenous people’s traditions,” amid fierce criticism of the rules and regulations governing Indigenous peoples’ hunting rights.
Wang Mei-yu, who initiated an investigation in 2015 into the case following public outcry over the verdict, recently published a report in which she suggested that the Control Yuan should petition Taiwan’s prosecutor-general to pursue an extraordinary appeal to overturn Tama Talum’s criminal conviction.
The Control Yuan endorsed the report after a meeting of its Committee on Judicial and Prison Administration Affairs, and is set to communicate with the Ministry of Justice to facilitate an extraordinary appeal by the prosecutor-general, Wang Mei-yu said.
In a press release, Wang Mei-yu said Tama Talum’s conviction indicated that the judicial system had failed to recognize Indigenous peoples’ constitutionally protected rights to practice hunting culture.
She added that it had also exposed longstanding issues surrounding “inadequate” legal protections for Indigenous peoples’ hunting rights, and in regulating what firearms they can hunt with, she said.
Wang Mei-yu said similar issues had long been a source of friction between Indigenous communities and Han people, adding the verdict would exacerbate such conflicts if it is not overridden.
While reasserting hunting is a cultural right of Indigenous peoples, the Constitutional Court’s Council of Grand Justices handed down a mixed ruling in interpreting the laws and regulations cited in Tama Talum’s case.
The court reaffirmed the constitutionality of requiring Indigenous people to only use traditional “self-made” firearms but ordered the Legislature to revise certain rules on how such guns are defined.
Meanwhile, the court also found that requiring Indigenous people to apply for permission before going on a hunt was constitutional, but ordered a series of administrative regulations requiring hunters to apply at least five days in advance of “non-regular” hunts and to list in advance the species and number of animals they plan to kill to be nullified.
To date, the unconstitutional laws and regulations have not yet been amended, but the Council of Agriculture and relevant government agencies have held some discussions on possible revisions.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel