HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS URGE TAIWAN TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

May 16, 2022:

An international panel of human rights experts on 13 May 2022 called on Taiwan to end the "cruel and degrading" practice of capital punishment.
In its Concluding Observations and Recommendations issued on 13 May, the nine-member group said it was "extremely disappointed" at the failure of Taiwan's government to address the issue despite persistent calls for the abolition of the death penalty in the country.
Invited by Taiwan's government, the group conducted a five-day review from May 9-13 in Taipei of the country's implementation of two United Nations' human rights-related covenants, namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
While Taiwan has substantially improved its human rights record over the years, some long-standing issues, such as the continued use of the death penalty, remained inadequately addressed, Manfred Nowak, an Austrian human rights lawyer who previously served as the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Torture, said at a press conference on 13 May.
"Taiwan is already among a very, very small number of countries in the world that still retain the death penalty, and the arguments that are time and again, repeated by the government, are far from convincing," Nowak said.
"We are strongly appealing to the Executive Yuan to immediately declare a moratorium on executions," Nowak said, adding that the "cruel, inhuman and degrading" punishment was in violation of ICCPR's Article 6 and 7.
At the same time, all death sentences should be commuted immediately and Taiwan's Minister of Justice should no longer sign execution orders, Nowak said.
Taiwan has the potential to become the Asian standard-bearer in the recognition and enforcement of international human rights, but it will never achieve that so long as the death penalty remains an element of its criminal justice system, Nowak added.
In response to the comments made by the panel, Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng stressed that gradually abolishing capital punishment remained the government's goal.
Lo, however, said at the press event that there was a lack of consensus over the matter in Taiwanese society, hinting that an overhaul of the current policy might not be made anytime soon.
The government has taken note of the suggestions made by the international human rights experts and will convene to discuss the feasibility of declaring a moratorium on executions, Lo said.
Taiwan last carried out a prisoner execution in 2020, and there are 38 prisoners currently on death row.
According to Lo, the 38 prisoners sentenced to death have brought their case to the constitutional court and have therefore received a legally guaranteed stay of execution.