AI hopes for wide debate in Taiwan on death penalty
2010/04/02
AI hopes for wide debate in Taiwan on death penalty
The essence of 2010 AI report is the global trend to abolish death penalty
By Dennis Engbarth, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter, Page 4, 2010-04-01 12:00 AM
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1216734&lang=eng_news&cate_img=49.jpg&cate_rss=news_Society_TAIWAN
A representative of the London-based human rights organization Amnesty International hopes that Taiwan can hold a wide - ranging public debate on the question of the abolishment of the death sentence, but added that Taiwan's international image would be harmed by a resumption of executions.
In an interview with the The Taiwan News yesterday, AI Asia-Pacific Program Deputy Director Roseann Rife said the human rights organization had not yet received a formal response from President Ma Ying-jeou to an open letter issued March 18 by AI Acting Secretary-General Claudio in the wake of the resignation of former justice minister Wang Ching-feng for refusing to sign execution orders.
Cordone urged the Taiwan president "not to waiver" from an assurance given AI in June 2008 "that Taiwan's de facto moratorium would remain in place" and to "remain firm in reaching its stated goal of abolition of the death penalty."
"We expect to receive a response," said Rife, who was visiting Taiwan for a news conference Tuesday to release AI's report on "Death Sentences and Executions 2009," who related that AI has had "constructive discussions with the Ma administration" and expected such interaction to continue.
Rife stated that the main message of this year's report is that abolition of the death penalty is a global trend as shown by the increase of the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty or which have official or de facto moratoriums on its use.
In 2009, the African nations of Burundi and Togo legally abolished capital punishment, thus boosting the number of nations that have formally dropped capital punishment to 95 nations, 35 are abolitionist in practice and only 58 nations retain the death penalty.
"Our main message is that there is plenty of evidence that the global trend is toward abolition," said Rife.
In addition, the AI Asia-Pacific deputy director related that the global community has reaffirmed that abolition of the death penalty is the ultimate objective through the approval in the United Nations of optional additions to the two covenants and by the passage of U.N. General Assembly resolutions in 2007 and 2008 that call on member states to implement moratoriums on the use of the death penalty.
However, during a news conference held in the South Pacific nation of Nauru last Tuesday, Ma stated that while his KMT government was committed to "gradually reducing use of the death penalty," but stressed that "no country can ignore public feelings," which he said ran 80 percent against abolition of the death penalty.
Ma stated that the International Covenant on Political and Civic Rights, which the Taiwan legislature ratified and he signed into domestic law last year, did not require abolition of the death penalty and would not be contravened by the resumption of executions based on the law.
Regarding to opinion polls which show 80 percent opposition to the death penalty in Taiwan, Rife related that "many opinion polls are overly simplistic and do not ask views on alternatives" to execution, such as genuine life imprisonment.
Moreover, while opinion polls before absolution have generally opposed such reforms, Rife related that polls conducted in countries after the death penalty has been dropped from the legal books "have moved in the direction of supporting abolition."
"The point is that leaders should have the courage to lead," the AI official stated, citing the example of Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj who announced in January a moratorium on the death penalty as "degrading national dignity" and called for its abolishment even though his party has only a minority in parliament.
Moreover, Rife stated that AI had found that "the idea that the death penalty gives reconciliation or restorative justice to victims or survivors of victims of grievous crimes false."
While acknowledging that "it is very difficult to meet the emotion needs and expectations of victims," Rife said that "what people do want is justice and it would be sufficient if society and the government can work out a sufficient response to crime without transgressing world human rights standards."
The AI spokeswoman added that "there are also many relatives or families of victims who oppose the death penalty and do not want judicial killings in their name."
Rife also observed that public opinion in most Asian countries have an expectation that the perpetrator of a murder or other grave crime shows remorse.
"The execution of a perpetrator would take away any such opportunity," she noted.
"In sum, we believe the death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment and, most importantly, cannot be reversed in the event of a mistake," said the AI spokesperson.
Rife related that such mistakes do happen in the best of judicial systems and pointed to the release in Japan last Friday of 63-year-old Sugaya Toshikazu who was found to have been wrongfully convicted of the murder of a four year old girl based on a forced confession that kept him behind bars for over 17 years.
Similar cases in which suspects made confessions under interrogation and were unable to retract them in court have occured in Taiwan and are frequent in China, the world leader in judicial killings, in which evidence obtained through torture is not excluded from the courtroom, Rife related.
Rife also rebutted Ma's statement that the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights does not prohibit the use of the death penalty by noting that Clause Six of Article Six of the ICPCR specifies that "nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant."
"This clause shows that the concept behind the ICPCR only allows the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes and presupposes progress toward abolition of the death penalty and it cannot be cited as a pretext for a retreat," the AI official noted.
Rife stated that the resumption of executions and the breaking of a four - year de facto moratorium on capital punishment would "have a negative impact" on Taiwan's international image.
"n the East Asian region, South Korea and Taiwan are very important examples, especially in relation to China and Japan," related Rife.
The AI official said that South Korea had abolished capital punishment in practice as it has not held any executions since December 1997, while Taiwan had maintained a de facto moratorium for four years and was seen as moving toward abolition.
"In this context, if Taiwan ends its de factor moratorium on capital punishment by executing the death penalty, it will be in violation of the ICPCR," Rife stated, adding that "our reaction will be of extreme disappointment."
Rife noted that "it seems that there are ways in accordance with Taiwan law for the justice minister to uphold a moratorium."
"Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but I hope that this event will provide an opportunity for Taiwan to have broader and more informed discussion on the death penalty that is needed to change public opinion," Rife told The Taiwan News.
"What is important is that in every region there are countries which have abolished the death penalty and others which still have the death penalty on their books," Rife said.
"Throughout the globe, we can see more countries are becoming abolitionist," said Rife, who added that AI is carrying out strong campaigns in exceptions to this trend, notably China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
"Taiwan is now undergoing a critical debate and we want Taiwan to keep going in the right direction, especially since now is a critical juncture for death penalty abolition in the region," said Rife, who noted that Japan's new Democratic Party of Japan government has yet to sign an execution orders since taking office last September.
"Instead of lowering Taiwan's standards to those of China, why not work to raise China's standards?" asked Rife.
The essence of 2010 AI report is the global trend to abolish death penalty
By Dennis Engbarth, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter, Page 4, 2010-04-01 12:00 AM
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1216734&lang=eng_news&cate_img=49.jpg&cate_rss=news_Society_TAIWAN
A representative of the London-based human rights organization Amnesty International hopes that Taiwan can hold a wide - ranging public debate on the question of the abolishment of the death sentence, but added that Taiwan's international image would be harmed by a resumption of executions.
In an interview with the The Taiwan News yesterday, AI Asia-Pacific Program Deputy Director Roseann Rife said the human rights organization had not yet received a formal response from President Ma Ying-jeou to an open letter issued March 18 by AI Acting Secretary-General Claudio in the wake of the resignation of former justice minister Wang Ching-feng for refusing to sign execution orders.
Cordone urged the Taiwan president "not to waiver" from an assurance given AI in June 2008 "that Taiwan's de facto moratorium would remain in place" and to "remain firm in reaching its stated goal of abolition of the death penalty."
"We expect to receive a response," said Rife, who was visiting Taiwan for a news conference Tuesday to release AI's report on "Death Sentences and Executions 2009," who related that AI has had "constructive discussions with the Ma administration" and expected such interaction to continue.
Rife stated that the main message of this year's report is that abolition of the death penalty is a global trend as shown by the increase of the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty or which have official or de facto moratoriums on its use.
In 2009, the African nations of Burundi and Togo legally abolished capital punishment, thus boosting the number of nations that have formally dropped capital punishment to 95 nations, 35 are abolitionist in practice and only 58 nations retain the death penalty.
"Our main message is that there is plenty of evidence that the global trend is toward abolition," said Rife.
In addition, the AI Asia-Pacific deputy director related that the global community has reaffirmed that abolition of the death penalty is the ultimate objective through the approval in the United Nations of optional additions to the two covenants and by the passage of U.N. General Assembly resolutions in 2007 and 2008 that call on member states to implement moratoriums on the use of the death penalty.
However, during a news conference held in the South Pacific nation of Nauru last Tuesday, Ma stated that while his KMT government was committed to "gradually reducing use of the death penalty," but stressed that "no country can ignore public feelings," which he said ran 80 percent against abolition of the death penalty.
Ma stated that the International Covenant on Political and Civic Rights, which the Taiwan legislature ratified and he signed into domestic law last year, did not require abolition of the death penalty and would not be contravened by the resumption of executions based on the law.
Regarding to opinion polls which show 80 percent opposition to the death penalty in Taiwan, Rife related that "many opinion polls are overly simplistic and do not ask views on alternatives" to execution, such as genuine life imprisonment.
Moreover, while opinion polls before absolution have generally opposed such reforms, Rife related that polls conducted in countries after the death penalty has been dropped from the legal books "have moved in the direction of supporting abolition."
"The point is that leaders should have the courage to lead," the AI official stated, citing the example of Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj who announced in January a moratorium on the death penalty as "degrading national dignity" and called for its abolishment even though his party has only a minority in parliament.
Moreover, Rife stated that AI had found that "the idea that the death penalty gives reconciliation or restorative justice to victims or survivors of victims of grievous crimes false."
While acknowledging that "it is very difficult to meet the emotion needs and expectations of victims," Rife said that "what people do want is justice and it would be sufficient if society and the government can work out a sufficient response to crime without transgressing world human rights standards."
The AI spokeswoman added that "there are also many relatives or families of victims who oppose the death penalty and do not want judicial killings in their name."
Rife also observed that public opinion in most Asian countries have an expectation that the perpetrator of a murder or other grave crime shows remorse.
"The execution of a perpetrator would take away any such opportunity," she noted.
"In sum, we believe the death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment and, most importantly, cannot be reversed in the event of a mistake," said the AI spokesperson.
Rife related that such mistakes do happen in the best of judicial systems and pointed to the release in Japan last Friday of 63-year-old Sugaya Toshikazu who was found to have been wrongfully convicted of the murder of a four year old girl based on a forced confession that kept him behind bars for over 17 years.
Similar cases in which suspects made confessions under interrogation and were unable to retract them in court have occured in Taiwan and are frequent in China, the world leader in judicial killings, in which evidence obtained through torture is not excluded from the courtroom, Rife related.
Rife also rebutted Ma's statement that the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights does not prohibit the use of the death penalty by noting that Clause Six of Article Six of the ICPCR specifies that "nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant."
"This clause shows that the concept behind the ICPCR only allows the use of the death penalty for the most serious crimes and presupposes progress toward abolition of the death penalty and it cannot be cited as a pretext for a retreat," the AI official noted.
Rife stated that the resumption of executions and the breaking of a four - year de facto moratorium on capital punishment would "have a negative impact" on Taiwan's international image.
"n the East Asian region, South Korea and Taiwan are very important examples, especially in relation to China and Japan," related Rife.
The AI official said that South Korea had abolished capital punishment in practice as it has not held any executions since December 1997, while Taiwan had maintained a de facto moratorium for four years and was seen as moving toward abolition.
"In this context, if Taiwan ends its de factor moratorium on capital punishment by executing the death penalty, it will be in violation of the ICPCR," Rife stated, adding that "our reaction will be of extreme disappointment."
Rife noted that "it seems that there are ways in accordance with Taiwan law for the justice minister to uphold a moratorium."
"Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but I hope that this event will provide an opportunity for Taiwan to have broader and more informed discussion on the death penalty that is needed to change public opinion," Rife told The Taiwan News.
"What is important is that in every region there are countries which have abolished the death penalty and others which still have the death penalty on their books," Rife said.
"Throughout the globe, we can see more countries are becoming abolitionist," said Rife, who added that AI is carrying out strong campaigns in exceptions to this trend, notably China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
"Taiwan is now undergoing a critical debate and we want Taiwan to keep going in the right direction, especially since now is a critical juncture for death penalty abolition in the region," said Rife, who noted that Japan's new Democratic Party of Japan government has yet to sign an execution orders since taking office last September.
"Instead of lowering Taiwan's standards to those of China, why not work to raise China's standards?" asked Rife.