An international panel of human rights experts on Friday called on Taiwan to end the “cruel and degrading” practice of capital punishment.
In its Concluding Observations and Recommendations report, the nine-member group said it was “extremely disappointed” at the failure of the government to address the issue, despite persistent calls in Taiwan for the abolition of the death penalty.
The panel, which was commissioned by the government, conducted a review in Taipei from Monday to Friday of the nation’s implementation of two UN human rights-related covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Photo: CNA
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, remain inadequately addressed, Austrian human rights lawyer Manfred Nowak told a news conference in Taipei.
“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,” said Nowak, who was the UN special rapporteur on torture from 2004 to 2010.
“We are strongly appealing to the Executive Yuan to immediately declare a moratorium on executions,” he said, adding that the “cruel, inhuman and degrading” punishment contravenes articles 6 and 7 of the ICCPR.
All death sentences should be commuted immediately and the minister of justice should no longer sign execution orders, he added.
Taiwan has the potential to become the Asian standard-bearer in recognizing and enforcing international human rights, but it will never achieve that so long as the death penalty remains an element of its criminal justice system, he said.
Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that the government remained committed to gradually abolishing capital punishment, but there is a lack of public consensus on the matter.
The government has taken note of the suggestions made by the international human rights experts and would convene to discuss the feasibility of declaring a moratorium on executions, Lo said.
Taiwan most recently executed a prisoner in 2020.
The 38 people currently sentenced to death have brought the issue to the Constitutional Court, and have received a legally guaranteed stay of execution, he said.
The panel’s report also highlighted the absence of legislation to curb torture and discrimination in Taiwan.
“The information provided by the government clearly shows that there are many allegations of torture against law enforcement officials in Taiwan,” the report said, adding that those cases only led to disciplinary action instead of criminal prosecution.
The nation has yet to make incorporate torture — the crime of inflicting severe mental or physical pain or suffering on a powerless person for a particular purpose as defined in international law — into its Criminal Code, Nowak said.
Taiwan should adopt a “comprehensive anti-discrimination law that addresses the various types of discrimination,” which could be applied to the public and private sectors, he added.
Human rights groups in Taiwan echoed the panel’s call.
At a news conference outside the Ministry of Justice building in Taipei, Huang Yi-bee (黃怡碧), who is chief executive of Covenants Watch — which was formed by a coalition of non-governmental organizations determination to introduce a comprehensive anti-discrimination law — said that the government commissioned academics to research the issue, but has not responded to local groups’ requests for consultations.
Although not a UN member, Taiwan ratified the ICCPR and ICESCR as a matter of domestic law in 2009.
Since 2013, the government has invited human rights experts to Taiwan every four years to review the country’s implementation of the covenants and interact with government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations before issuing their observations and recommendations.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from