Human rights in this country are about to take another step forward. The Presidential Office's consultative team on human rights has drafted a human-rights bill based on the the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. It stresses protecting human rights and realizing President Chen Shui-bian's (
The bill adopts many advanced concepts, such as abolishing the death penalty and allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. These are major breakthroughs and deserve kudos. However, they are also highly controversial social issues. Long-running efforts will be needed to realize them in the legal system.
Death-for-death retribution is an outmoded concept. Correcting the psychological and behavioral patterns of criminals so that they can return to society after they have served their punishment is now the goal. However, many serious criminals have caused great harm to society. It is difficult for them to change even after receiving correctional education and treatment. They should remain quarantined from society.
The DPP has long advocated abolishing the death penalty, but public satisfaction with law enforcement and social order has always been low. The idea of using heavy punishment to tackle social chaos is also prevalent. Public support for the death penalty has always been above 70 percent. Such a strong psychological dependence on the death penalty means the government dares not push hard to abolish it. It can only resort to legislative amendments to remove articles requiring mandatory death penalties so that judges can mete out appropriate penalties according to the gravity of the crime.
This country needs to undergo more education about the rule of law before the death penalty can be removed. The public needs to be educated that the death penalty is not the only option for improving law and order. The death penalty may be an effective way to stop criminals from harming others, but it is certainly not the only way to keep major criminals out of society.
Apart from the death penalty, life sentences have long been used to remove criminals from society, but the abuse of parole and amnesties have allowed some serious criminals -- such as Chen Chin-hsing (
Even though the US is a country that attaches importance to human rights, many of its states still have the death penalty. However, several of theses states are gradually adopting the option of life sentences without parole instead of death ? -- largely because of dissatisfaction with the handling of such cases. Far too many people who were sentenced to death have been found to be innocent after spending years, even decades, on death row.
Before it tries to abolish capital punishment, the government should introduce a "life-without-parole" sentence. This may encourage people to believe that there are effective ways to protect society from serious offenders, other than taking life. This will be an effective alternative to the death penalty.
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US