Amnesty International (AI) called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday to lead the region by scrapping the death penalty, adding pressure to alter a popular law a week after his justice minister quit to press for abolition. The human rights group, in a letter to Ma, said Taiwan would set an example for Asia by doing away with the law and canceling pending sentences.
More than 70 percent of the Taiwanese public backs the death penalty, though no executions have been carried out since 2005 and the issue is subject to lively debate.
Scrapping capital punishment could deal a new setback to the president, beset by domestic rows as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) faces year-end local elections seen as a bellwether for the 2012 presidential race.
“We look to Taiwan as a leader in the region on progress toward abolition,” AI interim secretary-general Claudio Cordone wrote.
“In a time of heightened political debate, we urge you to demonstrate leadership and continue on the path toward abolition,” he said.
Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) resigned minister of justice last week after expressing opposition to the law under which about 500 inmates have been executed since 1987.
The death penalty, which in Taiwan is carried out by a bullet in the back or to the base of the neck, remains standard legislation around Asia, including Japan and China.
AI said that about 7,000 death sentences were handed down in China in 2008 — the country with the highest execution numbers in the world — with 1,718 of the sentences actually carried out. China does not publicize most executions. Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) cut back on executions, leaving 44 inmates on death row since the last sentence was carried out in 2005.
Ma’s KMT controls both the legislature and the presidency, but he and his government ratings have dipped over its response to deadly Typhoon Morakot in August.
The Executive Yuan late last night issued a statement on the letter to the Presidential Office.
In the statement, the Executive Yuan said abolition of the death penalty was a goal that could not be achieved without a public consensus, adding that it also required amendments to related rules and regulations.
The Executive Yuan said it would direct the Ministry of Justice to put more effort into public discussions on the issue and informing Taiwanese about the global trend concerning abolition of the capital penalty.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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