The European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights yesterday voiced concern over Taiwan's recent execution of four convicts, saying it could impact on relations with the EU.
Taiwan's ending of a moratorium on the death penalty “will certainly not help improve EU-Taiwan relations and will not help Taiwan in its strive towards greater international recognition,” said a statement issued by subcommittee president Heidi Hautala and subcommittee vice president Laima Andrikiene MEP, who also serves as the vice chairperson of the European Parliament Taiwan Friendship Group.
Over the years, the European Parliament has been supportive of Taiwan's bid to join various international organizations, including a resolution in March backing the nation's participation as an observer in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
However, Taiwan's execution of four inmates on death row on April 30 — the first time the death penalty had been carried out in the country since December 2005 — has aroused concerns in the EU over what some have described as a setback for efforts the nation has made to abolish capital punishment.
On Saturday, Catherine Ashton, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy of the EU and the first vice president of the European Commission, issued a statement condemning the executions.
Yesterday's statement by the parliament's subcommittee added that the resumption of executions “acts strongly” against Taiwan's aspirations to join the UN and other international organizations.
Hautala and Andrikiene said Taiwanese officials had said on numerous occasions that they would continue the process of constitutional review of capital punishment, exhaust all other possible remedies for the 44 prisoners on death row and refrain from hastily resuming executions.
However, they “did not keep their pledges,” Hautala and Andrikiene said.
“Nor has the current ruling Kuomintang party made sufficient steps to seek for a cross-party consensus on the abolition of death penalty inside Taiwan,” they said.
Human rights are at the core of EU's value system and the EU places great significance on the defense of human rights, including the right to life, in its external policies, the statement said, adding that the principle of defending human rights worldwide is enshrined in all major EU documents devoted to external policy.
In an e-mail to the Taipei Times on possible fallout of the executions on Taiwan's bid to gain visa-waiver status from the EU, Andrikiene said: “The opponents of Taiwan will exploit every issue that speaks against your country.”
“There is no direct relationship between the visa issue and the death penalty, but when Taiwan's visa-waiver case is discussed in the European Parliament, all issues will become important, especially everything related to human rights,” Andrikiene said.
On March 25, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) told the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee that he expected Taiwan's request for visa-waiver status to be presented to the European Commission for deliberation within a few weeks, but voiced concern that the death penalty issue could weigh against Taiwan's case.
The ministry said on Tuesday that Taiwan's visa case had not been presented to the commission.
Javier Hou (侯清山), another vice minister of foreign affairs, yesterday told lawmakers that the ministry had not seen any impact from the executions and Taiwan's visa request.
“I don't dare say that is no corelation between the two matters. We can't rule out the possibility, but we hope that it will not happen,” he said.
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS