Print

Mail

wiki links

Moratorium on death penalty recommended

PHOTO: KO SHU-LING, TAIPEI TIMES

Before a complete and unconditional abolition of the death penalty is enshrined in the law, the government could consider suspending the use of the death penalty as an interim measure, an international human rights expert told the Taipei Times yesterday.

"The government can take immediate steps towards abolition of the death penalty, such as reducing the number of crimes with the death penalty," said Nicholas Howen, secretary-general of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). "In many other countries of the world, a moratorium on the death penalty has been declared without damaging the independence of judges and lawyers."

Howen made the remarks after meeting Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning.

Howen arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night for a 24-hour visit to assess progress toward the long-delayed enactment of the draft human rights act, which is currently under review by the Executive Yuan.

The ICJ has been hired by the Executive Yuan to provide professional legal advice in connection with the act.

"In many other countries ... a moratorium on the death penalty has been declared without damaging the independence of judges."

Nicholas Howen, secretary-general of the International Commission of Jurists

Howen, an Australian, is the ICJ's ninth secretary-general and the second to come from the Asia-Pacific region.

During his whirlwind visit, he met with Hsieh, Yeh Chun-jung (葉俊榮), the chairman of the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission and the Judicial Reform Foundation.

When Howen proposed declaring a moratorium on the death penalty to Hsieh, Howen said that the premier expressed concern over how it might be done.

"The premier was concerned that it had to be done in a way that does not damage the independence of prosecutors and judges," Howen said. "He does not want to have the government be seen as interfering in the prerogative of prosecutors and judges to propose and accept the death penalty."

Hsieh, however, reaffirmed his commitment to making sure that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) human-rights policy would be implemented and that this would happen as soon as possible.

"He didn't give us a specific date but there was a reconfirmation of the commitment of the government to make this a reality," Howen said.

It has been two years since the last time ICJ experts visited Taiwan to offer their opinions on the draft human-rights act.

While some human rights are absolute, Howen pointed out that few must be restricted.

"International human rights laws say that rights such as freedom of assembly, of association, of expression can be limited, if it is necessary, by law in a democratic society such as Taiwan for particular purposes to protect national security, to protect health, and also to protect public order," he said.

While Chen has expressed his hope to enact a Taiwan bill of rights, the two treaties which make up the International Bill of Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, are caught in a legal limbo and have not yet been ratified by the legislature.

When asked whether it would be a waste of time for Taiwan, which is not a UN member, to ratify the two treaties, Howen said that it would not be.

"It will be a fundamental statement that Taiwan, as a modern democracy, accepts the two most important human rights treaties, and all of the court decisions, which have come along the last 30 years, help to give meanings to these," he said. "This will be very important."

If the ratification of the two treaties became a reality, combined with the human rights act, which would give expression within Taiwanese law of these treaties, this would be a mutually reinforcing package., he said.

"I am hoping that in the new legislative session it may be possible for this to happen," he said.
This story has been viewed 2517 times.