The Ministry of Justice said yesterday that Taiwan has not violated any human rights principles in handling capital punishment cases and death-row inmates, but promised to refer to other countries' measures to refine the existing system.
The ministry was responding to a report issued by FIDH -- the French acronym of the International Federation for Human Rights -- on Taiwan's use of capital punishment.
It marked the first time that an international organization has issued a "country report" on the death penalty in Taiwan.
The FIDH groups 141 human rights organizations around the world and aims to improve the protection of victims, prevent human rights abuses and improve the prosecution of those responsible.
FIDH Vice Chairwoman Siobhan Ni Chulachain released the report at a news conference in Taipei on Monday.
She also offered suggestions for the government and private sector on how to further improve the county's human rights record.
Chulachain will present the report to President Chen Shui-bian (
The report is expected to catch the attention of major world human rights bodies, such as Amnesty International and the UN Human Rights Council, and may affect the nation's international image, analysts said.
The FIDH report made a case for the government to craft a timetable for phasing out capital punishment.
Taiwan is one of 72 countries in the world that have not abolished the death penalty.
The report also said that Taiwan had violated the UN's minimum requirements for treatment of death-row inmates by demanding that they wear leg irons on a long-term basis.
In response, ministry officials said the FIDH report was incorrect, and that prisons and reformatory centers had been ordered not to use handcuffs, leg irons or legcuffs, shackles or other such restraining gear for punitive purposes.
Under prison management rules, the officials said, leg irons and handcuffs are used only for protective purposes, meaning that only death-row inmates who are emotionally unstable, or likely to flee or commit suicide, are restrained in accordance with regulations in the Criminal Code (
"We have not been in violation of relevant UN rules," a ministry official said.
Regarding the FIDH's suspicions that death-row inmates may have been forced to donate organs before execution, the ministry official said such speculation and concerns were unfounded.
Of the 12 death-row inmates executed between 2003 and the present, seven donated their organs of their own free will, the official said, adding that none of the organ donations had breached medical ethics principles.
On the FIDH's criticism that Taiwan fails to allow death-row inmates to meet their families before their execution, the official said preparations for execution have proceeded in secret to ensure security and avoiding causing anxiety or adding to the suffering of the family members.
The official said that death-row inmates invariably have enough time to meet their loved ones. Prison authorities consistently inform their families immediately after the execution, the official added.
The ministry will work with other government agencies to revise laws that prescribe "capital punishment" as the only penalty, in line with the gradual phasing out the death penalty, the official said.
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