President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that although reducing the number of state executions was desirable, more education and legal revisions would be required to make it a reality.
Ma made the remarks while receiving delegations from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the Anti-Death Penalty Asian Network and Amnesty International.
MINISTER OF JUSTICE
He said that when he served as minister of justice in 1993, he conducted the first-ever opinion poll on whether capital punishment should be abandoned.
He said he was “surprised” to learn that 72 percent of respondents opposed the abolition of the death penalty, while 88 percent of personnel in the criminal justice system were opposed.
However, when asked “can capital punishment deter major crimes,” less than half of the respondents believed it would, Ma said, describing these as “contradictory” views.
Ma said a Ministry of Justice survey held in February obtained similar results, with about 80 percent of respondents expressing opposition to the abolition of the death penalty.
STRICTER CONDITIONS
If longer prison terms were adopted or stricter conditions were imposed on life-term inmates seeking parole, however, 56 percent said “they would support the abolition of capital punishment.”
Ma said that while executions were still carried out during his term as justice minister, the number had since dropped considerably.
Referring to the “Hsichih trio” case — in which three men were convicted in 1991 of a double murder in Sijhih (汐止), Taipei County — Ma said the death sentences were not carried out during his term and that all three, who have professed their innocence, are still trying to clear their names.
At present, 29 people are on death row, Ma said.
The minister of justice, Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), is known for her promotion of human rights.
She has long advocated the abolition of capital punishment in Taiwan.
But Wang knows that only through legal revisions and public education would it be possible to promote the abolition of the death penalty and that even then, public consensus would be needed, Ma said.
DPP ADMINISTRATION
The Democratic Progressive Party government said in 2000 that it would abolish the death penalty, but the ministry later said it was unable to do so because a majority of Taiwanese still believed that capital punishment is the most effective means of deterring serious crime.
Given this, the ministry has since tried to limit the number of executions by filing extraordinary appeals to the Supreme Court or by delaying executions.
Ministry figures showed that the number of executions has dropped for years.
Thirty-two prisoners were executed in 1998, a number that shrank to 10 in 2001 and three each year between 2004 and 2006.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS