The death penalty debate has burst back onto Taiwan’s political agenda, costing the justice minister her job in a sign of just how sensitive the issue remains in the country.
It is more than four years since Taiwan last put someone to death, but when Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said last week she would not order any executions during her term, she drew a storm of criticism that led to her speedy resignation.
“We have a long way to go before Taiwan formally abolishes the death penalty,” said Hsueh Chin-feng (薛欽峰), head of the Human Protection Committee at the Taipei Bar Association, which is campaigning for an end to capital punishment. “Wang’s resignation has dealt a further blow to the cause of ending capital punishment. More obstacles are emerging.”
Like many Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan maintains the death penalty, reserving it for serious crimes such as aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Opinion polls suggest widespread public approval of capital punishment, with no significant erosion of support over the years.
About 74 percent of 792 Taiwanese interviewed by the Chinese-language United Daily News last week said they supported capital punishment, against just 12 percent who opposed it.
Even so, the fact that nobody has been executed since late 2005, leaving 44 convicts in death-row limbo, reflects serious doubts among the political elite. Wang’s predecessor also opposed the death penalty.
At the same time, a number of high-profile cases may have helped lead to subtle changes in public attitudes.
One of them is the case of 37-year-old Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), who has lived under the shadow of a death sentence for a gruesome double murder for most of his adult life.
Su was originally sentenced to death in 1995 and after a series of trials, faces a further retrial ordered by the Supreme Court.
“My life has turned dark over this case. I have spent my best years locked up in a small jail cell,” he said in an interview.
Rights groups have seized on Su’s situation as an example of a flawed case, saying his initial confession was extracted under torture.
And campaigners warn of the risk of executing the innocent.
Su remembers when he was 23 and on death row, and was asked to help a convict of the same age spend the last hours before his execution.
As the young man was dragged away to be shot, he turned to Su and said: “I’m innocent.”
Among those who want to see the death penalty stay is entertainer Pai Ping-ping (白冰冰).
“If the law can’t serve as a last line of defense for the protection of good and honest citizens, we might as well just get rid of it all,” she said in a faxed statement.
Pai’s stance strikes a chord in Taiwan because her teenage daughter was kidnapped, raped and murdered in a widely publicized case in the 1990s.
Huang Juei-min (黃瑞明), a law professor at Taichung’s Providence University, is among several academics who opposes abolition.
“Those who are placed on death row have committed cruel crimes. They should face the consequences,” Huang said. “When human rights organizations are calling for protecting the rights of murderers, who cares about the families of their victims?”
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS