The Ministry of Justice on Friday denied accusations that it was unwilling to carry out death sentences, saying that all 37 inmates on death row in Taiwan are in the process of applying for legal remedies.
The prisoners have brought their cases to the Constitutional Court and have therefore received a legally guaranteed stay of execution, the ministry said in a statement.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) criticized the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) earlier this week, saying it was neither trying to abolish capital punishment nor daring to carry out executions.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Two people have been put to death under capital punishment laws since the DPP was elected into office in May 2016.
In response, the ministry said the implementation of the death penalty could only be immediate if the remedy process were eliminated, but doing so might contravene Taiwan’s legal system.
Taiwan has written two UN human rights-related covenants into domestic law — namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Taiwan’s presidential candidates discussed the death penalty in a televised debate last week, with only the KMT’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), clearly stating his opposition to abolishing capital punishment.
DPP presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德) said it was a sensitive issue in any country and that abolishing it requires a high degree of public support.
While neither the ICCPR nor the ICESCR requires abolishing the death penalty, they do call for extra discretion in deciding whether to carry out executions, Lai said.
The ICESCR does not mention the death penalty.
The ICCPR says it “may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law” and can only be carried out “pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that given the global trend away from capital punishment, the only compromise he could think of was to not allow parole for people who have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard