[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 22



TAIWAN:

Taiwan 'moving toward' abolishing death penalty


The Ministry of Justice yesterday responded to EU calls to abolish capital 
punishment by saying that Taiwan's justice system is moving toward that goal in 
the long term, adding that a high percentage of Taiwanese still favor the death 
penalty for certain crimes.

Taiwan, China, Japan and the US were among the nations criticized in the 
Council of the EU's Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World in 
2015, which was released on Monday.

The report said that 101 countries have abolished the death penalty, as the EU 
reaffirmed "its opposition to the death penalty and use of all diplomatic tools 
at its disposal to advance the cause of worldwide abolition."

"The EU deplored the continuing use of the death penalty in various parts of 
the world: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Belarus, Egypt, Japan, 
Indonesia, Singapore, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the USA were a particular 
focus of attention," it added, as the EU urged these nations to abolish capital 
punishment. Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang yesterday said the 
ministry's ultimate goal is to abolish capital punishment in Taiwan, "but 
current public surveys indicate that 82 % of the people are against abolition 
of the death penalty."

Chen said the ministry has undertaken 4 measures toward this long-term 
objective: ending legal requirements for "mandatory capital punishment" for 
certain crimes; taking steps for the judiciary to deliberate on "discretionary 
capital punishment"; handing out the death penalty with extreme prudence; and 
carrying out the death penalty with extreme prudence.

"We are currently reviewing and assessing this issue," Chen said. "The ministry 
will take very careful approaches on handling this issue and carrying out the 
death penalty, before our nation has formally abolished it," Chen said.

Other judicial officials said that the ministry is still responsible for 
policies on the death penalty, and that the nation's laws still retain the 
death penalty.

(source: Taipei Times)