Movement
for Abolition of the Death Penalty
The
death penalty, including both mandatory
and discretionary death sentences, is
imposed on a wide range of offenses in
Taiwan –some 140 currently. From 1991
to 2001, 281 executions were carried out:
32 in 1998, 24 in 1999, and 17 in 2000
(note that these figures do not include
those executed under military court sentences).
Compared to the Taiwanese population of
23 million, the rate of executions per
capita is one of the highest in the world.
Since
1993, Taipei Bar Association (TBA) has
become actively involved in the movement
for abolition of death penalty, both in
practice and through legislation. The
TBA and its members have also been devoted
to the volunteer defense activities for
capital defendants.
The
present Taiwanese government has demonstrated
its concerns on the gravity of the death
penalty issue, a stance hardly conceivable
during the earlier five decades of KMT
rule (four decades of which was under
martial law). In May of 2001, the Minister
of Justice announced his goal of abolition
of death penalty, arousing a huge surge
of public discussion. In fact, some listed
capital offenses, such as drug trafficking,
have already been changed from mandatory
death sentences to discretionary ones;
moreover, the Bandit Law, which prescribes
mandatory death sentences for ten offenses,
is to be scrapped altogether. However,
based on the principle of retaliation
and anxiety about crime rates, the notion
of complete abolition of death penalty
is still opposed by a vast majority (up
to 90%) of the public, including even
most judges, prosecutors, and lawyers.
The
TBA has continuously engaged in educational
activities in order to promote the ideal
of abolition of capital punishment to
the legal community and the society at
large. The TBA has consistently called
for to Taiwan to observe the international
standards on this issue, such as the Second
Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.
