May 4, 2010, Paris-Taipei - The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) strongly condemn the executions carried out by the government on May 1, 2010 of Chang Chun-Hong, Chang Wen-Wei, Hong Chen Yeow, and Ke Shi-Ming. These executions are the first since 2005 and came before the Grand Justices could review three petitions filed by the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP). The first petition dated April 16th 2007 was requesting a constitutional review of the cases of 14 death row inmates who did not have legal representatives in their third trials. The other two petitions, submitted respectively on March 29th and April 15th 2010, argued serious flaws in the penalty measurement procedure and violation of the right to life, after Taiwan ratified the ICCPR in March 2009.
The warrants of the executions were signed by Mr. Tseng Yung-Fu, Minister of Justice. The four inmates were reportedly executed without prior notice to their families and the method of execution has not been disclosed.
The Judicial Yuan, Taiwan’s highest judiciary, had accepted the last two requests for a constitutional review by TAEDP on behalf of Taiwan’s 44 death row inmates, and granted a deadline of May 3 to submit additional documents. TAEDP then contacted all inmates who had not participated in TAEDP’s action at first place and persuaded them to use any possible remedy. Contrary to claims by the Ministry of Justice that the four inmates did not request a constitutional review of their cases, only Chang Wen-Wei and Hong Chen Yeow reportedly refused to request a constitutional review, whereas Chang Chun-Hong on April 26 in a written letter stated his intent on doing so. Representatives from TAEDP were reportedly barred from seeing Ke Shi-Ming at the Tainan prison and therefore they were unable to ascertain whether he wanted a constitutional review.
In an open letter addressed to Minister Tseng on March 26, 2010, FIDH and TAHR urged him to guarantee that no execution would take place before the Grand Justices would rule on the petitions for constitutional review. FIDH and TAHR deeply regret that the executions took place before all possible remedies have been exhausted. The executions of the inmates before the May 3 deadline and before proper legal procedures could be observed cast serious doubt over their legality and may constitute a breach of international human rights standards relating to the death penalty. The executions also contradict Minister Tseng’s previous declaration to the media that the “option of abolition is still open.” When Mr. Tseng became justice minister in March 2010, he immediately ordered a review of the cases of all 44 prisoners on death row. His predecessor, Ms. Wang Ching-feng, had resigned under criticism over her refusal to order the execution of any of the prisoners on death row.
“The hope for better human rights protection in Taiwan following its ratifications of the two International Covenants on human rights in 2009 are now suddenly and shockingly dashed by these hasty executions, which took place in a context where effective procedural safeguards on the application of death penalty in Taiwan were either lacking or not applied,” said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President.
FIDH and TAHR call upon the government of Taiwan to immediately impose a moratorium on the application of the death penalty and ensure that the Grand Justices have the time and resources needed to conduct a thorough constitutional review of all death penalty convictions. The Organizations further urge the government to continue its support for the Task Force on research and promotion of gradual abolishment in the Ministry of Justice, especially by empowering it to raise awareness among the people of Taiwan on the strong arguments against the death penalty and the available alternative measures.