Taiwanese Government Violates Covenants Again, Tseng Yung-fu Illegally Carries Out Executions Once More

At around 7:00 PM, the Ministry of Justice held a press conference, confirming that the Government of the Republic of China once again illegally executed six death row inmates on April 19, 2013: Chang Pao-hui (Hualien), Lin Chin-te (Taipei), Ch'en Tung-jung, Li Chia-hsuan, Chi Chun-yi (Tainan), and Ch'en Jui-ch'in (Taichung).

At noon today, after receiving media inquiries regarding the Ministry of Justice's plan to carry out executions today, the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty immediately attempted to verify the matter with the offices of Minister of Justice and Deputy Minister Ch'en Ming-t'ang, but received no response.

The Covenants Watch, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Judicial Reform Foundation held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan at 3:30 PM. We argued that executing the death penalty would violate the Covenants and the concluding observations made by 10 international experts. These 10 international experts were invited by the Taiwanese government to Taiwan to review the implementation of the Covenants, and according to the Enforcement Act, the concluding observations made by international experts should have domestic legal effect.

Regarding the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 10 international human rights experts strongly recommended in paragraphs 56 and 57 of their concluding observations that the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan): "should step up its efforts towards the abolition of the death penalty, the first decisive step being the immediate compliance with relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions." They also explicitly pointed out: "In accordance with article 6, paragraph 4, of the Covenant, anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. This implies that the execution of the death penalty must be suspended until relevant procedures are appropriately concluded. In the opinion of the Experts, this provision of the Covenant seems to have been violated in all 15 cases of executions carried out in Taiwan during the last three years."

Following the press conference, we went to the Office of the President to submit a petition for administrative appeal. We argued that pursuant to Article 6, Paragraph 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 2 of the Enforcement Act of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Article 6 of the Pardon Act, the death row inmates had previously petitioned the President for commutation and requested the suspension of the execution of the death penalty while commutation proceedings were pending. Since the President has not yet issued a decision granting or denying the petition, we filed an administrative appeal in accordance with Article 2 and Article 56 of the Administrative Appeal Act.

At the same time, we also went to the High Administrative Court to submit an application for a stay of administrative execution, demanding that the executions be suspended pending the President's decision.

Finally, at 4:30 PM, we went to the Ministry of Justice to submit a petition, delivering the petition for administrative appeal and the application for a stay of administrative execution to the Ministry. Through communication, the Ministry of Justice finally dispatched Chief Secretary Chou Chang-chin to receive us. Upon our insistence, Chief Secretary Chou conveyed Deputy Minister Ch'en Ming-t'ang's response that "the Ministry of Justice will certainly follow due process of law."

Judging from the outcome of tonight's executions, we are extremely angry and regretful. The Ministry of Justice disregarded the Covenants and consequently failed to "follow due process of law." This also shows that the Ministry of Justice believes its own legal opinions override the concluding observations of the 10 experts.

According to the press release issued by the Ministry of Justice following the executions, the Ministry selectively interpreted the Covenants and selectively cited the concluding observations of the 10 international experts, while completely omitting the conclusion from the concluding observations: "In the opinion of the Experts, this provision of the Covenant seems to have been violated in all 15 cases of executions carried out in Taiwan during the last three years."

Moving forward, the Covenants Watch, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Judicial Reform Foundation will hold Minister Tseng Yung-fu and the Ministry of Justice accountable for illegal executions and the crime of homicide without any grounds for justification, pursuing disciplinary actions and criminal liabilities of public officials in accordance with the law.

At the same time, we will continue to request the Control Yuan to investigate and respond to the petition submitted by the Covenants Watch on December 27, 2012.