Statement Condemning the Ministry of Justice's Potential Resumption of Executions on April 19

President Ma Ying-jeou declared on March 8: 'Our nation complies fully with United Nations standards regarding human rights protection, which demonstrates our firm determination and sincerity in safeguarding human rights.' Furthermore, during the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee meeting on April 3, he stated: 'If laws conflict with the two Covenants, the two Covenants shall take precedence. Therefore, even without amendments, the two Covenants remain applicable. Not only can administrative agencies and courts apply them, but the people may also apply them.'

At the end of February this year, our country completed the international review of its initial national report on the two Covenants. Ten international human rights experts strongly recommended in paragraphs 56 and 57 of the concluding observations regarding the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) should: 'intensify its efforts towards the abolition of the death penalty, the first and decisive step of which is to immediately comply with relevant UN General Assembly resolutions to suspend the execution of the death penalty.' They explicitly pointed out: 'Pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 4, of the ICCPR, 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 the relevant procedures are appropriately concluded. The experts consider that the 15 death penalty cases executed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) over the past three years appear to have violated this provision of the Covenant.'

Around noon today (April 19), organizations including the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and the Covenants Watch, much like during the previous three rounds of executions, learned from media reports that the Ministry of Justice intended to execute a total of six death-row inmates across northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan. If this information is accurate and the executions are carried out, we must solemnly and severely condemn the Ministry of Justice. Such an action undoubtedly constitutes illegal execution and professional negligent homicide by Tseng Yung-fu and the Ministry of Justice. According to the law, public officials must face disciplinary and criminal liability for this.

The Enforcement Act of the Two Covenants has possessed domestic legal effect since December 10, 2009. Article 6, paragraph 4 of the ICCPR stipulates: 'Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence may be granted in all cases.' In other words, before executing the death penalty, the Ministry of Justice must carefully weigh this right of the death-row inmate. If an inmate has submitted a request for pardon to the President, it must be confirmed whether the request has been approved and whether the President has formally notified the inmate in writing before deciding whether to proceed with the execution; otherwise, it constitutes a violation of the Covenant. However, to date, we have seen no response whatsoever from the President regarding death penalty pardons. Instead, we have only witnessed the President repeatedly declaring the government's resolve to comply with the two Covenants—and complying with the two Covenants means implementing the concluding observations made by international experts.

Meanwhile, Article 4 of the Enforcement Act of the Two Covenants stipulates: 'The exercise of powers by government agencies at all levels shall comply with the provisions on human rights protection under the two Covenants, avoid human rights infringements, protect people from being infringed upon by others, and actively promote the realization of various human rights.' If the Ministry of Justice carries out executions again today, it will clearly remain in violation of the aforementioned provisions. Although the Ministry of Justice has repeatedly argued externally that 'our Pardon Act does not contain procedural regulations regarding the application, approval, or rejection of pardons,' Article 8 of the Enforcement Act of the Two Covenants also stipulates that the current Pardon Act should be amended to comply with Article 6, paragraph 4 of the ICCPR, thereby ensuring that death-row inmates are fully protected by the Covenant and substantially enjoy the right to seek pardon.

Following the Ministry of Justice's execution of six individuals on December 21 last year, organizations such as the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty and the Covenants Watch filed a petition with the Control Yuan against Tseng Yung-fu for unlawful homicide. We urge the Control Yuan to promptly issue a corrective measure and investigation report regarding the Minister of Justice's violation of the Enforcement Act of the Two Covenants and reckless execution of the death penalty constituting professional negligence. In response to the Ministry of Justice's potential executions today, we issue the following three-point statement:

1. The Ma administration has repeatedly declared its implementation of human rights protections under the two Covenants. Yet the Ministry of Justice, as the competent authority for the enforcement of the two Covenants, has defied the concluding observations made by international experts during the international review as well as the human rights protections related to the two Covenants. As Minister of Justice, Tseng Yung-fu has clearly demonstrated dereliction of duty, should step down to take responsibility, and must bear criminal liability for professional negligent homicide.
2. The Ma administration and Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu should pull back from the brink and halt the execution of the death penalty, given that they are well aware that carrying out executions at present clearly violates the Covenant.
3. Should the Ma administration and Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu still insist on carrying out executions, we will pursue the criminal liability of the relevant public officials in accordance with the law.