"Prayer Walk for Human Rights" and Press Conference for the Establishment of the "Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty"

On the eve of World Human Rights Day this evening (the 9th), the "Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty"—composed of civil society groups including the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Fu Jen Catholic University Center for Peace and Dialogue, the Taipei Bar Association, and the Alliance for Fairness and Justice—held a press conference at the Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church to announce the formation of the coalition. In addition to inviting religious leaders such as Professor Hung Wan-sheng, Catholic Bishop Liu Tan-kuei, Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hwei, and Christian Pastor Lin Tsung-cheng, as well as international human rights workers Pr. James Seymour and Mr. & Mrs. Donald Wilson, to lead the crowd in lighting lamps and taking a silent prayer walk for human rights, the event also featured visually impaired musician Ms. Chu Wan-hua performing her original song "Lighting a Lamp for Life," creating a warm and solemn atmosphere.

The Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stated that while civil society groups welcome the government's repeated public declarations of a policy to abolish the death penalty, they are simultaneously growing impatient with the government's prolonged failure to propose complementary measures and a concrete timetable for replacing the death penalty. Attorney Lin Yung-sung (Director of the Judicial Reform Foundation), representing the coalition, further emphasized: "If the government truly has the determination to build a 'nation based on human rights,' how can it loudly proclaim 'abolish the death penalty' on the one hand, while on the other hand tolerating courts sentencing people to death or allowing the Minister of Justice to sign off on executions?" "Such contradictions between the government's policy declarations and its actual enforcement not only fail to help the public rationally debate the issue of whether the death penalty should exist, but instead give people the impression of 'saying one thing and doing another.' Under such circumstances, civil society groups naturally cannot sit idly by and must stand up and give the government a firm 'push'!"

The Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty pointed out that, in fact, based on the absolute protection of the right to life, most advanced democracies that value human rights have long abolished the death penalty. Furthermore, among countries internationally with a national average per capita income exceeding 10,000 USD like our own, 70% no longer utilize the death penalty as a punishment (see appendix). Faced with this global human rights trend, which side does Taiwan ultimately choose to stand on? In addition, regarding the saying that "harsh punishments are needed in turbulent times," the coalition cited a 1994 research survey conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan, which showed that fluctuations in our country's crime rate have no significant correlation with the number of death penalty executions, and called on all sectors to dispel this myth as soon as possible. Moreover, regarding the frequently cited claim from various sectors that "public opinion is mostly opposed to the abolition of the death penalty," the coalition also cited a public opinion survey conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of the Executive Yuan in May 2001, which showed that as long as there is an alternative of "permanent isolation," over 50% of the public would support the abolition of the death penalty (see appendix).

The Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty emphasized that "the abolition of the death penalty" must never be reduced to a slogan used to decorate the government's claim of being a "nation based on human rights." Therefore, at the present stage, the coalition specifically puts forward the following six demands, hoping that the government will earnestly implement them:

1. We ask district courts and high courts to apply evidence rules with the most rigorous attitude to determine facts in death penalty cases under review, and to avoid sentencing defendants to death whenever possible.
2. We ask the Supreme Court to review death penalty cases under review with the strictest standards, and to remand them for retrial whenever possible.
3. Comprehensively review and amend the "Directions for Implementing the Review of Death Penalty Execution Cases," and the Minister of Justice should only approve the execution of a death penalty case under circumstances free of any doubt.
4. Prior to the complete abolition of the death penalty, we ask the President to direct the Ministry of Justice to study how to implement the power of pardon as an alternative to the execution of the death penalty.
5. We ask the Executive Yuan to integrate various ministries and councils to construct a complete crime victims' protection and care system.
6. We ask the government to promptly propose concrete complementary measures and a timetable for implementation as alternatives to the death penalty.

Appendix

Position Paper and Petition Form of the "Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty"