Vindicating the Chiou Ho-shun Case Marks a Major Step Forward for Human Rights in Taiwan—Statement by the Chiou Ho-shun Pro Bono Defense Team

Today (the 15th), Prosecutor-General Yen Ta-ho filed an extraordinary appeal for Chiou Ho-shun. The Chiou Ho-shun Pro Bono Defense Team has issued the following three-point statement:

1. The Chiou Ho-shun Case is Taiwan's Most Internationally Noted Miscarriage of Justice and a Benchmark for Judicial Human Rights in Taiwan

   Since Chiou Ho-shun's death sentence was finalized on July 28, 2011, the case—deeply unjust due to its reliance on confessions obtained through torture—prompted Amnesty International to immediately issue a global urgent action, followed by a global Write for Rights campaign launched on World Human Rights Day, December 10, 2012, to show solidarity. As of the end of May this year, the Office of the President has received a total of 29,515 letters from foreign nationals petitioning for Chiou Ho-shun's pardon, and the Ministry of Justice has likewise continuously received letters of support for Chiou Ho-shun from around the globe, marking an unprecedented level of international concern. Furthermore, in paragraph 57 of the concluding observations on Taiwan's initial report on the implementation of international human rights covenants, international independent human rights experts invited by the government explicitly criticized the Chiou Ho-shun case for being based on confessions extracted through torture, in violation of human rights covenants. Domestically, apart from drawing intense international attention, the Control Yuan has twice produced investigative reports on the Chiou Ho-shun case, concluding that Chiou Ho-shun and his co-defendants remain wrongfully convicted and recommending that the Prosecutor-General file an extraordinary appeal. A multitude of legal scholars, human rights groups, and a growing number of volunteers have joined the ranks of the campaign to rescue Chiou Ho-shun. Whether the judicial system is willing to grant an opportunity to vindicate the Chiou Ho-shun case has become one of the benchmarks for assessing judicial human rights in Taiwan.

2. The Prosecutor-General's Filing of an Extraordinary Appeal in the Chiou Ho-shun Case is Admirable

   Although the defense team had previously petitioned the Prosecutor-General to file an extraordinary appeal, that request was rejected at the time. Therefore, this extraordinary appeal, initiated proactively by the Prosecutor-General without a petition from the defense team, is particularly commendable and gratifying. As the representative of the public interest, while prosecutors are tasked with uncovering wrongdoing and bringing evildoers to justice, they also bear the responsibility of safeguarding human rights and cannot shirk their impartial obligation to attend to circumstances both favorable and unfavorable to the accused. In particular, they must not forget their duty to supervise the courts and rectify judicial errors; filing extraordinary appeals and applying for retrials in the interest of the defendant both fall squarely within this responsibility. On March 25 of this year, the Supreme Prosecutors Office established a Review Panel for Controversial Death Penalty Cases, referencing international standards to proactively review controversial death penalty cases and selecting the Chiou Ho-shun case as the very first case for filing an extraordinary appeal. This takes a critical first step for the government in vindicating the Chiou Ho-shun case, demonstrating that the Prosecutor-General deeply recognizes the prosecution's responsibility to protect human rights and understands that the foundation of judicial authority does not lie in never making mistakes, but rather in the judiciary's willingness to acknowledge that it is not infallible and its readiness to self-correct and rectify its mistakes. Public trust in the judiciary stems from the humility of those wielding power. The Chiou Ho-shun defense team expresses its profound admiration for the Prosecutor-General's vision and moral courage.

3. Calling on the Supreme Court to Seize the Historic Moment to Rebuild Public Trust

   In recent years, Taiwan's judiciary has gradually cast aside the longstanding bad habit of refusing to admit fault. High-profile miscarriages of justice that have long received domestic and international attention, such as the Su Chien-ho and two others case, the Hsu Tzu-chiang case, and the Cheng Hsing-tse case, have progressively been granted opportunities for vindication. This demonstrates that not only the prosecution system but also the court system has come to recognize that preventing wrongful convictions and ensuring no innocent person is harmed is the starting point for the judiciary to regain public trust. Twenty-eight years of prison life have left Chiou Ho-shun's health in extremely poor condition; in recent years, he has suffered the torment of illnesses such as heart disease, hypotension, and immune system disorders. On May 28 of this year, he had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment due to acute appendicitis complicated by peritonitis, and his overall health is deteriorating day by day. If Chiou Ho-shun were to unjustly die in detention without regaining his innocence during his lifetime, it would merely repeat the tragedy of the Chiang Kuo-ching case, inflicting an indelible stain upon Taiwan's human rights record. The defense team respectfully calls upon the Supreme Court to seize this historic moment created by the Prosecutor-General's filing of the extraordinary appeal, to review the Chiou Ho-shun case with utmost care, and to afford Chiou Ho-shun an opportunity to clear his name while he is in his twilight years.

Press Contact

Chiou Ho-shun Pro Bono Defense Team, Attorney Yu Po-hsiang 02-23681966