“In the Wake of Spring, Let’s Talk About the Death Penalty” The First WCADP Steering Committee Meeting in Asia

“In the Wake of Spring, Let’s Talk About the Death Penalty”
The First WCADP Steering Committee Meeting in Asia

20130415
Press Release

The steering committee of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) was held for the first time in Asia. According to the President of the WCADP, Ms. Florence Bellivier, this steering committee meeting in Taiwan is of historical importance. While past steering committee meetings were held in Europe, North Africa and the Americas, the abolition movement and human rights conditions in Asia and Taiwan is now the focus of global attention and expectations.

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) is an alliance of more than 140 NGOs, human rights groups, bar associations, local authorities and unions. It was set up on 13 May 2002 in Rome. It is the largest international human rights NGO advocating for the abolition of death penalty. To achieve the goal of universal abolition, the WCADP promotes and strengthens international cooperation in the fight against death penalty. As a first step towards abolition, WCADP advocates for a moratorium on the use of death penalty in sentencing and executions to reduce the use of death penalty in countries where capital punishment is yet to be abolished. The WCADP regularly provides the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) with opinions and suggestions regarding matters related to death penalty.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) joined the WCADP in 2007 and became a member of the steering committee in 2009 and 2011. In the steering committee meeting held on 12 and 13 April in Taipei, the focus is on the Fifth World Congress Against the Death Penalty, to be held in June in Madrid. Amnesty International (AI), published Death Sentences and Executions 2012 on 10 April, detailing cases of exonerations in seven countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Guyana, India, Nigeria, Taiwan, and USA. Ms. Elizabeth A. Zitrin, Vice-President of the WCADP, points out the significance of inviting those who had been exonerated to the World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Their attendance will be a reminder of the imperfection of justice systems in the world as well as the inherent danger of using the death penalty in sentencing and carrying out executions. The ‘Hsichih Trio’, Su Chien-ho, Chuang Lin-hsun, and Liu Bin-lang, were exonerated in August 2011. They and Chang Chuan-fen, author of a book on the ‘Hsichih Trio’ case, will be invited to attend the World Congress and share their experiences of exoneration.

Apart from attending the steering committee meeting, members of the WCADP steering committee will also visit the Taiwanese officials as well as hosting three public speech events and a workshop on victim protection. (For more information, please visit http://www.taedp.org.tw/story/2503)

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) coordinated this first-ever WCADP steering committee in Asia. Members attending the meeting include representatives from more than 20 important NGOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Iran, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and USA.

Link: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty