Stand up for abolition
Statement released by the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, March 12, 2010
(中文版:廢除死刑推動聯盟針對王清峰部長請辭下台的聲明 )
'I never blamed those who claim their support for the death penalty in public. It’s a moral choice to stand for or against the death penalty and the choice belongs to one’s conscience. What bothers me is that, an intellectual, a self-proclaimed abolitionist is content to retain the death penalty, just because the public poll and opinion are for it.
Robert Badinter,
A open letter to Minister of Justice of the France,1977
The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) deeply regrets the oral resignation tendered yesterday by Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng and accepted by Premier Wu Den-yih and President Ma Ying-jeou.
Upon taking up her position as justice minister in 2008, Wang expressed support for abolishing the death penalty. Since Taiwan ratified the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), she has continued with the policy of gradually abolishing capital punishment, has examined death penalty cases and has maintained a moratorium on executions. Wang has also established a taskforce within the ministry to research the application of the death penalty and work toward abolition. The taskforce brings together academics, death penalty researchers and other concerned individuals for in-depth debate, with the goal of seeking alternatives to capital punishment. Her dedication to the matter was greatly appreciated.