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Groups call for abolishing death penalty2011/10/10 23:00:42

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Amnesty International (AI) Taiwan and the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty on Monday, World Day Against the Death Penalty, reiterated their call for the government to abolish capital punishment in Taiwan and to align with international standards of human rights. 

"We will remember today as the birthday of Chiang Kuo-ching, instead of Taiwan's National Day," said Lin Hsin-yi, executive director of the alliance at a film-showing event organized by the two groups to raise public awareness of the issue of death penalty.

Chiang, born on Oct. 10, 1975, was an Air Force serviceman who was wrongfully executed on a rape and murder conviction 14 years ago. He was acquitted in a posthumous retrial by a military court Sept. 13, 2011. 

source: IPS http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105300

Wrong Execution May Not End the Death Penalty

By Dennis Engbarth

TAIPEI, Sep 30, 2011 (IPS) - A Taiwan military tribunal has confirmed that the late Air Force private Chiang Kuo-ching had been wrongfully executed in August 1997 for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. But campaigners against the death penalty doubt that this will restore the moratorium on capital punishment the Taiwan government broke in April last year.

Nine inmates have been executed by shooting since President Ma Ying-jeou’s right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) government ended the nearly five-year tacit moratorium on executions that began in 2005 under the previous centrist Democratic Progressive Party government (DPP). 

Speaking to the legislative judicial committee Sep. 28, Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu denied media reports that up to 10 of the 51 convicts whose death sentences have been confirmed will be executed shortly after this year’s National Day celebrations Oct. 10. He said "there is no timetable for the executions" and that "at present there is no concrete plan or list of convicts." 

Military court exonerates Chiang Kuo-ching

NEXT STEP:：The Ministry of National Defense will now help the family of the wrongfully executed airman Chiang Kuo-ching apply for compensation

By Rich Chang  /  Staff Reporter

Wed, Sep 14, 2011 - Page 3 Taipei Times

A military court yesterday acquitted Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), who was executed for the rape and murder of a girl 15 years ago, in a posthumous trial.

Chiang was executed in 1997 after being convicted of sexually abusing and murdering a five-year-old girl.

The Military Northern District Court yesterday morning handed down the ruling after the Military Supreme Court Prosecutors' Office filed an extraordinary appeal with the Military Supreme Court in May last year to reopen the case.

The Military Supreme Prosecutors' Office's legal action followed findings by the Control Yuan that Chiang had been tortured by military investigators.

The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it was the final verdict and it would help Chiang's family apply for national compensation.

EETO calls for abolition of death penalty in Taiwan

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) The European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taipei on Wednesday repeated its call for the Taiwan government to abolish the death penalty. 

Frederic Laplanche, who assumed the post of EETO chief on July 20, said Taiwan's efforts on the matter so far had fallen short of expectations after the European Union (EU) issued two statements earlier this year and in 2010 in condemnation of Taiwan's recent executions of death row prisoners. 

"It's not enough at all," the French diplomat said a media briefing. "The Taiwan government should take the right path, which means it should to stop death penalty executions immediately." 

Concerning  China's  judicial injustice ;

Protesting the numbness of Taiwan's government 

Joint Statement

 Amnesty International Taiwan, Cross-Strait Agreement Watch Alliance, Taiwan Alliance to End Death Penalty and Taiwan Association for Human Rights

On June 23, 2011, Amnesty International (AI) launched an urgent action to prevent the execution of two men - one of them a Taiwanese citizen, Lien Sung-ching - who are currently facing a death sentence in mainland China. With specific regard to the case, AI particularly pointed out the significant flaws in the judicial process and the controversial methods used to authenticate evidence. 

In order to actively support the two death row inmates, human rights groups sent an official document to Taiwan government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The aim of this joint action was to demand an immediate intervention by the Taiwanese government on behalf of its citizen detained in mainland China. Three weeks later, however, the government's response disappointedly showed that Taiwanese authorities were more concerned about avoiding any responsibility rather than implementing a genuine commitment to improving the critical situation of Lien Sung-ching. As civil society groups, we feel deeply indignant and discouraged: how can the Taiwanese government remain passive in front of the serious human rights violations that Lien Sung-ching is enduring in mainland China?