No ‘grace period' for violating life
Sat, Mar 19, 2011 - Page 8
By Kao Yung-cheng 高涌誠
On Tuesday, the Taipei Times ran an article, "Explaining the process of capital punishment," penned by Deputy Minister of Justice Wu Chen-huan (吳陳鐶) deflecting criticism that the executions on March 4 were illegal. I welcome the ministry's response to our concerns, but would like to point out a number of problems with his argument.
First, Wu defends the Amnesty Act (赦免法). It is important to respond to this, because this is the heart of why the executions were illegal. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) grants all death row inmates the right to seek a pardon or commutation, and since the ICCPR was incorporated into domestic law in 2009, proceeding with executions in the absence of this right violates the law.