TAIWAN: ACTIVISTS URGE END OF DEATH PENALTY FOLLOWING REPORT

March 25, 2009: anti-capital punishment activists urged the government to follow the global trend and abolish the practice after the release of a report by Amnesty International.
Amnesty International Taiwan director Wang Hsing-chung said that “the figures show that ending the death penalty is a global trend.”
Lin Hsin-yi, director of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, urged the government to follow suit. “The government says it’s not the right time to abolish the death penalty, because most people still support it,” Lin said. “But if we look at examples in other countries, opinion is against abolishing the death penalty, but other governments still abolished it.” Lin said it often takes a decisive political leader, better crime prevention policies and good substitutes to the death penalty to win popular support for the policy. She said popular support for abolishing the death penalty would increase in the long run.
Lin said that Taiwan has not had an execution since December 2005 and that there has been growing debate on abolishing capital punishment.
“It’s really a good sign that we’re getting close to [abolishing the death penalty] and I hope we can soon complete the last mile,” she said.
She also urged the public to pay more attention to the physical and psychological condition of the 32 people currently on death row. (Sources: Tapei Times, 26/03/2009)