【台灣】人權倒退：蔡英文總統任內的第二起死刑處決

2020/04/02

4月1日，蔡英文總統在任內執行了第二起死刑處決。由於囚犯拒絕配合，以單人槍決囚犯的死刑執行方式，執行了一個小時。

「台灣執行死刑的日子，恰好是台灣在新冠病毒（COVID-19）疫情中捐贈一千萬個口罩給歐美而被全球讚譽有加的日子。這十分諷刺，也暴露出台灣試圖掩蓋死刑執行這個壞消息的企圖。」

國際特赦組織台灣分會秘書長邱伊翎表示

53歲的翁仁賢於2019年2月遭判死刑，並於清明節前一日（4月1日）晚上九點遭到處決。翁於2016年過年期間因縱火而導致五位親屬及一位看護死亡而四度被判死刑。根據翁的其中一份精神評估報告，他一直都讓自己與社會隔絕，很難與他人進行正常或積極的互動。

行政院長蘇貞昌提起這起案件時曾表示：「翁所犯下的罪惡天地不容，符合《公民與政治權利國際公約》第六條的範疇。」

「但是，在《公民與政治權利國際公約》第六條中也同樣指出，禁止締約國援引其他規定來延緩死刑的廢除。台灣政府一邊表示政策將朝向廢除死刑的方向前進，一邊繼續執行死刑，令人非常失望。」邱伊翎表示。

這起執行似乎是對三月曾引起高度關注的一起謀殺案的回應，案發當時激起了對於廢除死刑的批評。當時台灣廢除死刑推動聯盟因此面臨大量的網路言論霸凌。

「台灣政府在死刑相關議題上的社會教育或對話做的並不多，所以我們持續看到人權組織或沒有強烈支持死刑的受害者家屬遭受網路霸凌。」國際特赦組織台灣分會秘書長邱伊翎表示。

「每當謀殺案發生時，社會就會持續攻擊人權或廢死的非政府組織，卻不質問政府為何欠缺社會安全網、欠缺相關系統來支持需要幫助的人。」

「由於缺乏明確有效的策略及計畫，廢死並沒有任何進展。台灣政府應該推動人權教育，促進不同意見者可以有更多正向溝通對話。」

「支持處決的這種主流論述並未阻止任何犯罪。對不支持死刑的人進行網路霸凌，不僅不利於邁向廢除死刑，更損害了言論自由和公民社會的多元發展空間。」

死刑是極端殘忍、不人道和有辱人格的刑罰。國際特赦組織反對在任何情況下實施死刑，無論犯罪性質、罪犯的特質、或國家處決的方式，均無例外。

國際特赦組織重申，台灣政府應該建立「停止執行」的機制，作為邁向全面廢除死刑的第一步。

Taiwan: Second execution under President Tsai Ing-wen, a disgraceful setback to human rights

2 April 2020

Taiwan executed its second death row prisoner under President Tsai Ing-wen on 1 April. The one-man shooting execution took an hour because the prisoner refused to cooperate.

“The fact that the authorities carried out this execution on the same day they received global praise for donating 10 million masks to help fight COVID-19 in Europe and the USA exposes a cynical attempt to bury bad news,” said E-Ling Chiu, Director of Amnesty International Taiwan.

Mr. Weng Jen-hsien (翁仁賢), a 53-year-old man, was sentenced to death in February 2019 and was executed at 9pm yesterday, the day before the Tomb Sweeping festival holiday. Weng Jen-hsien was sentenced to death four times for setting fire and causing the deaths of five of his relatives and one caregiver during a Lunar New Year’s Eve gathering in 2016. According to the mental disability assessment of Mr. Weng, he had been isolating himself from society and found it difficult to have normal or positive interactions with others.

The case was also mentioned by the Prime Minister of Executive Yuan, who said that “Mr. Weng's case was the most unacceptable and serious crime which fit the category of article 6 of ICCPR.”

“However, it's the same article of the ICCPR(article 6.6) prohibits invoking any of its provisions to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment. It's very disappointing that the Taiwanese government says its death penalty policy is towards abolition and then keeps carrying out executions” reposnded by E-Ling Chiu.

The execution seems a response to a high-profile murder case in March, which prompted criticism of abolition. During March, the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty faced a lot of cyberbullying after the murder happened.

“The Taiwanese government hasn’t done much on social education or dialogue on death penalty issues, so we keep seeing cyberbullying of human rights NGOs or to the victims’ family members who don’t show strong support to the death penalty,“ said E-Ling Chiu.

“Whenever any murder cases happen, society keeps attacking NGOs who support abolition and human rights, rather than asking the government about the lack of social safety net or other related support systems for the people who may need help.

“Due to its lack of clear and effective strategy and plan , there’s no further progress to abolition, the Taiwanese government should promote human rights education and encourage the positive dialogue between different opinions.

“The dominant discourse of support for executions hasn’t prevented any crimes. The cyberbullying phenomenon against people who do not support the death penalty is not only bad for abolition, it is also damaging to freedom of expression and the civic space.”

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment. Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception - regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.

Amnesty International renews its calls on the government of Taiwan to establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards full abolition of the death penalty.

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