A visiting German lawmaker has called for a moratorium on executions in Taiwan, saying that a bolder approach is needed to erode overwhelming public support for the death penalty.
Following a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Taipei Monday, Peter Heidt of the Free Democratic Party said Taiwan’s government should “lead the way and show the people” by temporarily suspending executions.
Taiwan last carried out an execution in 2020, and has 38 prisoners on death row.
Heidt, currently visiting Taiwan at the head of a six-member delegation from the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, said meetings with officials had convinced him Taiwan was ultimately committed to abolishing the death penalty.
According to Social Democratic Party delegation member Derya Türk-Nachbaur, while Tsai had expressed a desire to end the practice, she did not want to do so without the support of her country’s people.
With a September 2022 Foundation for the People poll showing an 86.9 percent disapproval rate for abolishing the death penalty, Heidt said Taiwan’s government should play a more active role in educating the public about upholding human rights.
The members of the Bundestag delegation, which arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, have said that they are hoping to gain a first-hand insight into how Taiwan is responding to increasing Chinese military coercion and the role of human rights in this response.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the delegation has already met with two ministers without portfolios, Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) and Huang Chih-ta (黃致達), as well as Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊).
MOFA added that the delegation also visited Taiwan’s National Human Rights Museum and discuss human rights cooperation with local NGOs and think tanks.
The other members of the delegation are Heike Engelhardt of the Social Democratic Party, Michael Brand and Carsten Brodesser of the Christian Democratic Union, and Boris Mijatović of the Greens.
The delegation is scheduled to leave Taiwan on Wednesday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channelvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv