The execution of Huang Linkai (黃麟凱) on January 16 marks a troubling step backward for the protection of human rights in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government executed Huang, who was convicted of murder, despite greater restrictions being placed on the use of the death penalty following a ruling by the Constitutional Court in September.
The court’s ruling upholding the death penalty stipulated increased protections, such as requiring the unanimous sentencing by a panel of judges. At the time the execution was scheduled, Huang’s lawyer had not received confirmation that the judges’ decision was unanimous. An appeal that the lawyer had filed was still pending before the court.
On the evening of January 16, Taiwan’s Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien signed the execution notice. Huang’s lawyer filed an extraordinary appeal for a stay of execution citing the protections enshrined by the September ruling, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. Authorities executed Huang just after 10 p.m.
The execution of Huang Linkai represents a shift away from the broader trend in Asia towards the abolition of or moratorium on the death penalty. It is also a setback for Taiwan, which has in recent years shown a willingness to reduce the use of capital punishment. Huang’s execution, the first since April 2020, undermines Taiwan’s reputation as a progressive democracy committed to human rights.
Earlier in January, the Taiwan High Court upheld the death penalty for Liang Yu-chih for the rape and murder of a Malaysian student in 2020. This is the first death sentence verdict to be handed down since the Constitutional Court’s new protections and restrictions.
Taiwan’s government should halt executions, especially since the national legislature, the Legislative Yuan, has yet to make the necessary amendments to the Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Court Organization Act, and the Prison Act to give effect to the Constitutional Court’s ruling. Authorities should impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty, while ensuring the protection of internationally guaranteed rights to due process and a fair trial.