February 16, 2011
6:44 p.m.
Part I: A murder trial in Taiwan puts the spotlight on Asia's death penalty debate.
In Taipei, Taiwan, a unofficial moratorium has been placed on executions because people are questioning the justice system about execution. Taiwan has one of the highest execution rate in the world along with China and Japan. Asia puts more people to death in 2009 than the rest of the world combined, according to Amnesty International, with “the vast majority” of those executions in China. The majorities in Asian countries do support the death penalty but they are starting to question it because of the high profile cases. One of the cases was a man being wrongfully accused of the kidnapping and murder of a four year old girl. He was imprisoned for seventeen years and was finally released in 2007. In Taiwan, the case of the "Hsichih Three" is cited by rights groups as a disturbing example of how police and the courts can get it wrong. Police got a confession from them but later was thrown out, hours away from the execution chamber, becasue they were obtained by torture. This case has raised awareness of the weakness of the justice system and being to question the death penalty.
My opinion on the death is neutral for a couple reasons. On one hand, I wouldn't want my son being executed for a crime he committed. I would rather he get life in prison and still live. But if it was my son who was the one murdered, then I would want the law to punish the culprit to the full degree. I would want his family to feel the same pain I would feel. In Asia, and more specifically Taiwan, the police has been getting false confessions out of innocent people just to please the public and keep their noses clean but it is starting to catch up with them. At the end of the day, whether you agree with the death penalty or not, justice shouldn't punish innocent people. Plain and simple.
Part I: A murder trial in Taiwan puts the spotlight on Asia's death penalty debate.
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