TAIWAN: ASHTON CONDEMNS EXECUTIONS

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton condemned the six executions that took place in Taiwan on 19 April. “Taiwan’s authorities continue to act in disregard of concerns expressed worldwide,” Ashton said in a statement.
In that statement, Ashton said that she recognised the serious nature of the crimes involved and expressed her sincere sympathy to the families of the victims; however, she regretted that the Taiwanese authorities had chosen to ignore the recommendation to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions, which was made on 1 March 2013 by the international panel of experts convened to review Taiwan’s first human rights report.
“This decision very unfortunately confirms the deterioration of the situation in Taiwan on the question of the death penalty, after the interruption of a four-year de facto moratorium on executions,” Ashton said, while at the same time she called again on the Taiwanese authorities to “end this back-tracking and to work effectively towards a moratorium on executions with a view to abolition.”