Jurist Taiwan Central Election Commission blocks referendum introducing judicial caning after human rights objections

[Dadparvar]

Taiwan’s Central Election Commission on Friday refused to put judicial caning to a referendum, with all seven members unanimously deciding that the referendum proposals were inconsistent with its international obligations.

The commission reasoned that there is no criminal penalty similar to judicial caning on the island. According to the island’s Referendum Act, citizens cannot vote on matters outside the scope of legislative principles or major policies. Therefore, citizens cannot vote to create a whole new legal system of criminal penalties. The commission added that judicial caning violates the prohibition of torture and cruel treatment or punishment under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Indeed, the UN Human Rights Committee commented in 1992 that Article 7 prohibits corporal punishment. The international obligation requires governments to prevent and punish acts of torture and cruel treatment within their jurisdictions.

Jonathan Lin, Secretary of the opposition Kuomintang Party’s committee, condemned the commission in a press release, saying it had taken away people’s right to a referendum. He urged the commission to release its complete reasoning for public scrutiny.

One day before the commission’s deliberation, director of Amnesty International Taiwan, E-Ling Chiu, objected to the referendum proposal, saying:

This proposal is part of a broader pattern that has emerged in recent months. Human rights-related budgets have been cut, the work of independent institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission has been obstructed and the functioning of the Constitutional Court has been undermined. The advancement of a referendum seeking to legitimize cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment further contributes to the erosion of the human rights protection framework that Taiwan has spent decades building.

On August 14, the island’s legislature adopted a bill to put judicial caning to a referendum, covering crimes such as sexual assault, child abuse, and aggravated fraud. Kuomintang legislator Hung Mong-kai, proposer of the bill, argued that criminal penalties must be sufficient to prevent and protect victims, and meet public expectations on criminal justice and public safety.

Together with Amnesty, four other rights groups in Taiwan issued a joint statement that day opposing the referendum proposal for judicial caning. They contended that a referendum cannot create laws that violate international human rights standards and that there is no statistical proof of its deterrence.

Following the rejection, the only referendum in November is on the government’s policy on nuclear power. The people of Taiwan will vote to decide whether to continue its “nuclear-free homeland policy.”

The post Taiwan Central Election Commission blocks referendum introducing judicial caning after human rights objections appeared first on JURIST - News.

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