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Thread: China Capital Punishment News

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    China Capital Punishment News

    China's top court has overturned, on average, 10 percent of all death sentences nationwide since 2007 when it took back the right of final review from lower courts, a senior court official said.

    Hu Yunteng, head of the research department under the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said regaining the review "played an obvious role" in reducing the number of executions.

    "It has ensured that the death penalty can only be applied for the most serious crimes," he told China Daily.

    But Hu declined to specify the number of death sentences carried out each year.

    In 1981, to tackle rising crime, the highest court granted provincial courts the authority to pass death sentences.

    The practice, widely criticized following reports of miscarriages of justice, ended on Jan 1, 2007, when the SPC was again given the sole power to review and ratify death sentences.

    Hu said death sentences were overturned mostly for lack of evidence, procedural flaws or for an inappropriate penalty.

    "The SPC will not tolerate any mistakes regarding evidence or procedure and will thoroughly investigate" questionable judgments, he said, adding that the quality of local courts' handling of death penalty cases is improving.

    "We must make sure the use of the death sentence is accurate and free of mistakes to respect and protect the convicts and their rights."

    Earlier, Zhang Jun, SPC vice-president, told judicial departments to only impose a death penalty for the most heinous crimes.

    The SPC also increased its criminal tribunals from two to five to better examine all death sentences passed, Hu said.

    The SPC also ordered that all cases that carried a possible death penalty must be heard at a court session, with the defendant or defendants in attendance, he added.

    The move "prevents unjust, false or invalid cases on the one hand and, on the other hand, respects the rights of defendants", he said.

    About 90 percent of death sentences passed are for serious crimes ranging from intentional homicide, robbery, serious injury, rape, drug trafficking to kidnapping, according to Hu.

    In August, the National People's Congress, the top legislature, dropped the death penalty for 13 economy related, non-violent crimes in the latest amendment to the country's Criminal Law.

    Hu said the SPC "strongly supports" the move as it has sent "a positive signal for strictly controlling the imposition of a death penalty".

    Despite these moves, he said, the final review still faces challenges, including the use of torture as well as poor standards among some rural judges.

    In one of the country's most notorious forced-confession cases, Zhao Zuohai, after serving 11 years in prison, was released in early May after the man he was alleged to have murdered turned up alive. The Henan farmer said the police tortured him into making a confession.

    Zhao Bingzhi, head of the criminal law research committee under the China Law Society, said it's essential for the SPC to classify and summarize cases where the death penalty has been overturned and then release them to guide lower courts.

    "What's more, the SPC should go beyond only examining evidence, and establish rules to better define serious crimes where the death penalty is applicable to ensure its appropriate use," he said.

    http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90...2/7211685.html

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    Mercy may be shown to the elderly

    Criminals over the age of 75 will not be subjected to capital punishment, unless they resorted to "extreme brutality" to commit murder, according to the latest draft amendment to the country's Criminal Law.

    The stipulation, included in the second draft of the eighth amendment to the Criminal Law, was submitted on Monday to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the country's top legislature.

    The first draft released in August proposed to spare those over 75 from the death penalty.

    It has since been revised after concern was raised over the possibility of gangs employing elderly people to commit serious crimes, Liu Renwen, a researcher at the Institute of Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily.

    Although the latest draft does not completely drop the death penalty for criminals over the age of 75, he said it sets a benchmark in terms of protecting human rights, whose moral basis resides in traditional Chinese culture.

    The latest draft also retains proposals to drop the death penalty for 13 economically motivated non-violent crimes, despite opposition from some legislators.

    The draft amendment specifies conditions for reducing sentences, specifying that their application should be limited in cases involving repeat offenders and criminals found guilty of committing violent offences, while leniency can be shown to those whose confessions help minimize losses.

    Liu said the changes to the draft amendment will help restructure the country's system of criminal law in accordance with its policy of "tempering justice with mercy".

    Beijing-based criminal lawyer Tang Hongxin said limited sentence reductions can increase the deterrence effect of criminal punishment.

    The draft revision has also further reduced the standard of proof required in cases of producing and selling substandard food. The crime was initially included in the first draft amendment as part of the country's efforts to protect people's health.

    Zhou Guangquan, a professor of law at Tsinghua University and a member of the NPC Law Committee, said the change "reduces the difficulties of obtaining evidence for crimes related to food safety".

    He pointed out that the draft's inclusion of an article on negligence in regard to food safety reflects the country's determination to curb cases of substandard food.

    The crime of pickpocketing has also been included in the latest draft amendment.

    "Pickpocketing, which seriously violates a citizen's personal and financial safety, exerts a negative impact on society and should therefore be specifically mentioned in the Criminal Law," said Li Shishi, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

    http://english.eastday.com/e/101221/u1a5622195.html

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    China's death sentence rules to face extra scrutiny

    Beijing: China, which is accused by rights groups of carrying out thousands of executions every year, has directed its top court to scrutinise evidence, specially related to forced confessions, more carefully before upholding death sentences given by lower courts.

    The Supreme People's Court (SPC) will overturn death sentences in cases where evidence was collected by illegal means to further limit the application of capital punishment, a judicial official said.

    Previously, the SPC while reviewing death sentence, would ask for a supplementary investigation or other evidence to be submitted if any evidence had been gained through illegal means.

    "But starting this year, such cases will be directly rejected, and this will put more pressure on local courts and other judicial organs," SPC vice-president Zhang Jun was quoted as saying by China National Radio.

    He said the existing rules, which state that evidence collected through illegal means should be excluded from court deliberations, were not well implemented.

    "Forced confessions do exist in reality and lawyers sometimes state in court that torture has been used to get a confession, but very rarely do the courts determine that forced confessions exist," Zhang said.

    "However, almost all the wrong cases that have been exposed are related to forced confessions, such as the case of Zhao Zuohai," he said.

    The most famous case in this regard was that of Zhao, a villager from Henan province, who was released after 11 years imprisonment after the man he allegedly murdered turned alive.

    Zhao later said he was tortured by police, who forced him to confess to the "crime".

    Zhang said ever since the top court was given the power to review and ratify death sentences in 2007, the number of executions has decreased.

    He, however, did not specify the number of death penalties carried out each year, but Hu Yunteng, head of the research department under the SPC, told China Daily last year that the top court has overturned, on average, 10 percent of all death sentences nationwide since 2007.

    Hu said that the top court's further tightening of rules regarding evidence will put more pressure on lower courts and make them more alert to illegal evidence being submitted.

    Another legal expert said that the move will result in a reduction of executions.

    "It will be conducive to reducing the number of executions and handling death penalty cases in a just and objective manner," Zhao Bingzhi, head of the criminal law research committee under the China Law Society, said.

    China last year removed death penalty for people above 75 years.

    The new law made last year also reduces 68 crimes stipulated as punishment by the death penalty. The draft amendment eliminates capital punishment for 13 economy-related non-violent offences.

    The 13 crimes to be free from capital punishment include smuggling out of the country prohibited cultural relics, gold, silver, and other precious metals and rare animals and their products; carrying out fraudulent activities with financial bills; and carrying out fraudulent activities with letters of credit.

    According to the Amnesty International, China executed thousands of people in 2009, though the human rights group said it has not been able to get exact figures

    http://www.phayul.com/news/article.a...utiny&id=28905

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    China defers execution date of 3 Pinoy drug convicts

    China has decided to postpone the execution dates of three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking, a Reuters report said Friday night, following last-minute efforts by a Philippine delegation led by Vice-President Jejomar Binay to plead with top Chinese officials to spare the lives of the three.

    In a terse five-point statement jointly issued by the Philippine and Chinese government on the occasion of Binay's hurried visit to Beijing, the Chinese side said it briefed Binay on the decision of its Supreme People's Court "to postpone the execution within the scope of Chinese law."

    Two women and a man, all Philippine nationals, were scheduled to be executed in two southern Chinese cities next week and would be the first Filipinos to be put to death in China.

    It remains unclear if and when the high court's final decision will be implemented, although according to the China-Philippine joint statement, "the Philippine side stated that it fully respects China's law and the verdict of the SPC, and expressed its sincere appreciation to China for the decision of the SPC to postpone the execution within the scope of Chinese law."

    The joint statement was emailed to media Friday night just a few hours after Binay met with SPC President Wang Shengjun; State Councillor Dai Bingguo; and Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign AffairsZhang Zhijun.

    According to the statement, Philippine and Chinese representatives exchanged views during the meeting on issues concerning the two countries' bilateral relations, including judicial cooperation.

    "The two sides expressed the determination to work together and make joint efforts in further strengthening the relationship of strategic cooperation," the statement said.

    It added that the Philippines and China are "determined to work together" in fighting transnational crimes, including drug trafficking.

    "We appreciate the decision made by the Chinese court to have the execution postponed," Binay said in a separate report on Reuters.

    Binay flew in a rush to Beijing on Friday and reportedly met with the Chief Justice of China's Supreme Court to seek a last minute clemency.

    President Benigno Aquino had sought a high-level meeting to discuss drug-related cases of about 200 Filipinos in Chinese jails. About 70 have been sentenced to death but given two-year reprieves.

    Diplomatic sources say the SPC's decision to postpone the three executions could be the first such case, for a death sentence without reprieve in China.

    First time in 36 years of PHL-China relations

    Earlier Friday, Malaya announced in a press conference that China had finally allowed Binay to visit China in the morning of that day – a trip originally scheduled for Thursday – to personally appeal the cases of the three Filipinos.

    China’s Supreme People’s Court affirmed on February 11 the death sentences on the three, later identified as Ramon Credo, 42; Sally Ordinario, 32; and Elizabeth Batain, 38.

    Credo and Ordinario were scheduled for execution by lethal injection in Xiamen on February 21, while Batain was to be executed in Shenzhen on February 22.

    This is the first time that Filipinos were sentenced to be executed in China for drug trafficking charges in the 36 years of Philippines-China diplomatic relations.

    Credo and Ordinario smuggled at least four kilograms each of heroin, while Batain was arrested with almost seven kilograms in China.

    In a last attempt to save the Filipinos from death penalty, Aquino has sent a high-level delegation to Beijing, composed of Binay and DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr., to meet with Chinese officials to make a final plea for the commutation of the Filipinos’ death sentences to life imprisonment.

    “We note that in receiving the Vice President, the Chinese government took into serious consideration the sentiments of President Aquino and the Filipino people," Malaya said.

    According to Malaya, the delegation arrived in Beijing at noon Friday and was welcomed by senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PROC), PROC Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao, and Philippine Ambassador to China Francisco Benedicto.

    Malaya added that at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, Binay and Conejos would have met with President Wang Shen Jun of the SPC and other high-ranking Chinese officials.

    Meanwhile, the families of Credo and Ordinario will leave for Xiamen Saturday morning to visit their incarcerated relatives, while Batain’s relatives will leave from Shenzhen a day after.

    Two priests, one in Xiamen and one in Shenzhen, were also put on standby to perform last religious rights on the convicts, should the penalty push through.

    http://www.gmanews.tv/story/213405/c...s-on-death-row

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    Organ traffickers may get death penalty

    Criminals convicted of forcefully removing organs will be eligible for the death penalty under a draft law amendment being reviewed by the top legislature.

    The amendment, submitted on Wednesday to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for a third reading, stipulates that criminals convicted of "forced organ removal, forced organ donation or organ removal from juveniles" could face punishment for homicide.

    Under Article 232 of the Criminal Law, a person found guilty of homicide faces either a death sentence, life imprisonment or a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years.

    However, in the draft submitted for a second reading, reviewed by legislators in December 2010, criminals involved in the illegal organ trade could only be charged with the crime of intentional bodily harm (IBH).

    According to Article 234, a criminal convicted of IBH can be sentenced to either a jail term of no more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance. In the case of severe bodily injury, the culprit shall be sentenced to a jail term of not less than three years and no more than 10 years.

    Only when the criminal causes death(s) or "severe bodily injury resulting in severe deformity by especially cruel means", can he be sentenced to jail terms of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death, Article 234 says.

    Qin Xiyan, an NPC deputy and a Hunan-based lawyer, said forced organ removal should fall under the category of intentional killing because it may result in death.

    Liu Renwen, a researcher at the Institute of Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily on Wednesday that it is necessary to include the illegal organ trade in the Criminal Law.

    He said the black market in the trade has been booming "both inside and outside the country" in recent years.

    "Some poor people sell their own organs for a small amount of money. Although it might be voluntary, they are not aware of the health risks," Liu said. "What's more, the illegal organ trade is harmful to society as a whole."

    The amendment will help deter potential criminals, as it shows the government's determination to crack down on the illegal trade, Liu said.

    Until recently, criminals convicted of forced organ removal were sentenced on a charge of illegal business operation, since there is no specific offence covering the act in the Criminal Law. Last August, the crime of forced organ removal was included in the first draft of an amendment to the Criminal Law for legislative review.

    Last September, Beijing's Haidian district people's court heard the country's first case concerning illegal sales of human organs, in which two criminals were sentenced to four years in jail and were each fined 100,000 yuan ($15,200) for illegal business operation.

    In Beijing earlier this month, 31-year-old Liu Yunlu from Hebei province and 25-year-old Dong Binggang from Shaanxi were charged with conducting an illegal business operation for trafficking in human organs.

    About 10,000 organ transplants are carried out each year on the Chinese mainland. It is estimated that around 1.3 million people are waiting for a transplant.

    The huge gap between supply and demand has led to the emergence of the illegal organ trade, the Beijing-based Procuratorial Daily reported.

    To better manage organ donation and prevent illegal trafficking, Qin suggested punishing hospitals and doctors who deal with traffickers.

    If the latest draft amendment to the Criminal Law is passed at the bimonthly meeting of the NPC Standing Committee, which will last until Friday, it will come into force on May 1.

    http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-0...21989395_2.htm

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    China scraps death penalty for 13 non-violent crimes

    China, which rights groups say uses capital punishment more than any other country, has scrapped the death penalty for 13 economic, non-violent crimes including smuggling historic relics and tax fraud-related offences.

    But the vice-chairman of the law committee of the standing committee of the National People's Congress, Lang Sheng, said the death penalty was still necessary for other crimes, according to the website China.com.cn.

    After the adjustment, capital punishment will apply to 55 offences, according to the Xinhua news agency.

    The change marked the first time that China has reduced the number of crimes subject to the death penalty since the Criminal Law took effect in 1979, the news agency said.

    The amendment was "meant to further implement the principle of tempering justice with mercy," Xinhua said.

    "Abolishing the death penalty for these 13 crimes is a big step," Lang said. "Obviously, we have still retained the death penalty for a number of other crimes."

    "The death sentences have to be in accordance with the needs of our country's economic and social development and according to the needs of today's society for punishing crime," he said.

    Under the amendment, the death penalty will not be imposed on people aged 75 or older at the time of trial, except if they commit a murder with exceptional cruelty, Xinhua said.

    Officials have said they have never considered scrapping the death penalty for those found guilty of corruption. Continued...

    http://af.reuters.com/article/worldN...71O1X820110225

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    China Threatens Death Penalty for Food Safety Violations

    China is beefing up its food safety laws in light of melamine-tainted milk and other scandals, and the country is now considering the death penalty for such offenders.

    The move isn't strictly about protecting public health--it's also about forcing domestic food producers to become more competitive against foreign imports. Over 1/2 of China's dairy products are now brought in from abroad, putting a dent in the local dairy industry. That’s up 10% in only the last 3 years--a trend the Chinese government would rather not see spread to other agricultural areas like meat or produce. As the middle class and its purchasing power continue to grow, there's less stopping the locals from spending a bit more for foreign imports they may perceive as safer.

    "We will not only strengthen the work of different regulatory departments, but also eliminate loopholes in the regulations to improve supervision," said Zhang Yong, head of China's State Council Food Safety Commission.

    The threat of capital punishment might do the trick of snapping local players back onto the scene, but reestablishing trust with the buying public may also require a rebranding of Chinese dairy products.

    (source: Fastcompany.com)

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    Doctors transplant organs taken from executed prisoners

    Doctors at southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (KCGMH) burned midnight oil yesterday to conduct liver transplant surgeries after receiving the bodies of two inmates executed on Friday night, local media reported yesterday.

    A total of five death-row inmates were executed in Taipei, central Taichung and southern Kaohsiung respectively around 6:30 p.m. Friday after Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu signed their execution decrees earlier in the day.

    Three of those executed, Guang Chung-yen (管鍾演), Wang Kuo-hua (王國華) and Chuang Tien-chu (莊天祝), signed pledges to donate their organs before their executions.

    The bodies of Wang and Chuang, who were executed at the Kaohsiung Second Prison, were sent to KCGMH to have their organs removed for transplant to suitable patients, according to the Chinese-language United Evening News report yesterday.

    It took less than 15 minutes for the ambulance to send the bodies of Wang and Chuang to Kaohsiung's hospital where more than 40 medical staff had been waiting to conduct emergency surgeries.

    At 6:45 a.m. yesterday, the medical team led by Chen Chao-long, head of the KCGMH and a well-known expert in liver transplant, conducted the first liver surgery. Only five hours later, Chen's team conducted another successful transplant.

    The team barely slept for nearly 24 hours in order to conduct the two surgeries, the report said.

    Wen-chih, a staff in the hospital was quoted as saying that from the two inmates the medical team removed two hearts, two livers, two pancreases, four kidneys and four corneas, as well as numerous bones and blood vessels.

    The hearts and livers were immediately sent to two hospitals in Taipei City via helicopters for transplant, while the bones and blood vessels were put into storage at a local organ bank, Wang said.

    Meanwhile, Guang, who was put to death in Taipei, was sent to the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City for transplant surgery, where a surgical team removed his heart, kidneys, liver and pancreases at around 9:30 p.m. Friday night.

    The removed organs were expected to help at least six patients who were in desperate need, according to the hospital.

    A medical chief of the hospital responsible for organ transplants, surnamed Hung, said regulations prevented them from revealing the origin of organs to patients. He also noted that there are still 7,108 patients in Taiwan suffering through the tedious and painstaking wait for an organ transplant.

    http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/l...transplant.htm

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    China approves death sentence for 7 in Xinjiang

    A state-run news website says seven people allegedly involved in plotting terrorist activities have been sentenced to death for robbery and murder in China's far western region of Xinjiang.

    The official Tianshan website said Wednesday that China's Supreme People's Court approved the death penalty meted out to seven people by a court in Kashgar city.

    It was unclear whether the seven are ethnic Uighurs. China has accused Uighur separatists of stirring riots in Xinjiang in July 2009 that left almost 200 dead.

    The report says the seven are among a dozen people who met and raised funds between June 2008 and October 2010 to carry out "violent, terrorist" activities. It did not elaborate.

    It says the seven committed robbery and murder on three occasions last year.

    http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/...g_8370134.html

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    Execution of 3 Pinoys in China set on March 30

    MANILA, March 23 (PIA)--The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has announced that the three Filipinos in China convicted of drug trafficking are set to be executed on March 30, Wednesday.

    The Fujian People's Court and Guangdong High People's Court have informed the Philippine Consulates General in Xiamen and Guangzhou on the date of the carrying out of the death penalty on three Filipino nationals, namely Ramon Credo, Elizabeth Batain, and Sally Villanueva, a statement posted at the DFA website said.

    The sentences were originally scheduled on February 20 and 21, but were stayed as a result of the humanitarian visit to Beijing of Vice President Jejomar Binay on February 18.

    During the visit, the Philippines conveyed that it "respects Chinese law and the (final) verdict of the Supreme People's Court" on these cases.

    The Philippine government provided the three Filipinos all possible legal and consular assistance.

    Government ensured that their legal rights were respected and observed, and their welfare protected from the time of their arrests and throughout the judicial process, and even up to this day.

    Their families have been informed of the carrying out of the sentences, and arrangements are being made for them to depart for China during the weekend, in order to visit and see their loved ones.

    The Philippine government itself has a strong anti-illegal drug policy, and is closely cooperating with law enforcement agencies in China and in other countries in efforts to combat drug trafficking.

    DFA also appeals to all Filipinos, especially OFWs, not to allow themselves to be victimized by international drug syndicates and to be extremely cautious when dealing with strangers in airports and other areas of transit.

    http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=23846

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