The Chinese authorities intend to reduce the number of 68 death charges in criminal law to 55. The adequate draft law was submitted to the parliament of the country on August 23.
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Ground Zero Mosque Massive Meeting in New York More... Some of those charges were rarely used before as the reason for sentencing perpetrators to death penalty. The abolishment of death penalty on other articles of the nation's criminal law means that such crimes as robbery or the production of forged monetary checks will not be considered in China as socially dangerous. To crown it all, the country will have both the bottom and the top age limit for the use of death penalty - 18 and 70-75 years respectively.
International human rights organizations constantly criticize China for its absolute leadership in terms of legalized death penalties. China passes up to 80 percent of all death sentences on the planet.
Chinese authorities execute about 1,700 people every year, official statistics data say. Human rights activists believe that the real number is much higher and may even reach 10,000 people a year. It can be true indeed, because the Chinese authorities classify the information related to death penalty and share it with the general public unwillingly.
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In China, a person can be sentenced to death not only for such serious crimes as espionage, state treason, murder, but for other less serious felonies, such as illegal trade, pimping, organizing brothels, grave desecration, making counterfeit bank notes, etc. However, one should bear in mind the fact that some death articles of the Chinese criminal law have become anachronism. For example, they have capital punishment stipulated for opening brothels, whereas brothels can be found practically everywhere in the country.
The Chinese authorities try to keep up with the times and expand the list of death charges periodically. For example, in 2003, the nation introduced capital punishment for the deliberate distribution of SARS infection and for the production of toxic raw materials. For instance, the entrepreneurs behind the production of melamine-containing milk powder were executed last year.
Human rights activists claim that there is no such notion as "presumption of innocence" in China. Evidence received under tortures is considered reliable and legally valid, defendants' lawyers may not always be present during interrogations, etc.
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