China says will gradually reduce executions

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Beijing, Mar 12: China will slowly reduce executions of prisoners, legal authorities said, although they stressed the death penalty remains a vital punishment option in a nation that kills more convicts than any other country.

Rules issued by the country's top court, police ministry and other law agencies urged an end to street parades of prisoners facing execution, and warned police against using torture, state media reported late on Sunday.

But the regulations promised no quick end to China's liberal use of the death sentence.

China kills about 10,000 people a year, according to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch. Other estimates of China's annual executions range between 5,000 and 12,000.

The death penalty can be imposed for dozens of crimes, including non-violent offences such as corruption and tax fraud.

''Our country still cannot abolish the death penalty but should gradually reduce its application,'' the rules state, according to the China News Agency. ''Anybody who could or could not be killed, should without exception not be killed.'' The regulations follow China's return of final authority in death sentences to the country's Supreme People's Court from the start of this year, reducing the authority of local courts.

They also follow Chinese media reports last year exposing a slew of wrongful convictions concealed by investigators.

Police have been warned not to repeat these errors.

''Ensure crime suspects and defendants fully exercise their rights to defence and other procedural rights, and avoid stripping or restricting suspects and defendants lawful rights and so creating cases of injustice,'' the rules state.

Statements obtained through torture, violence and threats cannot be used ''as the basis for conclusions in a case'', the rules state, reinforcing laws against such abuses.

In perhaps an acknowledgement that Chinese police investigations have been error-prone, the rules urge detectives to save evidence; use DNA, finger prints and other evidence to verify the identity of suspects; and turn over all evidence to prosecutors, including proof of a suspect's innocence.

Executions should be publicly announced, and parades of convicted prisoners facing executions are banned, as is ''desecrating the corpse,'' the rules state.

Parades of convicts have disappeared from China's larger cities but still sometimes take place in remote areas.


Reuters

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X