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Example research essay topic: Death Penalty Cases Sentenced To Death - 1,568 words

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... sentence was passed, without his case being referred, and despite assurances from the Chinese government to the US State Department and the EU that Losing Dhondups case would receive a lengthy review. The public debate in the official media on the death penalty in China is an encouraging sign. Is unclear, however, how and if at all, these debates will influence the government policy or the Chinese judiciary's sentencing practices. It is frightening that the recent amendments to laws and the judicial interpretations from the Supreme Court have extended the scope of articles in the Criminal Law and actually make the death sentence applicable in more instances. For example, Amnesty International reports prior to December 2002, the death penalty could be applied to vaguely defined offences of funding or carrying out terrorist crimes, and for belonging to a terrorist organization, even if actual membership has involved no other crime.

A judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme Court in May 2003 could apply the death sentence to people suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and who break quarantine under a public order clause in the Criminal Law to prevent the deliberate spread of contagious-disease pathogens. Another judicial interpretation issued on 8 September 2003 and valid from 1 October 2003 will apply the death penalty to people involved in the illegal production, trade and storage of defined quantities of toxic chemicals. Extending the scope of crimes punishable by the death penalty runs counter to international trends as exemplified consistently in resolutions at the UN Commission on Human Rights (Amnesty International). It is now 15 years since China ratified the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Yet continued and widespread reports of torture and ill-treatment from various places of detention suggest that this serious human rights violation remains largely unaddressed. The leading Chinese officials realize the persistence of torture, and even express their strong, condemnatory opinions against the practice.

Their words, however, have not been backed up by any legal reforms, which would be necessary to safeguard against torture. The effective channels for making complaints about the unfair treatment, with no fear of retribution were not established. There are also no measures to guarantee that the alleged abuses are investigated promptly and impartially. Amnesty International has documented that there are failings of Chinas criminal legislation in connection with the prevention of torture. In particular, definitions of torture under Chinas Criminal Law fail to meet international human rights standards. Procedural failings relating to detainees access to lawyers, medical treatment and family members combined with continued political interference in the criminal process in sensitive or political cases, help to sustain an environment which allows torture to flourish in China.

The wording for when the capital punishment may be used for many capital offences in relation to crimes is: where the circumstances are particularly serious or the crime is heinous. Obviously enough, such phrases are very undefined and are constantly being interpreted very differently in different localities across China, and to fit in with the requirements of periodic crackdowns on crime. Some legal academics in China also consider the trend towards using the death penalty for repeated minor crimes, which alone would not attract the penalty as an abuse of the death penalty. They stress this is particularly problematic whilst the legal definition of many in relation to repeat offenders is: three or more.

Such a wide-spread use of death penalty might be, in part, explained by the official endorsement and encouragement of the Strike Hard policy. There are numerous examples of death sentences for repeat petty theft and other minor offences. Generally, particularly severe punishments have been imposed on people with previous criminal convictions or record of administrative penalties. Amnesty International points out: under the Criminal Law, and in subsequent legislative and judicial decisions and interpretations on the crime of theft, particularly serious circumstances: attracting punishment between 10 years imprisonment and death are clarified as stealing exceptionally large amounts of 20 - 30, 000 yuan (US $ 2, 409 - $ 3, 614) and above, with other particularly serious circumstances compounding the seriousness of the crime.

Amnesty International also gives several examples of the use of the death penalty for theft during Strike Hard include; Eight people were executed in Nine, Fujian province, on 13 August 1996 for stealing pigs worth 14, 432 yuan (US $ 1, 738); Zhang Xizhong, a man who was executed in Sichuan province on 13 May 1996 after being convicted of stealing 14 cattle; On 9 May 1996, two peasants from Heilongjiang were sentenced to death for the theft of 61 head of livestock. They were sentenced by Jiamusi City Intermediate People's Court after the court decided to 'accelerate Two men, Zhang Sheng and Su Ship were sentenced to death in Lesbian, Sichuan on 10 December for stealing a car which they sold for 10, 000 yuan (US $ 1, 204). Yuan Jinhai, who was executed in Fujian province on 17 June 1996 for stealing six motorcycles; Chen Zhong and two other men executed in Sichuan province on 26 June 1996 for attempting to steal Value Added Tax receipts from a tax office; Chen Guangru, was executed on 31 July in Guangxi province for stealing electric cable on seven occasions - he either sold the cable for very small amounts of money or discarded it. According to the report he was not aware that his actions amounted to theft (Amnesty International Report). In many other cases, reports indicate that those sentenced to death were unaware they had committed a crime, or had committed a serious offence. In addition, it is not clear how far a defendants mental state is considered in sentencing.

The example given by the Amnesty International is: a peasant man from Ganluo county, Sichuan province, was reported to believe that he was in communication with a sorcerer who informed him that his as yet unborn baby was a dragon bone. Allegedly one night he was told by the sorcerer that a living ghost would enter the village that night and the family of the first person to see him would be in great danger. The man believed this and when he saw a man arriving in the darkness he killed him out of fear. He was executed on 3 July 1996. (Amnesty International Report) Critics in China have also stressed the anomaly that theft and armed or other violent robbery frequently attract the same penalty.

Several have attributed the relentless increase in robbery with violence to this anomaly. Determined criminals have nothing to lose under these laws by arming themselves and committing violence. International standards generally require that the most careful legal procedures and all possible safeguards for the accused be guaranteed in death penalty cases, including the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, the presumption of innocence, the right to have adequate time and facilities to prepare the defense - including the right to have adequate legal assistance at all stages of the proceedings - and the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty International has long argued that these safeguards are unavailable or inadequately guaranteed in the Chinese justice system. Some positive changes brought by the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law although passed during the period of review, did not come into force until January 1997. The question of appeals is a very shady one.

People, who are sentenced to death, can ask for only one appeal. In can if they choose not to appeal, a court of a higher level, than that which passed the sentence, automatically reviews the case. Appeals in death penalty cases are usually heard by the high courts. International community has posed much criticism on the nature of the appeal or review hearing. The Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that it should be conducted in the same manner as the first open trial. Those who evidenced crimes, however, indicate that it is not a real practice, except in the selected cases in very few big cities in economically developed areas.

In reality, in most cases, the higher court only reviews the case papers, examines a written submission from the defense, or might occasionally ask the defendant additional questions, and that is usually in a closed hearing only. China is more and more becoming a prosperous state, with a solid scientific, industrial and agricultural base. Investment flows into China and the economy and business are at a high rise. All of these positive moments, however, do not solve the lack of protection of human rights in China. Looking at the facts given in the Amnesty International reports, it may even be said that the Chinese state contributes to frequent and inhumane punishments by death by enforcing such policies as strike hard. Even though the international community makes numerous appeals to the Chinese lawmakers in regard to the issue of often wrongfulness and severity of the death penalty, it is only up to the government officials to stop the wrongdoings.

Sources: Amnesty International, The Death Penalty in China: Breaking Records, Breaking Rules, 1 August 1997 Scobell, Andrew. The Death Penalty in Post-Mao China. ; The China Quarterly, 1990 Month, Jeremy Internal Perspectives on Chinese Human Rights Reform: The Death Penalty in the PRC Texas International Law Journal 33: 189, 1998, pp. 189 - 226. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, Microsoft Corporation, 2002


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Research essay sample on Death Penalty Cases Sentenced To Death

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