Is there more to the death sentence for graft in Vietnam?

Source: The Straits Times (3 October 2017)

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/is-there-more-to-the-death-sentence-for-graft-in-vietnam-the-nation

BANGKOK (THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Conviction for corruption in high places in Vietnam can bring a sentence of death, and yet even that doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent there. As earnest as the ruling Communist Party is in consistently cracking down on graft among politicians and businesspeople, the situation has improved little in recent years.

Last week it was the turn of a former chairman of state-owned PetroVietnam to be handed a death sentence and a bank's former chief executive was jailed for life in what has been called the biggest fraud trial in modern Vietnamese history, involving 51 defendants.

The People's Court of Hanoi found Nguyen Xuan Son and Ha Van Tham guilty of mismanagement, property appropriation and abusing their authority. At PetroVietnam, Son embezzled US$2.15 million (S$2.94 million) and scooped another US$8.7 million from Ocean Bank, which is partially owned by the state.

He'd worked there previously. Tham, chairman of the board at Ocean Bank, and accomplices also affiliated with the bank violated credit regulations that seriously undermined state monetary policies and cost the bank US$88 million. The massive trial resulted in jail terms ranging from three to 17 years as well as suspended sentences of between 18 and 36 months.

Vietnam is routinely harsh in punishing high-ranking officials convicted of corruption. In late 2013, in a high-profile corruption scam that riveted the nation, two former bosses of state-run Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) received death sentences for embezzling nearly US$one million.

The tough stance, though, has barely made a dent in the country's "corruption perception index", as measured annually since 2012 by Transparency International. The watchdog's 2016 report released early this year placed Vietnam at 113 among 176 countries and territories. Its point score out of 100 was 33 last year and 31 from 2012-2015.

What's wrong with this picture? Ask most Vietnamese and they'll say the ferocious, highly publicised crackdowns on corruption mask an underlying political struggle among the powerful elite.

The case against the PetroVietnam and Ocean Bank officials had been brewing for some time. In May, the "mayor" Ho Chi Minh City, Dinh La Thang, was ousted from the inner circle of the decision-making politburo over alleged fraud involving PetroVietnam. Observers believe he might well have committed fraud, but the main reason for his purging was that he was close to Nguyen Tan Dung, the prime minister bumped from office last year.

It falls to current party chief Nguyen Phu Trong to establish for the world community that his seriousness in tackling corruption does not stem from a desire to get rid of political enemies. By all accounts a highly intelligent man, Trong must know that tough penalties alone will not curb corruption.

In fact, it is more often a matter of thuggish authoritarianism serving as a catalyst for graft and other abuses of power. Corruption flourishes in dark places. Only by ensuring that the workings of government are transparent to all, and that the rule of law is effective and efficient, can it be uprooted at the base.

If corruption genuinely concerns the leaders of any government, they must determine where in their administrative systems serious reform is required. That applies to state agencies and state-owned enterprises too. The problem will not go away without sincerity, transparency and accountability.

The Nation is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 news media entities.

New law to enable Vietnam's corrupt officials to escape death penalty by paying back stolen money

Source: VN Express (13 July 2017)

http://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/new-law-to-enable-vietnam-s-corrupt-officials-to-escape-death-penalty-by-paying-back-stolen-money-3612878.html

Amendments to Vietnam’s Penal Code, which takes effect in January 2018, give those found guilty of corruption and bribery the chance to escape the death sentence if they return 75 percent of their ill-gotten gains.

Those sentenced to death for corruption or taking bribes can have their punishment commuted to life in jail if they cooperate with the authorities during the investigation and voluntarily return at least 75 percent of their illegal earnings, officials said at a press briefing called by the President Office on Wednesday.

The 2015 Penal Code had been scheduled to come into effect in July 2016 but was shelved due to multiple errors and loopholes. The National Assembly, Vietnam's top legislature, approved the revised law last month.

The clause was one of the controversial parts of the new code. Some lawmakers argued that it would weaken the fight against corruption, which the Vietnamese government has set as one of its priorities.

Under the 1999 Penal Code, capital punishment could be handed down to those who abused their power to embezzle VND500 million ($22,000) or take bribes of at least VND300 million. Vietnamese workers earned an average of $2,200 last year.

The new law also spares convicts over 75 years old from the death penalty, as well as those convicted of robbery, vandalizing equipment and works significant to national security, opposing order, surrendering to the enemy, drug possession and appropriation, and the production and trade of fake food. That will bring Vietnam's number of capital crimes from 22 to 15.

Thailand considers death penalty for officials convicted of graft

Source: Japan Times (9 January 2017)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/09/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/thailand-considers-death-penalty-officials-convicted-graft/#.WJTvCFPaeUm

Villager’s Execution in China Ignites Uproar Over Inequality of Justice

Source: New York Times (20 November 2016)

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/world/asia/villagers-execution-in-china-ignites-uproar-over-inequality-of-justice.html?_r=0

BEIJING — Zhou Yunfei, a technology executive who owns a villa in eastern China, did not have much in common with an impoverished farmer more than 500 miles away who was convicted of murdering a village chief with a nail gun.

But when Mr. Zhou heard last week that the Chinese government had executed the farmer, Jia Jinglong, he was furious. He saw it as a sign that the ruling Communist Party was imposing harsh punishments on the most vulnerable members of society while coddling the well-connected elite.

“The legal system isn’t fair,” Mr. Zhou, 57, said, adding that local officials had “turned against the common people.”

President Xi Jinping has made restoring confidence in Chinese courts a centerpiece of his rule, vowing to promote “social justice and equality” in a legal system long plagued by favoritism and abuse. Since coming to power in 2012, he has led a high-profile campaign against corruption, ensnaring thousands of low-level officials and even some of the party’s most senior leaders.

But the furor over the execution of Mr. Jia, who had sought revenge on officials for demolishing his home, has raised doubts about Mr. Xi’s efforts, with people across the country publicly assailing inequities in the justice system and asking why high-level officials often escape the death penalty.

“The perception is that the people are powerless and vulnerable against corrupt officials,” said Fu Hualing, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong. “What is surprising is that Xi Jinping has been in power for four years, and that narrative has not changed.”

The uproar has placed the party, which is working to tighten its grip on courts while promoting the idea of fairness, in an awkward position.

Mr. Xi has cultivated an image as a champion of the people willing to take on corrupt officials of any stripe. Yet Mr. Jia’s case has reawakened concerns, especially among rural residents and members of the urban working class, that the Communist Party is protecting its own members.

In fiery social media posts and dinner-table conversations, some have argued for making punishments against corrupt officials more severe. Others have suggested that China, believed to be the world’s top executioner, should substantially reduce its use of the death penalty against impoverished citizens.

China’s leaders seem conflicted about how to respond to complaints of unfair treatment, which have plagued the judiciary for decades but have taken on new urgency as Mr. Xi attempts a top-to-bottom overhaul of the system.

On the one hand, party leaders might be wary of exacerbating the anger felt by many Chinese people, who often side with villagers like Mr. Jia, seeing them as folk heroes standing up against venal forces.

At the same time, Beijing might not want to be seen as endorsing an attack on a government official. And some party leaders may not like the idea of setting a precedent for using the death penalty against senior officials, at a time when critics of Mr. Xi say he is using the anticorruption campaign to go after political enemies.

“There’s a strong incentive for the elite within the party to protect itself,” said Jerome A. Cohen, a New York University law professor. “People realize today they’re free, but tomorrow they could be the targets.”

In recent days, the party’s hesitation has seeped into public view. The government at first appeared to tolerate, and even encourage, debate about Mr. Jia’s case. Lawyers issued open letters pointing to flaws in the prosecution’s argument, and state media outlets published sanctimonious editorials calling for the court to show humanity.

But as discontent spread on social media in the days leading up to Mr. Jia’s execution, the government reversed course and began censoring some online discussions about the case.

State-run media organizations adopted a scolding tone, warning that public opinion had “hijacked” the case. People’s Daily, the party’s flagship newspaper, went a step further, arguing that citizens should not express contrarian views about court cases in public.Photo

Zhou Yongkang, China’s former security chief, was sentenced to life in prison last year for taking bribes and revealing state secrets. Critics of the judicial system say officials often escape harsh punishment.CreditCCTV, via Associated Press

“We can see that online public opinion can deviate from reason and even become a terrifying tool that kills humanity and conscience,” an editorial in the newspaper said.

While the government has historically tolerated some debate about judicial decisions, Mr. Xi has generally sought to rein in dissent, especially when it gathers force online.

Li Wei, an activist in Beijing who was imprisoned for two years under Mr. Xi for helping organize protests demanding financial disclosures from party leaders, circulated a four-page petition online in late October calling for Mr. Jia to be spared and for the government to adopt a “more humane” justice system.

Soon his cellphone was buzzing with messages from university students, professors, security guards and others. He gathered 1,274 signatures over a few days, he said, before the authorities shut down his social media accounts.

“The so-called anticorruption campaign is not genuine,” Mr. Li, 45, said in an interview at a Beijing teahouse. “The reason why they were doing this is because they want to salvage the Communist Party regime.”

Chinese leaders appear to be working to counter perceptions that officials are being treated with kid gloves. Over the past year, party leaders have vowed to consider punishing officials who commit grave crimes, including stealing more than about $436,000, with the death penalty. They have also introduced new forms of punishment aimed at corrupt officials, including lifetime jail sentences without the possibility of parole.

But the government has yet to systematically invoke any of those punishments against prominent officials. And critics can point to a raft of recent cases in which powerful people and their families escaped the death penalty.

There is the example of Zhou Yongkang, China’s former security chief, who was sentenced to life in prison last year for taking bribes and revealing state secrets; he was the most senior leader to be jailed for corruption in more than 65 years of Communist rule.

And many people note the case of Gu Kailai, the wife of one of China’s most prominent politicians, whose death sentence for the murder of a British business associate was commuted to life in prison last year.

Fan Zhewang, 42, a teacher of Maoism at Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications in central China, said the treatment of Ms. Gu epitomized the inequities in the system.

Mr. Fan said that while the government’s decision to execute Mr. Jia was legal, he was concerned that a lingering sense of injustice and resentment among villagers would prompt more violence against officials.

“In the future,” Mr. Fan said, “I worry that people will just kill whole families of village chiefs.”

On Wednesday, a day after Mr. Jia was executed, a farmer in Yan’an, a northwestern city celebrated as a stronghold of the Communist revolution, was arrested and charged with killing a village official and several of his relatives, according to local reports. The man was said to be angry after officials seized his land.

In the days after the execution of Mr. Jia, friends and relatives in his village in the northern province of Hebei circulated a poem he wrote while in prison in which he described being in a dreamlike state. “I’ll miss the smell of flowers,” he wrote, “and the serenity of grass, something I love.”

Villagers said they did not want to talk about the case anymore. A man who gave his last name as Li said residents had grown accustomed to suffering injustices at the hands of wealthy government officials.

“Who do you turn to in order to vent your anger?” he said. “There’s no one we can seek help from.”

“Many people are angry,” he added, “but we don’t dare speak up.”

China sets death penalty threshold for graft cases

Source: The Japan Times (18 April 2016)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/18/asia-pacific/crime-legal-asia-pacific/china-sets-death-penalty-threshold-graft-cases/#.VxUUNjB97IU

BEIJING – Corruption cases involving 3 million yuan ($463,000) or more may incur the death penalty in future, Chinese authorities ruled Monday, signalling that officials could be executed for graft.

Under President Xi Jinping the country has waged a much-publicized anti-corruption campaign vowing to target both powerful “tigers” and low-level “flies,” but no Communist Party official is known to have been put to death for the offense since Xi took office.

The Supreme People’s Court and China’s national prosecuting body said that bribes or embezzlement totalling 3 million yuan or more will be considered “extraordinarily huge value,” the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Such offenders will be eligible for the death penalty if their actions had “extremely severe circumstances and caused extremely vile social impact and extremely significant losses to the state’s and the people’s interests,” Xinhua cited their joint “judicial explanation” as saying.

Capital punishment will remain an option for the courts — which in China are controlled by the ruling party — and will not be mandatory.

The intent was to punish corruption “with severity according to the law,” Xinhua said.

Supreme People’s Court judge Pei Xianding said judicial authorities would hand down death sentences “in a resolute manner,” Xinhua reported separately.

A previous threshold was set in 1997 at 100,000 yuan, but was not updated until it was abolished last year.

Xi’s crackdown has swept up scores of senior officials in the party, the government, the military and state-owned companies, including former security czar Zhou Yongkang.

So far its most severe sentences have been death with a two-year reprieve — which is normally commuted to a life term — or life imprisonment, which Zhou was given.

Former railways minister Liu Zhijun was given a suspended death penalty in 2013 for taking bribes worth 60 million yuan, which was commuted to life imprisonment last year.

The document also widened the range of benefits that can be defined as bribes, to include debt forgiveness among others, the report said.

Any acceptance of gifts by government employees that might affect the performance of their public duties will be regarded as bribery even if there was no specific request by the briber at the time, it said.

Death penalty ends in some cases

Source: Viet Nam News (12 January 2016)

http://vietnamnews.vn/opinion/281039/death-penalty-ends-in-some-cases.html

Nguyen Van Hoan, deputy head of the group compiling revisions to the 2015 Penal Code, spoke to Nong thon Ngay nay (Countryside Today) about changes relating to capital punishment.

How do you respond to a change to the 2015 Penal Code that says the death penalty will not apply for officials who pay back at least 75 per cent of illicitly obtained profits?
This is regulated in Point C, Clause 3 in Article 40 of the 2015 Penal Code. Some people think this is too lenient, but in my opinion, it is not.

The most severe penalty for the crimes of embezzlement and bribery was capital punishment under the previous Penal Code. During discussions regarding revisions to this law, legislators agreed to keep capital punishment as deterrent for the two crimes, but reduce it to life imprisonment if the criminal is able to pay back at least 75 per cent of the profits they illicitly obtained.

Can current prisoners be given amnesty if they repent and adhere to the new law?

These cases will be treated carefully. The criteria for considering whether they should be granted amnesty would be much stricter and tougher than for other prisoners serving life sentences. For example, lifers could have their sentence reduced to 20 years for good behaviour.

If a death sentence is reduced to life imprisonment, they must serve at least 30 years.

As I have mentioned above, officials convicted of corruption could be spared if they pay back at least 75 per cent of the profits they illicitly obtained. In addition, there are other requirements that these prisoners would have to meet, including helping authorities to conduct investigations into other corruption cases.

If an official stole VND100 billion (US$4.45 million) and received the death sentence, they could pay back 75 per cent and have their sentence reduced. What would happen to the other VND25 billon ($1.11 million)?

Under the 2015 Penal Code, any public official who illegally obtains VND1 billion upwards could receive capital punishment. Point C, Clause 3 of Article 40 of the 2015 Penal Code applies to all prisoners who receive death sentences relating to corruption, regard less of the amount of money. However, during their prison terms, they may enjoy clemency for good behaviour. ­— VNS

Vietnam passes law abolishing death penalty for 7 crimes

Source: Herald & Review (27 Nov 2015)

http://herald-review.com/news/world/asia/vietnam-passes-law-abolishing-death-penalty-for-crimes/article_1e1ce2c5-adeb-5ab4-a4ee-7885ecccb1ae.html

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ― Death sentences imposed on corrupt Vietnamese officials will now be commuted to life in prison if they pay back at least 75 percent of the illegal money they made.

The online newspaper VnExpress said the new regulation was part of the revised Penal Code that an overwhelmingly majority passed in the National Assembly on Friday.

Under the revision, which takes effect July 1, 2016, the country also will abolish the death penalty for seven crimes: surrendering to the enemy, opposing order, destruction of projects of national security importance, robbery, drug possession, drug appropriation, and the production and trade of fake food.

The revised law will also spare the lives of those who are 75 years old or older.


































The ruling Communist Party has made fighting corruption one of its top priorities.




However, some lawmakers had voiced opposition to the changes when they were debated in the assembly in June, arguing that they would weaken the fight against corruption.




"This would create a loophole for corrupt officials to use money to trade for their life," state media quoted deputy Do Ngoc Nien as saying at the time.




International human rights groups and some Western countries have been urging Vietnam to abolish its death penalty.





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New Thai Anti-Graft Law Extends Death Penalty to Foreigners

Source: The New York Times (14 Jul 2015)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/14/world/asia/ap-as-thailand-anti-corruption.html?_r=0

Thailand has enacted a new anti-corruption law that extends a maximum penalty of capital punishment to foreigners.

Previous legislation provided various punishments, including a possible death penalty, for Thai officials convicted of bribery, though apparently no one was ever executed for the crime. The new statutes, which took effect July 9 and are part of a separate anti-corruption law, extend those punishments to non-Thais working for foreign governments and international organizations.

The military government that took power following the ouster of an elected civilian government last year has said countering corruption is one of its major goals.

Although such action is touted as part of a reform movement to clean up Thai politics, it is widely seen as targeting former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a previous military coup in 2006. Thaksin was accused of corruption, but also built a powerful, populist political machine that challenged the privileges of the country's traditional elite, associated with the military and the royal palace.

Another provision of the new anti-corruption law states that a statute of limitations of 20 years no longer applies if the convicted person flees the country. Thaksin was convicted in 2008 of a corruption-related charge but fled abroad. The old statute of limitations would have allowed him to return in 10 years.

Several corruption-related charges are also pending against Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who was prime minister until shortly before the army ousted her government last year.

The secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Sansern Poljieak, has been quoted by Thai media as saying that the punishments under the new law are appropriate because graft involving public servants is a severe offense.

However, the new law also has critics.

"This is a huge step in the wrong direction," Amnesty International spokesman Olof Blomqvist said in an email. "Thailand should be working to remove the death penalty from the legal books, not expanding its scope."

Bangladesh death penalty dangerous, corrupt

BANGLADESH: Death penalty continues despite a flawed criminal justice system
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2010
ALRC-CWS-15-02-2010

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate

A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status

1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomes the discussion by the Human Rights Council during its 15th session concerning the report of the Secretary General on the question of the death penalty. In light of this discussion, the ALRC is hereby submitting information pertaining to the death penalty in Bangladesh. Bangladesh acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on September 6, 2000, but has not yet ratified the Optional Protocols to the ICCPR and also does not comply with the international law aiming to the abolition of death penalty. The country has not only executed its citizens for decades, but officials, including Ministers, Parliamentarians and Judges also advocate publicly in favour of this practice, which denies people's right to life, often as the result of trials that do not meet the internationally recognized standards of fair trial.

2. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has learned from a reliable Home Ministry source, who requested anonymity, that there are around 407 convicts currently being detained in prisons across the country that face execution in the upcoming periods. Among the convicts, around 107 are being detained in Dhaka Central Jail, with the rest being detained in the country’s other main prisons. The high profile cases of execution to have taken place in Bangladesh include the death by hanging of five convicts on 28 January 2010 for the assassination of Bangladesh’s founder, President Sheikh Muzibur Rahman, who was killed by members of the Bangladesh Army along with almost all of his family members on 15 August 1975. In another case, six members of militant groups were hanged after being sentenced to death for the killing two judges in suicide bomb attacks in Jhalkathi district in 2005. Since its establishment in 1971 the Bangladeshi State has executed by hanging over 250 convicted criminals.

3. The country's Penal Code-1860 has several provisions that allow for capital punishment: Section 121: waging war against Bangladesh; Section 132: abetment of mutiny, if mutiny is committed; Section 194: giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence; Section 302: murder; Section 305: abetment of suicide of child or insane person; Section 307: attempted murder by life-convicts; and Section 396: robbery with murder.

4. There are several other laws in Bangladesh that also provide for the death penalty. The draconian Special Powers Act-1974, provides the death penalty for the offences of sabotage under Section 15, counterfeiting currency notes and Government stamps under Section 25A, smuggling under 25B, and adulteration of, or sale of adulterated food, drink, drugs or cosmetics under Section 25C. It is evident from the above that the death penalty is awarded for crimes that do not meet Bangladesh’s obligations under the ICCPR's Article 6(2) to ensure that death sentences "may be imposed only for the most serious crimes."

5. The Nari o' Shishu Nirjaton Daman Ain-2000 [Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Act-2000] further provides for the death penalty to be awarded as punishment for offences or attacks committed using corrosive, combustible or poisonous substances that cause burns or physical damage leading to the death of the victim, under Section 4; for trafficking of women and children, as per Sections 5 and 6 respectively; for ransom, according to Section 8; for sexual assaults resulting in the death of any woman or child who dies consequently, as per Section 9(2); causing death for dowry, in Section 11; and maiming or mutilation of children for begging, under Section 12. The Acid Crime Control Act-2002’s Section 5 (KA) also includes the death penalty for acid attacks on women if the victim's eyes, ears, face, chest or sexual organs are fully or partially damaged.

6. The legislative authorities of Bangladesh argue that the death penalty is necessary for maintaining control over serious crimes in the country and to transmit a message to potential offenders that committing murder will ultimately incur the death penalty. Pro-death penalty advocates in the country claim that the death penalty helps the nation to establish peace and justice in its society as part of upholding the rule of law. This alleged deterrent is shown to not be working effectively, as incidents of serious crimes rise each year. For example, according to the statistic contained in the website of the Bangladesh Police, there were 3592 murders during 2005 and 4219 murders in 2009.

7. The ALRC opposes the death penalty under all circumstances as a cruel practice that is shown to be an ineffective deterrent and open to serious abuse. No legal system in the world functions well enough to guarantee that errors in awarding the death penalty can be totally avoided, and in countries with deeply flawed criminal justice systems such as Bangladesh and most others in the Asian region, the use of the death penalty gives rise to serious travesties of justice and arbitrary, unjust and irrevocable violations for the right to life.

8. Bangladesh's criminal justice system has manifold problems:

a. There is an absence of fairness and transparency in its complaint mechanism. The police arbitrarily control the complaint mechanisms, which are subverted by political interference and a chain of command dominated by corruption from the bottom to the top, resulting in abuses of power and injustices in determining who will be charged and for what crime. The fabrication of cases by the police officers for the purpose of extorting money from targeted persons and/or in order to set the real offender free is a common practice. The police deliberately distort facts related to crimes at the time of recording of complaints, which obstructs the already limited avenues available to the victims seeking justice and redress.

b. Criminal investigations are conducted by the police using primitive methods without acceptable levels of professionalism and efficiency. As a corrupt and political subservient entity, the police force is mostly used as hired gunmen of the ruling political and other authorities and elites.

c. The prosecutorial system is politicised, inefficient, disposable by nature, and incapable of assisting the judiciary to establish justice at the end of the trial. Every political party recruits their own activists cum lawyers as prosecutors, based on their loyalty to the ruling authorities rather than their knowledge of the law, jurisprudence and commitment to the rule of law.

d. The judiciary does not enjoy independence as far as the administration of justice is concerned in terms of logistics, manpower, integrity and the adjudication of the cases. Besides, there is a serious lack of judicial competence and commitment to upholding the rule of law among many judicial officers.

e. The country’s medico-legal system remains archaic and far off internationally acceptable standards and modern methods required to effectively assist the judicial process in determining rights or wrongs and forensic evidence accurately.

f. The legal profession is degraded and consists mainly of persons hunting cases to make the maximum money for their professional practices, rather than to assist the judicial procedures to ensure justice to both victims and the defendants in trials in the country’s courts.

g. The State's entrenched system designed to protect the perpetrators of gross human rights abuses through and extensive culture of impunity, creates serious grievances and a loss of faith in the justice institutions for victims of, for example, illegal arrests, arbitrary detention, custodial torture, extra-judicial killings and disappearances, as well as for their and the wider public who also live in a climate of fear.

h. The absence of interpersonal respect for each other and adequate cooperation among professionals, including the police that register the complaint, investigators, prosecutors, lawyers, medico-legal experts and supporting staff of the judiciary seriously hamper the effective and timely conduct of trials and administration of justice.

i. Inadequate remuneration and facilities for relevant professional experts as well as their supporting staff, poor infrastructure for maintaining material evidence, and the failure to recruit persons with the required educational, moral and ethical background, or to provide adequate training contributes to the further deterioration of the criminal justice system.

9. The reality regarding the criminal justice system must be understood to evaluate how dangerous the use of the death penalty can be in Bangladesh. Realistic policies followed by prompt actions must be in place in order to reduce the recurrence of crimes that are currently punished by the death penalty instead of continuing with this failed deterrent.

10. Bangladesh's constitution's Article 35 (5) prohibits "torture, cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment or treatment". There can hardly be any debate that the death penalty does not amount to cruel punishment, which is prohibited in the country's supreme law. In fact, such cruel punishment comprises a violation of the Constitution by undermining the natural dignity of human beings.

11. The Asian Legal Resource Centre urges the government of Bangladesh to abolish the death penalty immediately and to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, and bring its domestic legislation and practices in line with obligations under this instrument. The Bangladeshi authorities should immediately initiate thorough reforms of the country’s criminal justice system, in order to establish the rule of law and the enjoyment of rights, justice and peace in its society.

About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.

Posted on 2010-08-23

China: Death over milk, but no official answers

Two men have been sentenced to death in China and 19 people jailed over a milk contamination scandal that killed six infants and left hundreds of thousands with chronic health problems.

However there has been no public accounting for how the Sanlu Group was permitted to sell milk powder cut with plastic chemicals -- and to continue supplying hundreds of tons of the product for five weeks after the contamination was revealed in official testing.

Zhang Yujun and Geng Jinping were sentenced to death for producing and selling baby milk powder laced with melamine powder to artificially boost test results meant to measure protein levels.

Chinese government newsagency Xinhua reported that Zhang Yujun was convicted of endangering public safety for producing 770 tons of "protein powder" and selling more than 600 tons.

Geng Jinping, convicted of manufacturing and selling toxic food, sold Sanlu more than 900 tons of milk tainted by 434 kg of protein powder.

Four former Sanlu executives received sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment, according to the Xinhua report.

"The Ministry of Health has put the number of infants who died after drinking melamine contaminated milk products at six," the report said.

"Another 296,000 infants suffered kidney stones and other urinary problems."

Official reports blamed Sanlu for continuing to sell contaminated milk products after test results revealed it had been supplied with suspect "protein powder".

"The management of Sanlu decided to continue producing baby milk powder containing melamine after the Hebei Provincial Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau confirmed on Aug. 1 last year that samples sent by the company were contaminated," Xinhua said.

"From Aug. 2 to Sept. 12 last year, Sanlu Group produced 904 tons of melamine-tainted baby formula powder and sold 813 tons of the tainted products, making 47.5 million yuan."

Selective blame
Western media reported that local government officials ordered the state-controlled company to keep quiet and prevented it from recalling the products from sale ahead of the 2008 Olympic games.

The contamination was only acted on when the New Zealand government reported it to Chinese authorities. New Zealand company Fonterra had a 43 per cent stake in Sanlu, which it has since written off.

And while 22 companies were said to be involved in the scandal, only executives from Sanlu and a range of middlemen have so far been charged, prompting accusations of corruption or scapegoating.

China's english language media also did not report accusations against the government by the families of victims of the scandal.

"I think the government officials involved should shoulder the criminal responsibilities they deserve," said Zhao Lianhai, whose three year-old son was affected by the milk and who has campaigned for compensation.

"They should be put on trial as well, but I'm sorry to say that nothing is happening," he said, according to the UK's Daily Telegraph.

Related stories:
China: Executions to preserve order, control -- 12 December 2008
China executes drug regulator -- 12 July, 2007

Execute corrupt officials: Indonesia's speaker

The Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives this week supported the use of the death penalty for corruption offences, despite the global trend towards abolishing it for economic crimes.

Agung Laksono encouraged other members of the House to support the suggestion, claiming it would help prevent the serious social consequences of corruption, according to the Antara newsagency.

"Therefore, there must be legal punishment for corrupters so severe that it will also have a deterrent effect," he said on Wednesday.

He claimed the use of severe penalties such as capital punishment had caused drastic declines in corruption in some countries, although he was not reported as offering any evidence to support the statement.

"This means, the death penalty is an effective means to fight corruption," he said.

"I hope the idea of making corruption punishable by the death sentence will be responded to favourably by House members and the government."

The Jakarta Post reported today that some parliamentarians and anti-corruption activists supported the proposal.

It said in the past six months the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had arrested six current parliamentarians and scores of high-ranking officials, including a former governor of the Bank of Indonesia.

Governors and former ministers had been jailed for graft since the KPK was formed in 2004.

"I think we must be tough on extraordinary corruption," KPK deputy chairman for prevention Haryono Umar said.

The newspaper said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had encouraged public discussion of the death penalty for those convicted of corruption.

'Not serious enough'
The proposal would violate international law, which requires that -- where it is used -- the death penalty should be restricted to the "most serious" crimes.

United Nations human rights experts have argued that this means it should be reserved for "cases where it can be shown that there was an intention to kill which resulted in the loss of life".

Field of death
The latest discussion comes amid reports that Indonesia is continuing preparations to execute the three Bali bombers.

Antara reported on the same day that two prosecutors from Bali had inspected the site where it was planned to execute the men.

The representatives from the Bali Higher Public Prosecutor's Office visited a field on Nusakambangan Island, off Central Java's southern coast, where the men will be shot by firing squad.

Related stories:
Indonesia: Record number executed in four weeks -- 20 July, 2008
Bali executions will inspire martyrs: expert -- 25 February, 2008
Bali bombers may soon get their wish -- 10 November, 2007
Executions in Indonesia since 1995 -- 26 September, 2006

Party claims economic penalty 'prudent'

China's ruling Communist Party has claimed it is "prudent" in using the death penalty for economic crimes, as it struggles to contain the threat of widespread corruption.

Gan Yisheng, spokesman for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the party's Central Committee told a press conference the death penalty was applied to a "very small" number of people for serious economic crimes.

"We are very prudent in using the death penalty to execute perpetrators of economic crimes and the number of death penalties handed down to economic criminals is very small," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

"China has so far kept the death penalty system and the death penalty is applicable to serious economic crimes."

The death penalty has been politically useful for the Communist Party, which uses the execution of officials for corruption to answer mounting public concern and recent widely reported scandals.

On 10 July China executed Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), for corruption and dereliction of duty after he was convicted of accepting 6.49 million yuan (US$850,000) in bribes from pharmaceutical companies.

"The reason for Zheng Xiaoyu's death sentence was that the bribes he took were huge and he committed serious crimes," Gan said.

He said China retained the death penalty because of its particular circumstances and its cultural background.

"Different countries have different circumstances and have different cultural backgrounds and views on the death penalty. They also have different legal regulations, which is very natural," he said.

"The fact that China keeps the death penalty is due to its national conditions and cultural background. There is nothing to be criticized."

He claimed there were "very strict controls on the death penalty" and all the death penalty decisions were reviewed by the Supreme People's Court.

Human rights groups report the death penalty is applied to a wide range of crimes in China, and political interference in the justice system is common.

Related stories:
China executes drug regulator -- 12 July, 2007
China call for cautious death penalty - again -- 8 April, 2007
China: Judges try to limit death penalty -- 14 November, 2006
China reforms good, but not enough -- 8 November, 2006
China: Supreme Court review from January -- 1 November, 2006
Political questions over China's new appeal judges -- 2 July, 2006
China to retain death penalty, with reforms -- 13 March 2006

China executes drug regulator

The former head of China's drug regulator was executed last Tuesday (10 July) for receiving bribes and approving fake drugs, according to state-run Xinhua newsagency.


Zheng Xiaoyu, who was director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was sentenced to death in Beijing on 29 May for corruption and dereliction of duty.

He had been convicted of accepting 6.49 million yuan (US$850,000) in bribes from pharmaceutical companies. Xinhua said Zheng, 63, accepted cash bribes and gifts directly, as well as through his wife and son.

During his time as head of the agency, he broke reporting and decision-making processes for approving medicines, allowing six fake drugs onto the market, and failed to adequately oversee drug production.

The Higher People's Court of Beijing rejected his first appeal on 22 June, rejecting Zheng's appeal that the penalty was "too severe" and his argument he had cooperated with the investigation.

"The evidence provided by Zheng was obtained by the prosecution team before his confession," said the court.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) ratified the death sentence, clearing the way for Zheng's execution.

"The judgement made by the first and second [court] hearings was authentic, the evidence was complete and the death sentence was appropriate," the SPC said.

"Zheng"s dereliction of duty has undermined the efficiency of China's drug monitoring and supervision, endangered public life and health and has had a very negative social impact."

The Chinese government has acted in recent years to ease public concern about official corruption, with three other senior officials sentenced to death since 2000.

Cao Wenzhuang, the former head of the SFDA's drug registration department, was also given a suspended death sentence last week.

"The execution of Zheng demonstrated the resolve of the government to punish corrupt officials, and those with high positions and strong power are punished without mercy," said Zhao Bingzhi, director the Criminal Law Institute of the China Law Society.

The SFDA said it was introducing new procedures for approving drugs following the two convictions.

"We should seriously reflect and learn from these cases. We should fully protect public food and drug safety.

"The new drug registration regulation, which will come out soon, will ensure the transparency of the drug approval procedure," said SFDA spokeswoman Yan Jiangying.

Execution hampering return
China has been attempting to negotiate extradition treaties with a number of countries in order to bring back corrupt officials who have fled overseas.

But it has found its use of the death penalty for economic crimes posed a barrier in negotiations with countries that do not use the death penalty.

In March this year, China successfully concluded an extradition treaty with France, which, along with earlier treaties with Spain and Portugal, guarantees that suspects returned to face trial would not be given the death penalty.