Why don't human traffickers receive the death penalty?
On the 17th, Moments was suddenly swiped by a large number of netizens: "It is recommended that the country change the legal provisions of child trafficking and sentence children to death! The sentence for buying children is life!" The related topic has aroused widespread attention and heated controversy from all walks of life. A large number of netizens have expressed their support for the death penalty on social platforms such as Weibo and WeChat Moments, and the legal and sociological circles have raised objections from a professional perspective. In fact, there is no precedent for criminals who abduct women and children with serious circumstances to be sentenced to death in our country; as for "whether to be sentenced to death", it has become the focus of debate.
Does the death penalty save children?
Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan, a doctor of law, said: As a mother of a child, I personally resent human traffickers very, very much! However, it is because I have studied law for several years that I have learned to look at issues rationally and objectively. First of all, the death penalty has a very limited shock force on crime, and the first choice for intentional homicide is the death penalty, but the reality is that the crime of intentional homicide cannot be prohibited; secondly, if all human traffickers are sentenced to death, the traffickers will become outlaws living on the tip of the knife. Chinese people all know that outlaws are terrible and difficult to catch, and all human traffickers will be sentenced to death, which is more likely to put the abducted children in a dangerous situation and increase the difficulty of police arrest. Finally, I study procedural law, and I have a presumption of innocence in my heart for the alleged offender. No matter how heinous the suspects are, they must be given the opportunity to defend themselves, and they cannot all be sentenced to death.
Qi Xiaoling, Doctor of Laws: Because if a human trafficker is about to be caught, he will face the death penalty. How will an outlaw treat a child who is helpless? Arrested together? The child is rescued?
Zhang Hui, a lawyer in Guangzhou: What kind of punishment criminals should receive should follow the principle of legality of crime and punishment, in short, that is, serious punishment for felonies, light punishment for misdemeanors, and punishment commensurate with the crime. It should not be one-size-fits-all. All human traffickers should be sentenced to death, and they should be judged according to the specific circumstances of the crime. In reality, many children trafficked by human traffickers are sold by their biological parents on their own initiative, and human traffickers play an intermediary role in the middle. And, from the experience of countries around the world, it is not the best way to deter crime through strict punishment. It does not mean that the stricter the law, the less criminal acts will occur. That is to say, the death penalty may not cure the problem of human traffickers. " Judging from the experience of other countries in the world, the crime rate did not increase but decreased after the abolition of the death penalty in many countries. Abolition of the death penalty is also a major trend worldwide, and our country has actually been reducing the death penalty in recent years. "
Professor Gu Yongzhong, a well-known expert in criminal procedure law and vice-dean of the Institute of Procedure Law at China University of Political Science and Law, said: The death penalty for non-violent crimes should be abolished as soon as possible. "The deterrent power of criminal law is actually limited. Killing people requires life, but the murder has never been stopped since ancient times. The key is that the perpetrators did not expect to be prosecuted after committing the crime. The deterrent power of criminal law is not to have it, but not to deify it. It is not omnipotent."
For serious human traffickers, the death penalty should be imposed
Chen Shiqu, director of the Anti-Trafficking Office of the Ministry of Public Security, said that human traffickers who have committed serious crimes should be sentenced to death, otherwise it is not enough to deter such crimes. On this topic, Chen Shiqu said in an interview with the Guangzhou Daily that the starting point for the crime of child abduction is 5 years, and the maximum penalty can be death. It is not that the current punishment for human traffickers in our country is not severe enough. In fact, the state has always punished human traffickers who abduct and sell children severely in recent years. The original intention of my suggestion is to use the death penalty more when punishing human traffickers who have committed serious crimes in the future. (Xiao Huanhuan, reporter of Guangzhou Daily, March 4, 2015)
Some netizens have sentenced human traffickers to death, which will stimulate them to take risks and threaten the safety of abducted children. Chen Shiqu said that the original intention of human traffickers to abduct children is for economic gain, not to threaten their lives, so there is no need to worry about this.
[Consensus of all parties] The current penalty for the buyer is light
Although human traffickers are abhorrent, legal experts point out that the current penalties for buyers who buy children are relatively light, which is also an important reason for the frequent occurrence of child abduction cases.
Li Xuesong, president of the Qujing Intermediate People's Court, has investigated many cases of child abduction and trafficking. By analyzing the local child abduction crimes that have occurred in recent years, he believes that the reason why human traffickers are rampant is that they sell smoothly and have a large buyer's market. Influenced by the traditional concept of feudalism, some people ignore the law and buy children at high prices to continue the incense or show the prosperity of the family, which provides a market for human traffickers to abduct children. Second, high profits lure criminals to take risks. Third, it is easy to commit crimes and not easy to be exposed. Child abduction is safer than abduction of women. Even if children are rescued in the future, they will not have the ability to report and expose, identify criminals and provide evidence, so that criminals can evade the attack.
Li Xuesong believes that in current legal practice, people who buy children have become blind spots. In real anti-trafficking operations, the punishment for human traffickers is relatively severe, but the punishment for buyers is lighter or not. This approach to treating the symptoms rather than the root cause is an important reason for the strong demand in the buyer's market. He suggested that the party who buys children should also be severely punished.
Wang Jun, a delegate to the National People's Congress, also said that the current crackdown on "buying" abducted children is too small. According to the law, if the adopter or host does not commit abusive acts, they can be exempted from punishment. Only by increasing the penalties for buyers can the main channels and motivations of child abduction be blocked, and it is believed that child abduction will also be reduced.
Xu Qinsong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, submitted a proposal "on combating child abduction and trafficking" at this year's two sessions. He suggested speeding up the improvement of legislation and enhancing the awareness and ability of the whole people to "anti-abduction" and "control abduction".
Article 241, paragraph 6, of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China states: "Those who buy abducted women and children, according to the wishes of the bought women, do not prevent them from returning to their original place of residence, and do not abuse the purchased children and do not hinder their rescue, may not be investigated for criminal responsibility." Xu Qinsong believes that this legal provision should be revised. "A large part of the reason why child abduction is rampant at present is because the buyer's market continues to be strong. Buyers are generally not punished by criminal law, and families in many economically underdeveloped areas, especially in rural areas, have no worries about buying abducted children," Xu Qinsong said.
The state has increased penalties for human traffickers in recent years
Cui Limin, lawyer of Beijing Yijia Family Lawyers Group, said that according to the provisions of the Criminal Law, those who commit the crime of child abduction shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, and shall also be fined; those who fall under any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or confiscated property; if the circumstances are particularly serious, they shall be sentenced to death and confiscation of property: (1) the leading elements of a child abduction and trafficking group; (2) abduction and trafficking of more than three children; (3) abduction of children by violence, coercion or anesthesia for the purpose of selling; (4) theft of young children for the purpose of selling; (5) causing serious injury, death or other serious consequences to the abducted children or their relatives; (6) selling children overseas.
In fact, in recent years, the state has significantly increased penalties for human traffickers who abduct and sell children. This is not the first time that human traffickers have been sentenced to death. In June 2012, the Ministry of Public Security overseen the public sentencing of Jiang Kaizhi, Yunnan Province, in the Qujing Intermediate People's Court for the crime of child abduction. The court sentenced Jiang Kaizhi to death, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property. Peng Qingto was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property.
From 1988 to 2008, Lanshushan alone or together with others in 12 counties including Binyang County and Bama County in Guangxi, Qinzhou City, Pingxiang City, Guigang City, Hechi City and other places, successively abducted the victims, Wei Moumou, Huang Moumou and other more than 30 boys aged 3 to 10. Lanshushan abducted women and children, making a total of more than 500,000 yuan in illegal profits.
After trial, the Intermediate People's Court of Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region found that he had abducted and sold many women and children for a long time, had a deep subjective malignancy, and was extremely harmful to society, and sentenced him to death according to law. After the 2nd-round Moderation upheld the original sentence, Lan Shushan has been executed.
[Netizen Sister Mai: Why don't I support the death penalty for human traffickers?]
In the past two days, Moments has been scrubbed by posts that support the death penalty for all human traffickers. A new round of "If you are Chinese, you will transfer" and "If you are a mother, you will transfer" have resurfaced in a new form, instantly igniting the anger of a large group of mothers. The common feature of these articles is that they first put a batch of tear-jerking photos of abducted children and heartbroken photos of parents, fully arousing the sympathy and empathy of readers, then pointed to human traffickers, and finally pointed to legislation. The crowd shouted passionately: calling for the death penalty for all human traffickers, and calling for the sale of the same crime. It is as if our legislature is all accomplices in condoning human traffickers, and can tolerate these inhumane people living in the world.
As a mother, I can't imagine the pain of losing my own child, and I will cry when I see those photos. But anger with nowhere to vent cannot be found in the wrong outlet, and the making of laws is always based on reason.
Why don't I support the death penalty for all human traffickers?
Misdemeanor crimes are severe, and the punishment must be different. Otherwise, no matter what crime you commit, as long as you feel that you hurt our feelings and cannot accept it, you will be sentenced to death. How can society be stable? If the punishment for misdemeanor and felony crimes is the same, the person who committed the misdemeanor will be willing to commit more terrible crimes in order to cover up their misdemeanor. With the severity, the criminal will have a consideration of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, at least not committing a felony in order to cover up the misdemeanor.
For example, if a person abducts a child and is on the way to sell it, the police will chase it on a large scale, and it is very inconvenient for him to escape, how should he deal with the child? According to the current punishment, on the basis that human traffickers are not legally illiterate, the scientific method is to leave the child and escape alone. After the police save the child, they generally do not chase it desperately, and the action of escaping alone is stronger, and it is easy to escape. If child abduction is based on the death penalty, the scientific method must be to kill the child and escape alone, because if you leave the child without being recognized by the child, and if you are caught, it is a capital crime. There is no difference whether to kill or not, so why not gamble and kill.
As early as the end of the Qin Dynasty, when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, he said: "If you die today, you will die, and if you plan to die, you will die. If you wait for death, you will die in the country?" Qin's Criminal Law stipulates that if you are late to defend the frontier, you will be sentenced to death. If you are late, you will die, if you run away, if you rebel, you will die, and it is all a death. Isn't this what it means? Now rape is also death, abuse is also death, kidnapping is also death, and murder is also death. After the rapist is done, he must kill the victim without hesitation, and she cannot be allowed to call the police to provide clues. And child trafficking has changed from a simple business to "beheading business". Not only will the market price be greatly raised, but the survival rate of kidnapped children will also be greatly reduced.
Therefore, rationally, if you really feel sorry for these poor, abducted children, don't impulsively ask for the death penalty. After all, being sold to an ordinary family without children for another life is much better than being killed by kidnappers on the road.
Some people think that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on criminals, so that they will not kidnap children in the first place. This is also impossible. Drug trafficking is also a capital crime, large-scale corruption is also a capital crime, and homicide is a capital crime. Have these crimes been eradicated throughout the ages? As long as the interests are large enough and the market is large enough, there are many people who do business with their heads up. What's more, child trafficking is a lucrative business.
