Chinese province phases out firing squad in favour of lethal injection

Published on December 14, 2009 by brooks | This story has been viewed 175 times

A Chinese province has announced that it has become the first region in the country to halt execution by firing squad in favour of lethal injection.

The move towards the wider use of lethal injection for those sentenced to death has gathered momentum in recent months, with the cities of Beijing and Chongqing both announcing a goal of phasing out firing squads by next year.

Introduction of lethal injection has been slow because of the cost involved and the need to have special rooms or equipped vehicles where the executions can be carried out.

Officials in Beijing said it costs about 700 yuan (£60) to carry out one execution by firing squad but lethal injection is more complicated and thus more costly.

However, every county in northeastern Liaoning province now has a room or a bus that can be sent as needed to carry out executions.

The Liaoning Higher People’s Court said: “Lethal injection can reduce the fear and suffering experienced by criminals. It can also help preserve the body of the convicts after death.”

Under Chinese tradition a body should be whole when it enters the underworld – a custom that has hampered organ donation.

The court hailed the development as a sign of China’s development: “It is a symbol of the progress of civilization, and it also serves to punish the criminals.”

Zuo Lianbi, deputy president of the Higher Court, pointed out that China and the United States were the only countries to have adopted execution by lethal injection.

The number of executions in China each year is a state secret, but it is believed to exceed 3,000 – more than the rest of the world put together.

A survey by the Supreme People’s Court, which last year resumed the practice of reviewing all death sentences to try to reduce miscarriages of justice, showed all criminals – when given the choice – opted for lethal injection over the traditional practice of a shot to the back of the head.

Permission to use lethal injection was given in 1997 and the first such execution was carried out in the southwestern city of Kunming where doctors and police had developed the cocktail of drugs used. Sodium thiopental, a rapid anaesthetic, is believed to be an important ingredient.

Meng Xianfeng, a higher court official, said that with lethal injection the blood ceased to flow after 45 seconds and the heart then stopped beating. “Criminals have no pain, no convulsion and no obvious change of facial expression during the whole process.”

Wang Dawei, a professor with the Chinese People’s Public Security University, believes firing squads will one day be a thing of the past in China.

“The faster the method and the less pain it brings to criminals, the more chance the method will be adopted. The wider adoption of lethal injection is a symbol of democracy and civilization as it is the last form of respect for life.”

The more high-profile criminals are believed to be executed by lethal injection. Officials said Zheng Xiaoyu, convicted of corruption while head of the State Food and Drug Administration, died by that method in July 2007.

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