Welcome back to another one of our episodes in which we dig deep to bring you tales of
the worst things humans have done to each other in the name of justice.
Today we won’t be talking about the dark past, nor are we going to describe to you
something bloody and brutal, but what you are about to hear is certainly in the realms
of shocking.
The worst part is, this is going on in today’s world.
Without further ado, let’s have a look at what have been called China’s vans of death.
They were introduced in China in 1997 and have been used ever since.
You could say they’re kind of like ice cream trucks that visit certain neighborhoods, except
for the fact they are, in the words of one human rights organization, “like government-sanctioned
death squads.”
Why would China do such a thing, you’re likely wondering?
Well, while most of the world thinks the death vans are barbaric, China thinks they are more
humanitarian and more cost-effective than sending someone to a site of execution.
As you’ll see at the end, some people in China are actually very proud of their death
vans.
Let us explain why.
We don’t exactly know how many people are executed each year in China, but recent reports
say that it's more than 1,000, which puts the country in first place for the number
of executions.
Back in the late 90s and the early 2000s, it was estimated that the number of executions
could have been 12,000 or more.
There are 46 capital crimes in China and we won’t mention them all.
Seven of them are related to “Crimes Endangering National Security”, such as rioting and
rebellion, urging people to separate from the state, or spying.
You can also be executed for embezzlement, or prison escape, for intentional assault,
or even the production or sale of counterfeit medicine.
So, did people committing any of these crimes get a visit from the execution van?
Well, first of all, like the USA, there are appeals processes in place for those that
have been handed the death sentence, and since the mid-2000s, more and more sentences have
been overturned.
Vans don’t just turn up at houses and start whacking people.
There’s a lengthy due process just like in most countries, and like in the U.S., a
person can have a last minute stop of execution.
Under article 252 of Chinese law, it’s written that people will get the firing squad or be
given a lethal injection of drugs.
There’s something else in that article that is important for today’s show, and that’s
the fact that people can be executed at an execution ground, or a “designated place
of custody”.
Ok, so now you’re wondering what an execution ground is.
Well, things don’t go down like they do in the USA.
In China, if a person is to be executed by firing squad, an execution ground is set up,
usually close to where the condemned is being held.
This has three perimeters, with the inner circle being the execution place, the second
circle being where the People's Armed Police guard, and the outer perimeter is where local
police guard.
As you can imagine, that all takes a bit of effort and money, and so more and more people
have been getting legally whacked at a designated place of custody.
This is where the vans come in.
The vans only deliver a lethal injection.
No one gets shot in the van, of course.
In fact, it’s written that in some provinces and municipalities lethal injection is now
the only form of capital punishment.
A man named Kang Zhongwen designed one of the vans that was called the Jinguan Automobile
death van.
He said in 2006 that giving people lethal injection rather than shooting them was more
humane.
He also said the van is much cheaper than setting up execution sites that are not always
in the same place where the crime took place.
He said that’s good for saving money, but it also acts as a deterrent when local people
get to see the death van swing by their village or town.
So, what exactly happens?
Well, when the death squad arrives, the prisoner is led to the van by at least four people.
All this has to be videoed so that law enforcement authorities can see everything goes down as
it should.
This is important because in the past those doing the executions would sometimes harvest
organs from the condemned and sell them.
That’s not to say organ harvesting of prisoners isn’t still going on, but that’s a story
for another day.
Let’s just say that if organs are still harvested, like Amnesty International seems
to think, death vans would be convenient in another way.
Not all the vans are alike, but we know exactly what the Jinguan Automobile death van looks
like because Mr. Zhongwen was interviewed.
He said in 2006, “I'm most proud of the bed.
It's very humane, like an ambulance.”
He added that it’s brutal to drag someone into the van, so the stretcher-like bed slides
out of the van and the prisoner can be killed with ease.
It’s fast, it’s convenient, and it’s cheap, like a one stop-service for execution.
Another thing pointed out, this time by a Chinese lawyer, is the fact that execution
by firing squad can be messy, which is not good for the family of the deceased.
He said that when a person is shot he has to open his mouth so that the bullet goes
right through the head.
That makes less mess and causes less distress for the grieving family of the deceased, but
only if the executioner’s aim is perfect.
As you can see, for the Chinese authorities the death vans are a winner in so many ways.
That’s why China has made about 40 of them to date, each the same, all equipped with
CCTV and an electric-powered bed that comes out of the back.
The lethal injection is no different from one that you’d find in the U.S. and the
service is delivered the same way as you’d expect in the U.S.
So, you might ask, why are human rights organizations criticizing China for its death vans?
Well, we said they are extolled for their convenience, but those organizations say they
are too convenient.
They don’t deny that China isn’t saving tons of cash and they don’t say the actual
execution is any worse than it is in the U.S., but they say that mobile capital punishment
just makes killing too easy.
They say it will lead to an increase in executions and other critics have said the vans are just
a little too similar to the mobile gas chambers used by the Germans during world war two.
As we said, we don’t know exactly how many people are executed in China, but we do know
of some well-known people that got a visit from the van.
A Chinese billionaire named Yuan Baojing went to the van in 2006 after being convicted of
murder, corruption, and being part of a mafia-like company.
He’d been in a long feud with another billionaire named Liu Han, and guess what, he also went
to the van, but years later in 2014.
Corrupt politicians are not exempt from the death penalty.
In 2007, the van visited a Mr. Zheng Xiaoyu, the former director of the State Food and
Drug Administration of the People's Republic of China.
He’d done shady deals with shady medicine suppliers and allowed dangerous drugs to enter
China.
He was paid handsomely in bribes, but people died because of the dangerous medicines.
Seeing as the death van is convenient we imagine hundreds of people are being visited by the
van each year.
In fact, one spokesperson for a death van company told the media, “We have not sold
our execution cars to foreign countries yet.
But if they need one, they could contact our company directly.”
We’re not too sure if the death van export business has taken off just yet, but you never
know, maybe other countries will catch on to the convenience.
Now you need to watch this, “The Blood Eagle - Worst Punishments in the History of Mankind.”
Or have a look at this…