World

Mostly Cloudy with Showers 14° London Hi 15°C / Lo 8°C

Mobile death chambers take capital punishment on the road

By Clifford Coonan in Beijing

Viewed in the online catalogue, the bus looks innocuous enough from the outside

Viewed in the online catalogue, the bus looks innocuous enough from the outside

China is innovating in the market of death with a fleet of execution buses in which convicts are efficiently and cleanly put to death by lethal injection.

The mobile death chamber means executions can be ordered and carried out by courts in towns and villages around a particular province, with executioners and medical staff shuttling between different jurisdictions. Authorities say the initiative is a deterrent against crime.

"First, we established there was demand for execution vehicles. Then we designed the vehicles and applied to the government for certification. This procedure is a must," said Mr Zhang, from the marketing department of Jinguan Auto – a Chongqing-based maker of ambulances, police lorries, bulletproof shields and armour-plated limos. Mr Zhang, who did not wish to give his first name, said the execution bus is a refitted 17-seater minibus which is seven metres long. So far the company had sold 10 of the vehicles.

Viewed in the online catalogue, the bus looks innocuous enough from the outside. Mr Zhang explained how criminals are tied hand and foot to a stretcher at the back, then injected with a cocktail of lethal toxins. The bus also features a video monitoring system, to ensure that executions comply with state rules, he explained.

The execution bus also makes it easier to use organs from prisoners for transplants, with doctors and nurses on hand to make sure they are transferred swiftly. This practice has been attacked as inhumane, although the Chinese government insists it takes place with the permission of the donors and their families.

China executes more prisoners than any other country, and non-violent crimes such as corruption and tax fraud, as well as the traditional capital offences such as murder, are among 68 crimes that carry the death penalty.

Before creation of the buses, the condemned were executed by being shot in the back of the head, but executioners were often forced to wear rubber boots, because of the large amount of blood involved in shootings, and occasionally prisoners had to be shot several times before finally dying.

One reason why executioners wanted a different method was because many of those killed were drug traffickers, and were said to have HIV/Aids. Executioners said they were worried they would become infected by spraying blood.

"Lethal injection reduces the pain and fear of the condemned. It is a more humane way to die," Mou Ruijin, associate professor of the Law School of Northeast University, told the Xinhua news agency after the province of Liaoning became the latest to switch to lethal injections.

The makers of the van say sales are steady, and urge any foreign governments interested to get in touch.

Post a Comment

View all comments that have been posted about this article.

Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.

Comments

[info]jo_sparkles wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 07:11 am (UTC)
Goodness me, whatever next...
Mobile death
[info]leminier wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 08:05 am (UTC)
Now what does this remind me of? Oh yes, Nazi Germany and the mobile execution buses. Great doing business with China ain't it?
So will you be buying goods made in China today?
[info]whostoletyke wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 10:17 am (UTC)
Have a look at the label on numerous consumer goods sold in Britain and ten to one it will say "Made in China". Every time you buy a DVD player, a mobile phone, an accessory for your PC and much more besides, you are likely to have bought something that was made in a country whose government supports, salutes even, the deployment of execution buses like the one shown above.
Texas per capita
[info]gerard1904 wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 10:43 am (UTC)
I do believe that per capita, during Bush's "watch" in Texas, just as many criminals were terminated as in China. In USA of course you serve 25 years on death row, get dragged of to the killing room several times before they get you. My advice to those cons in Texas is if you read War and Peace start from the back.
Mobile death chambers
[info]gwilymr_j wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 12:16 pm (UTC)
What an excellent idea. How do i get to drive it?
Bill of Rights?
[info]cardrew wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 02:25 pm (UTC)
Am I still reading Jack and Jacqui's Bill of Rights article?

Will this be the next step for those who do not obey the law, or fail to obtain a TV license? No doubt, the videos will appear on You Tube, just like Saddam.

I think these vehicles were manufactured for the Bush/Cheney regime, but the company was delayed in production. They could make a roaring trade with a Torturemobile, USA would buy them, and they could drive them around Britain, Poland and Romania (Britain would deny all knowledge, of course!).

I'm sure there will be plenty of other buyers, Mugabe just placed a large order, I hear they are very popular in the Sudan.

China will never improve their civil rights while the western world buys all their plastic trinkets. Unfortunately money talks, when is any civilised country going to stand up and criticise the human rights abuses in China, Israel or Saudi Arabia?
Re: Bill of Rights?
[info]boeticia wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 03:43 am (UTC)
In Great Britain, too, a few hundred years back, heads were chopped off in your historical Tower of London.

Now and then, too, other unlucky souls had their heads mounted up on the bridges for everyone to see, and set an example. Not that I agree with the newfangled Chinese method...I just want to set the
record straight when people use the word "civilised" or "uncivilised".
A excellent idea
[info]arthur_ide wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 03:22 pm (UTC)
It is absurd to wait for years, even decades for a criminal to continue appealing a lawful sentence for her or his execution. When the crime is committed, the criminal should be executed within 24 hours. Only then will people think twice before attempting robbery of celullar phones, clothing, food, and money, and consider the consequences before harming physically in any way anyone. There must be no leniency for any criminal of any age, regardless if he or she is 5 or 105. Age is irrelevant, for if the person commits a crime he or she must pay the penalty. UK should buy some mobile execution chambers!
Re: A excellent idea
[info]therman_merman wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 06:58 pm (UTC)
Have you not had your medication today?
Re: A excellent idea
[info]arthur_ide wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 12:01 am (UTC)
I would suggest you try taking yours. All religions of the world that are known contain accounts of execution of criminals regardless of age or gender. A crime, however by realistic standards (not some religious inanity), is any action that is unwelcomed by another: such as rape, murder, theft, defamation of name or character, libel, slander, and so forth. These are not to be tolerated. If you were in South America (Peru or Uruguay, for example) it is not uncommon to see young people aged 8 to 14 gang up on a person (especially someone who is old) to rob, rape, or murder the person for his/her celullar phone, clothing, or a bag of rice or potatoes. Only an idiot would think that these "young people" can have future merit to add to society. In reality, these "young people" should be executed on the spot--as happened in ancient Israel, Egypt, Akkadia, Rome, Greece, etc. China has developed an excellent plan to deal with its crime problem: portable (vehicular) buildings (much like a minibus) to execute those who are defacing, destroying, and damaging people, property, and possessions. It is time that all crimes be dealt with quickly and absolutely--death is the only just verdict. Remember that Charles Manson was a little boy, as was Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush, Josef Stalin and similar mass murderers. If they had been executed at age 4 or 5 the world would have been a better place today. If a peson is able to pull a trigger or plung a knife into another person (as with the shooting of a sibling age 3 by his sister age 4) then that murder must die.
Re: A excellent idea
[info]rayamiles wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 09:53 am (UTC)
I take it your response is supposed to be funny? If not it is interesting to see that even the Independent has its share of the, hang um and flog um, brigade. I am not sure that even the Nazis executed small children for committing crimes, you really are thinking, out of the box.

It would also seem that you have not been paying much attention to the news in the last 30 odd years, otherwise you might recall the many miscarriages of justice perpetrated in this country. Many of these were down to the stupidity or incompetence of the police and because they knew that had the, right man.

And just one other small point, handing out the death penalty for a wide range of crimes is just plan dumb and would only make things worse, remember the saying, you may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb?

Perhaps you should have a chat to nurse about upping your meds....
mobile organ harvesting
[info]gregat wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 03:37 pm (UTC)
I thought this idea died with the 1000 year reich, but this is even worse than the nazis deathmobile. This is a for profit organ harvesting bus. This is not about executing prisoners humanly, it's about killing them in a clean enviroment , surgically removing thier organs and refridgerating them as fast as possible.Then racing to the airport to get those fresh organs to a deserving billionaire. It's time for everyone to do what thier goverments don't want to do. Take a moral stand against china and stop buying shoddy goods made in china. Oh, but its too hard, everything is made in china you say. Well how about postponing and reducing all 'made in china' purchases by half or more.
Re: mobile organ harvesting
[info]arthur_ide wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 12:05 am (UTC)
No where in the article, nor on any news service, is there any statement that those executed in the buses are executed to harvest organs for resale to billionaires. The people are executed for murder, adulterating food, causing catastrophic injuries (as when faulty buildings poorly constructed collapse and kill--as happened with three schools last year in China), and similar reasons. I applaud the Chinese for getting rid of these miscreants, and Texas is to be commended for its lack of tolerance for repeat offenders.
Re: mobile organ harvesting
[info]rayamiles wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 09:54 am (UTC)
If you do not think that this is partly about organ harvesting you are even more naive than your rants portray, the Chinese have for years been harvesting the organs from executed. Sometimes it is done for profit, but often it is to provide spare parts to higher up members of the party.
Executive Action
[info]ambricourt wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 09:22 pm (UTC)
Once again the People's Republic of China shows its caring hand in executing condemned criminals: travelling minivan, experienced medical team, comfortable gurney (although occasionally stained with vomit, excrement and urine), extraction of internal organs immediately after death and all done under video surveillance.
What a contrast to Mr Pierpoint (father and son) leaving their cosy North Manchester pub, travelling by train to a drab provincial prison, testing rope, lever and sandbags, and then having to wait until the next morning before putting their skills to practical use.
And this latest Chinese efficiency makes Britain's cottage industry of building and exporting gallows to newly independent ex-colonies anxious to preserve the imperial rule of law seem barbarously anachronistic.
But every entrepreneurial process leaves room for improvement.
There is need for an extended minivan with an additional video.
An extended minivan could comfortably house the recipient of the condemned man's kidneys or liver. He could lie at his ease and view by video the arrival of the donor. For an extra fee, he could enter the other chamber of the van, exchange a few grateful words with the condemned and be assured of his willing participation before returning to his chamber, lying back and submitting to anaesthetic. Competitions between surgeons on the speed with which they can extract and insert organs might be arranged on a global basis for the benefit for all mankind. When word of this extraordinary humane procedure spreads abroad among affluent people, Jinguan Auto of Chongquin will design ever more comfortable minivans, thus contributing to greater employment of Chinese artisans and to the general Chinese economy; foreign travel agencies will arrange itineraries to coincide with executions in the most remote rural areas of the People's Republic; and governments worldwide can collect ever more exorbitant taxes from their affluent citizens' increased air travel.
Re: Executive Action
[info]rayamiles wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 09:31 am (UTC)
Follow this example and we could look forward to "enjoying" the same murder rate as the US. Now that would be nice.......
Good idea
[info]timspooner wrote:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 at 11:53 pm (UTC)
Perhaps if you had a few of these in the Uk and the will to use it, you would have less random murders. An armed society is a polite society but the victims have to be able to legally arm themselves, not just leave all the guns in the hands of criminals.
The UK needs deathmobiles
[info]arthur_ide wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 12:10 am (UTC)
Think of the number of young teenagers knifed down or shot by a colleague, friend, or a chance occasion--as happened with the budding star in a Harry Potter movie. Anyone who can say that the murderer was "misunderstood" and be forgive is in serious need of mental counseling, for killing anyone is henious if it is done by a private citizen, for only a state (to protect its citizens) has the right to end a life--and those who kill must be killed. From the earliest laws in the Middle East (Hammarabi's Code, for example) it has always been "a life for a life." No one can kill with immunity--and that is why the judgement of Nuremberg ruled that "just following orders" during war was no excuse for killing and the troops the killed civilians were liable for punishment. It is the same today with the Israeli army's holocaust against the people of Gaza--and all Israeli soldiers who invaded Gaza should be tried for crimes against humanity and executed after watching Peres and his gaggle of goons die first.
Mobile death chambers take capital punishment on the road
[info]sassouni wrote:
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 at 07:14 pm (UTC)
If you find this article shocking, perhaps you should look into your country's own policies around illicit drugs. In most of world users of drugs (that are illegal because of historical accidents) are systematically condemned to poverty, crime, violence, rape, and death through overdose, violence, or deadly infectious diseases. In the west, we may not be killing our children in buses, but we are killing them slowly and painfully.

Only a radical shift of drug policy, namely decriminalization of all drugs, will we start to deal with the drug issue more rationally and humanely. Otherwise, we are not much different from China.
Raffi Balian
Canada
thanks
[info]franchise999 wrote:
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 at 08:48 pm (UTC)
Thanks for writing, decent article.

Derek mobile Franchises

Article Archive

Day In a Page

Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat

Select date