Bring back caning to reduce crime says congress deputy

By Jiang Yabin Source:Global Times Published: 2013-1-31 1:13:01

A director of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau and National People's Congress deputy proposed flagellation, which has been outlawed in the country for decades, be brought back to punish male offenders, the Nandu Daily reported on Wednesday.

Chen Weicai, director of the security bureau's human resources department, said whipping offenders would reduce crime, the newspaper said.

Chen, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, proposed that only male offenders be lashed with a cane across the buttocks. The number of lashes and the intensity with which they are administered would depend on the severity of the crime.

Chen maintains that corporal punishment is an effective deterrent.

He said offenders who pass out during their caning should be required to be complete the punishment after their wounds have healed and they are able to be caned again.

He plans to submit his proposal to the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March.

Some Web users supported the use of corporal punishment to fight crime, suggesting corrupt officials should be lashed.

Many lawyers are appalled at the idea, calling caning a violation of human rights and a breach of the spirit of modern law. "China began to abolish cruel physical punishment in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). Reintroducing flagellation as a punishment is retrogressive, as progressive law enforcement highlights humanity," Si Weijiang, a lawyer with Shanghai DeBund Law Offices, told the Global Times, adding that criminal law in China is strict enough and there is no need to introduce new, savage punishments, Si said.

"Introducing flagellation would show our law condones  violence, which in return could cause the crime rate to increase not decline as some people think," Wu Di, a lawyer from the Shanghai Hengye Law Firm, told the Global Times.

Singapore is one of the few countries in Asia to still use canning of offenders who commit about 30 crimes including rape, robbery, drug smuggling, graffiti and illegal possession of firearms.



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