Chinese imperial courts traditionally celebrated special events, such as the
crowning of a new emperor, with a special pardon for prisoners. As the People's
Republic of China approaches its 60th birthday in October, there have been
calls from scholars and rights groups in and outside China to follow the
tradition.
Gao Minxuan, a legal expert at Beijing's Renmin University, recently called on
the government to release some prisoners - particularly first-time offenders,
those who had committed petty crimes, have shown good behavior or do not pose a
danger to society - through a special pardon around the anniversary on October
1.
A pardon for prisoners in imperial times was meant as an act of
benevolence to shore up loyalty among the emperor's subjects and to promote
harmony in society. Gao said special pardons, which are enshrined in the
country's constitution, would not only show the magnanimity of the government
and inspire good behavior from offenders, but would also show the world China's
respect for human rights - a move that would greatly improve the country's
international image.
He believes it would also promote harmony in society - a theme that the
government of President Hu Jintao has emphasized since the beginning of its
rule.
"Many would be grateful to the government and would want to do better, and this
will lead to more harmony in society," Gao said.
He cited the precedents of seven special pardons since the start of communist
rule in 1949, which led to the release of tens of thousands of prisoners
convicted of counter-revolutionary charges as well as political and war
criminals, many of whom served in the Kuomintang or nationalist government or
the Japanese-backed Manchukuo regime.
The first was granted on the 10th anniversary of communist rule in 1959, which
allowed for the release of some 70,000 prisoners, including China's last
emperor, Pu Yi, who later became a gardener.
But Gao pointed out that the last special pardon was granted more than three
decades ago in 1975, and suggested the upcoming anniversary would be a good
opportunity to revive the tradition.
"Between 1959 and 1975, there were seven pardons; prisoners were released and
we saw little adverse impact, in fact they were rather successful," he said.
But opponents fear a pardon of criminals would contribute to social instability
and send the wrong message that the government is condoning their crimes.
They also point out that under China's immature legal system - which is still
under the control of the Communist Party - and a government that lacks
accountability and transparency, a pardon is not likely to benefit those who
most deserve it.
Li Kejie, an associate law professor at the Shandong Institute of Politics and
Law, said the pardon could easily be misused to release corrupt officials or
those who had clout within the government or money to bribe their way out of
prison.
"The special pardon might just benefit corrupt officials - you can just see how
they sentence them already - the ones who deserve to die end up not dying and
the ones who should have been given death sentences get suspended sentences
instead," he said.
He added that there is little support for clemency for criminals in Chinese
culture and the forgiveness of criminals is seen as unfair to victims.
"Those who kill deserve to die - this is a deep-rooted mentality in China," Li
said.
But other legal experts point out that there are simply too many people in
Chinese jails who have been wrongly convicted, especially prisoners of
conscience who have been punished for their political views or religious
beliefs.
Zhang Sizhi, one of China's most eminent lawyers who spent 20 years in a labor
camp as a "rightist", said political prisoners as well as people arbitrarily
detained in labor camps and police-run detention centers should particularly be
released without conditions.
"In all of the political cases I've handled, from my point of view, the
defendants had committed no crime," the 82-year-old lawyer said. "Most were
trying to do good for the country and they voiced their opinions but were
convicted as 'subversive' or 'counter-revolutionary'."
Mao Yushi, a respected economist, expressed similar views and pointed out that
some 50 million people were killed during various government-led political
movements in the past few decades.
Mao, who called for a revision of the verdict on the Tiananmen crackdown in
2004 and subsequently lost his university teaching post, said a lot of
grievances had been bottled up among ordinary Chinese people and believed the
country would benefit from showing more kindness and tolerance towards its
people.
"The way a government treats its people is a fundamental issue - are you
abusing your power or using it carefully?" he said. "Granting a pardon will
send a message that the Communist Party can also be magnanimous in this
regard."
Feng Congde, a student leader in the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement in 1989
who is still wanted on counter-revolutionary charges, said a pardon for people
like himself who are exiled abroad would help China bury the ghosts of the past
and defuse tension in the country.
"The arrest warrants for us were issued on June 12, 1989, and they have not
been rescinded since then so we are not able to return," he said. "If the
Chinese government wants to get over this hurdle and alleviate the
confrontation between itself and people over the June 4 issue, it would be good
to grant a pardon for the June 4 sentences."
John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, a US-based
organization that advocates the early release of Chinese political and
religious prisoners, said pardoning people like Feng would improve China's
international image and bring it in line with international practices.
Feng and others were convicted of counter-revolutionary charges, which were
then scrapped in 1997. Kamm argues that China should now free June 4 prisoners
and rescind arrest warrants in the spirit of the International Covenant of
Civil and Political Rights, which says if a law is changed to reduce the
sentence, previously sentenced offenders should benefit from the change.
"I dare say it would be good for China's image, the fact that it's putting June
4 behind it," Kamm said. "And it would be very popular in terms of releasing
the remaining counter-revolutionaries."
"They have been in prison for nearly 20 years, they certainly do not represent
a threat to society," he added, pointing out that there are now less than 50
people still in jail over the movement.
But even supporters of the pardon say they are not optimistic and see little
evidence that the government is willing to show magnanimity towards its people.
"I am very doubtful whether the government will be able to do this … June 4 is
still a no-go area for them," Feng said.
With this year full of sensitive anniversaries such as the 20th anniversary of
the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement on June 4 and the
50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising on March 10, rights groups say the
government has intensified crackdowns on voices of dissent and is continuing to
jail people it sees as threatening.
Many of the so-called petitioners who try to lobby the central government to
air their grievances say officials are using increasingly heavy-handed tactics
to silence them.
Zhang Lifan, a historian formerly with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
said the confrontational tactics would only lead to more discontent and
instability.
"China has now gone the wrong way. The more it wants to maintain stability, the
more people it arrests and it thinks this will lead to stability," said Zhang,
who was imprisoned for nearly 10 years on counter-revolutionary charges during
the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.
"But the opposite is true - there is so much grievance bottled up it will
explode some time. You cannot use pressure to maintain stability."
Verna Yu is a journalist from Hong Kong.
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