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…
