Why aren't all human traffickers sentenced to death? Trafficker

Human trafficking is a "global threat".

In 2013, the United Nations designated July 30th as World Day to Combat Human Trafficking, with the aim of enhancing people's awareness of the crime.

As early as the 1970s, China had been cracking down on the crime of human trafficking. People have a deep hatred towards human traffickers. Whenever they see news of abducted children eventually reuniting with their families, they are moved and inevitably filled with righteous indignation: how could human traffickers be so bad that they are not sentenced to death?

How did the "death penalty for all" come about?

In fact, China has always retained the death penalty for the crime of trafficking women and children.

According to the Criminal Law, those who kidnap and sell women or children shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined. If they are the ringleaders of a trafficking criminal group, or if they kidnap and sell three or more women or children, they may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment. If the crime is particularly serious, the death penalty and confiscation of property can be imposed.

In the Meiyi case, human trafficker Zhang Weiping was imprisoned three times for kidnapping, and at least 11 children were found to have been abducted and sold; Zhou Rongping used violent coercion or even anesthesia to kidnap the mother of the child, forcibly snatch and sell the child, which is a particularly serious situation. In the end, both were sentenced to death.

The sentence may vary depending on the circumstances of the case. Some human traffickers, either confess their crimes or actively cooperate in finding children, are sentenced to five to six years in prison, or even shorter, which is in accordance with legal provisions.

Some human traffickers have caused the victims and their families to be separated for more than 20 years, but have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. Compared to others, it is inevitable that the sentence is too lenient.

Even some cases, due to their prolonged duration and difficulty in finding evidence, make it difficult for "human traffickers" to be convicted of "trafficking".

In 2014, Sun Haiyang, the real prototype of the "abduction movie" "Dear", spent 14 years searching for his son. However, in the prosecution's sentencing recommendation, the human trafficker was only sentenced to 5 years in prison. This gap is disappointing.

It is reported that due to the fact that most transactions were made in cash more than a decade ago, no evidence of human traffickers' transactions could be found. In addition, human traffickers insisted that they were giving children as gifts, not selling them. Therefore, in cases where it cannot be proven that the purpose is to sell, one can only be sentenced for "abduction and fraud", with a maximum sentence of 5 years.

Sometimes, compensation in civil law is also difficult to console victims. According to the standards announced by courts in various regions, the compensation for mental distress compensation generally does not exceed 100000 yuan. Guo Li once claimed 500000 yuan for "mental damage", which was rejected by the court; Correspondingly, in the Li Jingwei case, two traffickers were each sentenced to compensation of 50000 yuan.

As the saying goes, if there is injustice, it will be heard. Many cases have become widely known due to injustice, and the public is excited by the injustice. In this situation, the "death penalty for all" is more like solidarity with the victims.

Punish human traffickers severely!

Law is not omnipotent. For some unrepentant human traffickers, people hate them so much that their teeth itch and sometimes feel helpless.

At present, the sentence for human trafficking crimes in China has significantly exceeded that of other countries:

The crime of buying and selling children in Germany is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment or a fine; The crime of taking and luring minors in Japan is punishable by imprisonment for not less than three months but not more than five years; The crime of luring, buying and selling others for profit or other purposes in South Korea is punishable by fixed-term labor for more than one year; The crimes of kidnapping and abducting women and kidnapping and abducting young children for financial gain in India are both punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years and fines. The legal crackdown on human trafficking in our country is also increasing day by day. In the first Criminal Code of China, the sentence for trafficking in persons is no more than 5 years, and if the circumstances are serious, the sentence is imprisonment of no less than 5 years. By 1983, the maximum sentence had been raised to the death penalty. By 1991, the sentence for the crime of trafficking in women and children was more than 5 years, with the highest death penalty.

Nowadays, China is continuously narrowing the scope of application of the death penalty, but it is still retained for the crime of trafficking in women and children.

In judicial practice, most crimes of human trafficking in China are punished severely. From 2010 to 2014, the severe punishment rate in over 7000 cases of trafficking in women and children reached 56.59%. Compared to almost simultaneous drug crimes, the severe punishment rate is 21.91%; In 2018, the national first instance criminal case severity rate reached 53.98%.

In recent years, National People's Congress deputies have also proposed to hold new cases of trafficking criminals accountable for life, and to change the starting sentence for the crime of trafficking women and children from five years to ten years.

The Controversy over the Same Crime of Buying and Selling

When people angrily call for the death penalty for human trafficking, it is not only to defend the victims, but also to make the law more deterrent and avoid more victims in the future.

The principle of "equal punishment for all crimes" is not in line with the principle of "equal punishment for all crimes", and it is also easy for human traffickers to take risks.

"The equivalent punishment for a crime" refers to a heavier punishment for a serious crime or a lighter punishment for a minor crime. Under the same charges, some people sell their children to wealthy families because they cannot afford to raise them; Some are professional vendors who act as intermediaries for parents who voluntarily sell their children and families without children; Some people disregard the life and death of their children, stealing, deceiving, and even robbing others of their children in large numbers... The reality is always complex, and it is not fair to impose the death penalty on all.

For a few extremely vicious human traffickers, if we don't distinguish specific situations, "abducting one is also death, abducting ten is also death", "abducting children is death, killing children is also death"... then "the death penalty for all" actually encourages evil deeds, making their methods more cruel, the consequences more serious, and the impact worse.

A study has found that defendants in serious crime cases tend to resist stubbornly and perform poorly after committing a crime. Out of 219 individuals sentenced to life imprisonment or suspended death penalty in cases of trafficking and trafficking of women and children, only 4 pleaded guilty to punishment.

When calling for severe punishment of human traffickers, more and more people gradually realize that "without buying and selling, there is no harm.". Therefore, compared to increasing the sentencing of human traffickers, the controversy in the legislative field is more focused on the "same penalty for buying and selling".

In 2022, Professor Luo Xiang from the School of Criminal Justice at China University of Political Science and Law and Vice Dean Che Hao from the School of Law at Peking University argued over whether to increase the statutory punishment for the crime of buying abducted women and children. They briefly went out of the limelight by crossing the line:

On the one hand, there is an imbalance in the punishment of "people are inferior to things". "Buying one panda earns 10 years, buying two parrots earns 5 years, but buying one woman earns a maximum of 3 years, which is too unfair."

On one hand, it is the actual need to rescue the victim. In some areas where buying people is prevalent, once the starting point punishment is high, filing a case is equivalent to forming a feud with the local people, and grassroots law enforcement personnel may give up conviction and rescue as a result.

However, the maximum statutory sentence of 3 years and the reality that the vast majority of "buyers" receive less than 1 year in prison have made many people become "pro establishment". This year, National People's Congress representative Jiang Shengnan proposed to increase the sentence of bribe takers and "cannot accommodate backward folk customs and traditions.".

Of course, legislation is not the only solution. Cracking down on crime also requires strict law enforcement and in-depth legal education; Rescuing abducted individuals also requires joint efforts from the entire society. I only wish that there is no turning in the world, let the wandering children go home, and let the scattered family reunite.