A need for moral insight.

Does the People's Republic of China have moral insight, at a State level? I ask this because recent events suggest otherwise. I shall explain.

A British man, Akmal Shaikh, 53, is under penalty of death and due to be executed tomorrow morning for carrying 4 kg of heroin into the country. Now, that might seem like a simple matter of executing (under Chinese law) a drug smuggler who happened to get caught. However, it is not so simple: you see Akmal Shaikh has bipolar disorder and, at the time of his supposed offense, was acting under the delusion that he was flying to China to make a hit record. Apparently, he had been duped into carrying a suitcase filled with heroin, of which he was utterly unaware - at least, that is what his supporters say. The Chinese State, on the other hand, seems to see things in a rather more black and white fashion that goes a bit like this: "Man caught with drugs. Drugs bad. Kill man." They are not considering whether it was even possible for this particular man, to understand what he was doing, or what, in fact, is going on.

It is curious to note that China is unable to immediately see the problem with their proposed execution. The rest of the world seems to have no trouble identifying the trickiness of this scenario. Yet a spokeperson for the Chinese embassy would only say that the amount of heroin he was carrying "could kill 26,800 people". Yes, it could, if they all decided to overdose on it. However, almost all would not. It is interesting, however, that the Chinese refuse to understand the situation and keep harping on the drug he was carrying. It has never occurred to them that you can't convict a man of doing something he didn't know he was doing. There is something called "intention" - and he had no intention of carrying these drugs and, we are told, no knowledge that he was carrying them. So, it is clear that, although a crime has taken place, he is not a criminal. The crime lays with whomever GAVE him the drugs. That is the person or people who should be tracked down, caught and tried - not the innocent mule who was unaware of his burdened status.

Then again, there is the matter of his bipolar disorder. If he was "high" and knowingly carried drugs (which it is said he was not), then he could not have been responsible for this, either - since, in that condition, he may be unable to understand the implications, consequences and nature of his actions.

All of this is very straightforward and most reasonable people have no trouble understanding it. However, as it is now, the Chinese have given no indication that they understand these issues - or appreciate their relevance to the impending execution. Yet, I note something most, most odd: the Chinese have kept Akmal Shaikh prisoner in A HOSPITAL. Thus, they know, for sure, that he is mentally ill: that is their OWN assessment - yet still they persist in arranging his execution. That indicates a fundamental lack of morality in the justice system - and a fundamental failure to appreciate human rights. The need to make an example of this hapless man is greater than the desire to see that the RIGHT thing is done and the JUST thing is done. Spectacle is to take precedence over humanity.

I hope, for the sake of this unfortunate man, that China wakes up to some degree of moral understanding before the morning and cancels this man's execution. Akmal Shaikh doesn't need a lethal injection - he needs a quiet place free of stress where he might calm down and achieve some equanimity.

Looking at this matter from a broader perspective, it strikes me as peculiar that certain countries are very quick to execute drug mules (Singapore and China for instance), but less in a hurry to track down the networks that supplied the drugs. It would have more impact, in the long run, were they to keep the mules alive and pump them for clues as to their "bosses", in the hope of working out the supply chain. Maybe they do try...but I don't see much result. All we see are fairly regular executions, in this part of the world, for people carrying sometimes surprisingly modest amounts of drugs.

So, it is not just China that needs to look to its conscience in this matter - but other countries, too. Should the mules be sentenced to death, since they are often unwitting pawns in a much larger enterprise? Or should such sentences be reserved for the organizers?

We will find out, tomorrow, how much China has understood of these issues. So will Akmal Shaikh.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)