Death penalty statistics remain a state secret in China. "Political interference is common," Amnesty International says on its website. "Often, mass executions are carried out before major events or public holidays as a warning to others. Execution is by shooting or lethal injection and sometimes takes place within hours of sentencing. "Many cases are reported in which death sentences were passed on the basis of contentious evidence, including confessions extracted under torture." "The constant refrain of the anarchist song is that the system of government and law in modern States is often the cause of, rather than the remedy for, disorder. Most laws in Western democracies protect private property and economic inequality rather than civil rights. An authoritarian society with a repressive morality encourages the psychological disorders which lead to rape, murder and assault. And punishment by its very nature tends to alienate and embitter rather than reform or deter."[12] Over one hundred years ago, the Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin suggested that crime can be divided into three categories :- property related crime, government related crime and crimes against the person. In putting forward this analysis he was arguing that if you remove property and government - in other words if you base society on freedom, socialism and democracy - you remove two of the biggest causes of crime. It could also be argued that a large number of crimes against the person (people injured in muggings, for example) have their root in crimes against property. 'law enforcement' by themselves. Perhaps, for example, people will be elected as investigators when specific anti-social behaviour needs to be investigated. In some cases it will be necessary to have people with particular expertise such as in forensics. But these people will be given no particular positions of power as a result of this expertise - their function will remain purely administrative. The idea of 'prosecuting' an offender will be done away with. Instead - where necessary - evidence will be presented before a democratically elected community forum, weighed up in an open manner with the 'accused' given every opportunity to question it (either personally or through a representative of his/her own choosing - there won't be any fancy lawyers or judges in silly wigs). In addition, the idea of revenge or punishment will have no place in the justice system but it will be more about restitution and compensation for the victim. The aim will be to ensure that the perpetrator of the 'crime' makes some form of recompense to the victim, and that the behaviour is not repeated. As has been said, we do not have a crystal ball and therefore cannot predict with any certainty exactly what will happen in an anarchist society. We do not claim to have all the answers but hope that this article and others will lead to a discussion among anarchists about how a future society should deal with anti-social elements. It is a complex area and the only thing which can be said with certainty is that the only solution can be through freedom and democracy. 1 Peter Kropotkin, 'Law and Authority', Quoted in 'Demanding The Impossible - A History of Anarchism' by Peter Marshall, Page 31 2 Ireland is of course by no means unique in this context 3 Text available on the web at http://lark.phoblacht.net/bmitchell.html
