Central Decision Concerning the Policy of Largely Applying the Sentence of Death with a Two-Year Reprieve to Counter-Revolutionaries Guilty of Capital Crimes

(May 8, 1951)

To all Central Bureaus, for transmission to sub-bureaus, provincial, municipal, and district Party committees; to all Greater Military Regions, for transmission to all provincial military regions, all army corps, and the Chinese People's Volunteers Command; and to all departments directly under the Central Committee and the Military Commission, all special service arms commands, and all Party leading groups in the Central Government:

The Central Committee has decided that, among the counter-revolutionary elements uncovered within the Communist Party, the People's Liberation Army, the people's government system, educational circles, industrial and commercial circles, religious circles, and all democratic parties and people's organizations, except for those whose crimes do not warrant the death penalty and who should be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment, life imprisonment, or placed under control and surveillance, with regard to those elements who should be executed, only those who have incurred blood debts, those who have committed other major crimes arousing popular indignation—such as raping many women or plundering large amounts of property—and those who have most seriously harmed the interests of the state shall be executed; for the remainder, the policy of sentencing them to death with a two-year reprieve, imposing forced labor during the reprieve period, and observing their subsequent conduct to determine the final sentence shall be uniformly applied.

This policy is a prudent policy and can prevent mistakes. This policy can win the sympathy of broad sections of public figures. This policy can split the counter-revolutionary forces and facilitate the thorough elimination of counter-revolutionaries. This policy also preserves a large amount of labor power, which benefits the cause of national construction. Therefore, this is a correct policy.

It is estimated that, among the counter-revolutionary elements uncovered in the aforementioned Party, government, military, educational, economic, and organizational circles who should be executed, those with blood debts, other crimes arousing popular indignation, or acts most seriously harming state interests constitute only a very small minority, approximately no more than one or two tenths, while those sentenced to death with a reprieve may constitute eight or nine tenths. That is to say, eight or nine tenths of those guilty of capital crimes can be spared execution. They differ from the bandit chieftains, habitual bandits, and local tyrants in the countryside, and also differ from the local tyrants, bandit chieftains, habitual bandits, major gangster heads, and leaders of superstitious sects in the cities, and also differ from certain special agents who have most seriously harmed state interests—that is, they have not incurred blood debts or committed other major crimes that arouse the people's bitter hatred. The degree to which they have harmed state interests is serious, but it is not the most serious. They have committed capital crimes, but the masses have not been directly victimized. If we execute these people, it will not be easy for the masses to understand, public figures will not be very sympathetic, a large amount of labor power will be lost, the enemy cannot be split, and we may make mistakes on this issue. Therefore, the Central Committee has decided to adopt the policy of sentencing such people to death with a reprieve, imposing forced labor, and observing subsequent conduct to determine the final sentence. If some among these people cannot be reformed and continue to do evil, they can still be executed in the future; the initiative remains in our hands.

Attached is a report from the Security Department of the Northeast Military Region concerning the first batch of 204 counter-revolutionary elements arrested within the military region system, issued for your reading. The Northeast Military Region is requested to handle the matter immediately according to the above principles. Counter-revolutionary elements uncovered in Party, government, military, educational, economic, and organizational circles in all localities shall all be handled according to the above principles. For the very small minority (approximately one or two tenths of those guilty of capital crimes) whose death sentences are to be carried out, to ensure prudence, all cases must be reported to the Greater Administrative Region or Greater Military Region for approval. Important figures related to the united front must be reported to the Central Committee for approval. Furthermore, with regard to counter-revolutionaries in the rural areas, only those who must be killed to assuage the people's indignation shall be killed; those whom the people do not want killed shall under no circumstances be killed. Among them, some should also be subject to the policy of sentencing to death with a reprieve. Those whom the people demand be killed must be killed, in order to assuage popular indignation and benefit production.

Central Committee
May 8

Printed based on Mao Zedong's manuscript. Excerpted and compiled in Volume V of the *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*.