湖南12歲少年弒母獲釋引發(fā)爭議

It began with a quarrel over cigarettes.

事件開始于抽煙引發(fā)的爭吵。

Weighed down by loans and the burden of single parenting, a 34-year-old woman often took home leftover food and unopened packs of cigarettes from the banquets she occasionally attended in a nearby village in central China.

由于債務(wù)的重壓和單身母親的負(fù)擔(dān)，一位34歲的女人常常把她偶爾到鄰村參加宴席的剩菜和一盒盒沒拆封的煙帶回家。

But one night earlier this month, she discovered that her 12-year-old son had stolen and smoked four packs, and she exploded with rage and beat him, according to local media reports.

但本月早些時(shí)候的一個(gè)晚上，據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w報(bào)道，她發(fā)現(xiàn)四包煙被12歲的兒子偷走并抽了，她勃然大怒，打了他。

The next morning, the woman identified only by her surname, Chen (her full name was not released by the authorities) was found dead in her bedroom, stabbed to death by her son, the police said. When the boy, who has been identified only by his surname, was asked by relatives if he regretted his actions, he said that he did, but that he didn’t think it was a big deal.

次日早晨，這名只公布了姓“陳”(當(dāng)局未公布她的全名)的女人被發(fā)現(xiàn)死在她的臥室里，警方說，她是被兒子刺死的。當(dāng)這名男孩——只公布了他的姓——被親戚問起他是否對自己的行為感到后悔，他說他是后悔，但覺得沒什么大不了。

“I didn’t kill anyone else. I killed my mom,” he was quoted as saying.

“我又沒殺別人，我殺的是我媽。”報(bào)道中引述他的原話說。

Back in School 返校

In the eyes of many Chinese, the boy was a heartless criminal who deserved to be punished. But in China, where the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 14, he could not be held legally responsible. The boy was released by the authorities in the town of Yuanjiang, in Hunan Province, with no conditions.

在很多中國人眼里，這個(gè)男孩是應(yīng)該受到懲罰的殘忍罪犯。但在中國，最低刑事責(zé)任年齡為14歲，他無法被追究刑事責(zé)任。男孩被湖南沅江市當(dāng)局無條件釋放。

Five days after he stabbed his mother more than 20 times, the sixth grader was back in school. Parents were irate.

在捅了自己的母親20多刀五天之后，這名六年級學(xué)生回到了學(xué)校。家長們憤怒不已。

The grisly story, which has spread quickly across Chinese social media, has prompted a public debate in China about whether the country’s juvenile justice system, which has been praised in recent years for its focus on rehabilitation over punishment, is in fact too lenient.

這個(gè)可怕的故事在中國的社交媒體上迅速傳開，引發(fā)了中國的公眾對于該國未成年人司法體系的熱議。近年來，這個(gè)因重改造輕懲罰受到稱贊的體系事實(shí)上太過仁慈了。

It has also reignited debate about a question that countries around the world have long grappled with: At what age should a child be held responsible for his or her crimes?

此事還再度引發(fā)了一個(gè)困擾了世界各國多年的爭論：在什么年齡可以追究兒童的刑事責(zé)任?

At the heart of the question is the issue of when a child can be deemed to have intent to commit a crime. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends the age of 12 as an “absolute minimum” of criminal responsibility.

問題的核心在于，什么時(shí)候兒童才能被視為有實(shí)施犯罪的意圖。聯(lián)合國兒童權(quán)利委員會(huì)(United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child)建議12歲為刑事責(zé)任的“絕對最低”年齡。

United Nations officials have cited research about child cognitive development and the dangers of exposing children to violence in prisons. But there is no global consensus. In the United States, the minimum age of criminal responsibility for federal crimes is 11. But in 33 states, children of any age can theoretically be convicted and sentenced at the state level. In India, the minimum age is 7, compared with 16 in Timor-Leste.

聯(lián)合國的官員引用了關(guān)于兒童認(rèn)知發(fā)展以及將兒童暴露于監(jiān)獄暴力之下的危害的研究。但全球尚未達(dá)成共識。在美國，聯(lián)邦犯罪的刑事責(zé)任最低年齡為11歲。但有33個(gè)州理論上任何年齡的兒童都可以在州一級被定罪并被判刑。在印度，最低年齡為7歲，而東帝汶則是16歲。

Some countries are considering changing the minimum age of culpability. In Australia, officials are looking into a proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 16 from 10. In the Philippines, by contrast, President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to lower the minimum age from 15 as part of his brutal war on drugs.

一些國家正在考慮變更最低刑事責(zé)任年齡。在澳大利亞，官員們正在研究一項(xiàng)將刑事責(zé)任年齡從10歲提高至16歲的提案。與此相反，在菲律賓，總統(tǒng)羅德里戈·杜特地(Rodrigo Duterte)已發(fā)誓要將最低年齡從15歲降低，以此作為他殘酷禁毒戰(zhàn)爭的一部分。

'He Looked at Me and Smiled'

“他就看著我笑了”

In China, the boy in Yuanjiang may have been underage. But to many who followed the case, there was no question that the boy had intended to commit a crime.

在中國，這個(gè)沅江男孩也許是未成年，但對許多關(guān)注此案的人來說，他毫無疑問是在蓄意犯罪。

Many pointed to reports about his behavior before and after the killing. When neighbors heard screams coming from the family’s apartment on the night of the stabbing, the boy told them through the door that everything was fine and that his mother was just upset because his 2-year-old brother had soiled the bed, according to Chinese news reports.

許多人提到了他在殺人前后的行為。據(jù)中國新聞報(bào)道，殺人當(dāng)晚，鄰居們聽到他的家中傳來尖叫聲，男孩隔著門告訴他們，一切都很好，母親只是因?yàn)樗麅蓺q的弟弟弄臟了床而心煩。

The morning after the killing, the boy sent his teacher a message from his mother’s phone to say that he had a cold and that he would not be at school, news reports said. When his grandfather stopped by to check in later that morning, the boy told him that his mother had gone out.

據(jù)新聞報(bào)道，在殺人案發(fā)生后的第二天早上，男孩用母親的電話給老師發(fā)了一條短信，說他患了感冒，不去上學(xué)了。那天上午晚些時(shí)候，姥爺順道來看望他，男孩告訴他母親出門了。

The boy’s great-aunt told The Beijing News: “I asked him if he missed his mother. He shook his head and said no. I asked if he was afraid. He looked at me and smiled. I asked if he hated his mother. He nodded.”

死者的妯娌告訴《新京報(bào)》：“我問他想不想母親。他搖頭說不想。問他怕不怕。他就看著我笑了。恨不恨母親，他點(diǎn)頭了。”

His behavior led many people to say he should be held responsible for the crime.

他的行為使許多人認(rèn)為他應(yīng)該為這一罪行負(fù)責(zé)。

“You can’t use age as a standard for everything,” one user wrote on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. “Since we recognize that some children are talented and even exceed the I.Q. level of adults, we should also accept that some children have surpassed adults and are precocious.”

“不能用年齡作為一切事情對錯(cuò)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)線，”一名用戶在微博——中國版的Twitter——上寫道。“既然我們認(rèn)可有的孩子天資過人，甚至超過成年人的智商水平，那我們應(yīng)該接受有的孩子心理早熟，也超過了成年人。”

But Zhang Hongwei, a professor at the Juvenile and Family Law Center at Jinan University, cautioned against moving too quickly to lower the minimum age of culpability, arguing that the problems of juvenile justice required a more “systematic” approach in China, which has a unified criminal justice system for both adults and juveniles.

但暨南大學(xué)少年及家事法研究中心教授張鴻巍警告說，不要過快降低應(yīng)負(fù)罪責(zé)的最低年齡，他認(rèn)為，在中國，青少年司法問題需要更多的“系統(tǒng)化”方法——在這里成人和青少年刑事司法系統(tǒng)是合一的。

He pointed to recent efforts to set up an independent juvenile system, similar to that in the United States. He also called for an overhaul of China’s work-study centers, which act as rehabilitation centers for juveniles who commit minor offenses.

他提到最近為建立獨(dú)立的、類似于美國的青少年司法體系所做的努力。他還呼吁對中國的少管所進(jìn)行全面改革，這是為犯有輕微罪行的青少年設(shè)立的教育中心。

“Even if we lower the minimum age, it can’t change everything fundamentally,” said Mr. Zhang.

“即使降低最低年齡，也不能從根本上改變一切，”他說。

Plight of Migrant Workers

民工的困境

The Yuanjiang killing highlighted a related issue that has long been a concern in China: the difficulties facing the more than 286 million migrant workers who leave home every year in search of work in the bigger cities.

中國每年有2.86億多民工離開家鄉(xiāng)到大城市找工作，沅江事件突顯了他們面臨的困難，這在中國是一個(gè)長期問題。

According to local news reports, the boy was, like the children of many migrant workers, “left behind” in his hometown at a young age and raised mostly by his grandparents. He had moved in with his mother for the first time earlier this year, relatives told reporters.

據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)匦侣剤?bào)道，這名男孩和許多民工的孩子一樣，在很小的時(shí)候就“留守”家鄉(xiāng)，主要由祖父母撫養(yǎng)。親戚們告訴記者，今年早些時(shí)候，他第一次搬到母親家。

It is an experience that scholars say can be deeply destabilizing for young children. Researchers say a high proportion of juvenile crimes in cities are committed by children of migrant workers, who often face widespread discrimination in terms of access to schools, health care and employment, and are pushed into petty crime.

學(xué)者們表示，這種經(jīng)歷可能會(huì)給幼兒帶來嚴(yán)重的不安定感。研究人員表示，在城市中，青少年犯罪中有很大比例是由民工子女犯下的，他們往往在入學(xué)、醫(yī)療和就業(yè)方面受到普遍歧視，被迫輕微犯罪。

“It has become one of the most serious social problems right now,” Mr. Zhang said. “The family support social mechanism for children of migrant workers is very underdeveloped.”

“這已經(jīng)成為目前最嚴(yán)重的社會(huì)問題之一，”張鴻巍說。“農(nóng)民工子女的家庭支持社會(huì)機(jī)制非常不完善。”

The day after the boy’s release, his father, a migrant worker in Guangdong Province who goes back home twice a year, tried to send the boy back to school. But parents protested, citing concerns about their children’s safety.

男孩獲釋后的第二天，他的父親，一位在廣東工作、每年回家兩次的民工，試圖把男孩送回學(xué)校。但家長們表示抗議，理由是擔(dān)心自己孩子的安全。

Shunned by locals, the boy and his family fled to a $11.50-per-night hotel in a nearby town. On Thursday, the boy’s grandfather told reporters that local officials had agreed to pay for the boy to be sent to an asylum in the provincial capital of Changsha.

當(dāng)?shù)鼐用駥δ泻⒁患冶芏h(yuǎn)之，他們逃到附近城鎮(zhèn)，住進(jìn)一家每晚80元的旅館。周四，男孩的祖父告訴記者，當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T已經(jīng)同意支付將男孩送往省會(huì)長沙一家收容所的費(fèi)用。

The family could not be reached for more details. The boy’s father has already gone back to Guangdong.

記者無法聯(lián)系到其家人以獲得更多信息。男孩的父親已經(jīng)回了廣東。