Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has instructed the Public Security Ministry to examine other execution methods, including poison or a mechanized gun to eliminate human error, the Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper reported.

"Execution should be changed to automatic shooting, which has high accuracy," Bui Duc Long, head of the judiciary's execution inspection department, told the paper.

Long said the ministry favored the use of the mechanized gun because 30 percent of policemen selected to take part in firing squads missed the target because of nerves.

"The executioner will have to just push a button," he said. "If we use poison it takes time for it to work and it causes suffering to the condemned prisoner."

At least 94 people have been sentenced to death this year and 62 have been executed by firing squad, according to figures compiled from state media and court officials.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 30, 2004
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