06/07/2001
China:
'Striking harder' than ever before
"At
least 2,960 people have been sentenced to death and 1,781 executed in the
last three months of China's "Strike Hard" campaign against
crime," Amnesty International said today. "More people were
executed in China in the last three months than in the rest of the world
for the last three years."
"Like
the other 'Strike Hard' campaigns before it, this crackdown is unlikely to
have a lasting impact on China's growing crime problem. The campaign is
nothing short of an execution frenzy -- a huge waste of human life,"
the organization said.
Not
for many years have mass rallies and sentencing been seen on this scale.
Executions have been recorded all over the country for crimes as diverse
as bribery, pimping, embezzlement, tax fraud, robbing of petrol and
selling harmful foodstuffs, as well as violent crimes. Hundreds have also
been executed for drug offences under the slogan "treasure life,
reject drugs".
Most
executions take place after sentencing rallies in front of massive crowds
in sports stadiums and public squares. Prisoners are also paraded through
the streets past thousands of people on the way to execution by firing
squad in nearby fields or courtyards. One such rally in Yunnan province
was reportedly broadcast live on state television. Rallies in Shaanxi in
April and May were reportedly attended by 1,800,000 spectators. Tens of
thousands of arrested suspects and thousands assigned to "re-education
through labour" without charge or trial have also been paraded at
these rallies.
"Strike
Hard" was initially targeted at organized violent crime, but national
and provincial authorities have greatly expanded its scope for the next
two years. Authorities in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) aim to
"deal a decisive blow to separatist forces, eliminating separatism
and illegal religious activities". Many Uighur political prisoners
have been executed, accused of "separatism" and a range of
alleged violent crimes. In Tibet, one target is those who "guide
people illegally across borders".
Guandong
and other provinces execute those said to be guilty of economic crimes
including tax and financial fraud, currency forgery and "disrupting
the stock market". Authorities state that is in order to "tackle
the serious economic crime situation before entry to WTO and the challenge
of globalization". Several people have been sentenced to death or
executed for tax or insurance fraud.
Police
and prosecutors have been urged to cut corners, and not to "get
entangled in the detail", so as to achieve "quick approval,
quick arrest, quick trial and quick results". In Hunan province
during a "Spring Thunder" operation from 23-25 April, police
boasted of "solving 3,000 cases" in two days. In Sichuan
province, police reported they had "cracked" 6,704, cases
including 691 murders, robberies or bombings in six days from 19 -24 April,
apprehending 19,446 people.
At
meetings to prepare for "Strike Hard", lawyers were reportedly
called on to coordinate with the police and prosecution, and not to hold
up the judicial process. Courts have also boasted of their speed and
"special procedures" during "Strike Hard".
Courts
in Shandong province reportedly held an average of 65 criminal trials
every day from 10 April to 25 May. Courts in Suqian City, Jiangsu
Province, reported new procedures under which they completed full judicial
proceedings in an average of 20 days, an example widely promoted in the
official media. In such circumstances, periodic official reminders that
death penalty cases should be "iron clad" are empty rhetoric.
"Curtailed
procedures plus great pressure on police and judicial authorities mean
that the potential for miscarriages of justice, arbitrary sentencing and
the execution of innocent people is immense," Amnesty International
said.
Amnesty
International is appealing to the Chinese government to end its spiraling
use of the death penalty and to replace this callous and counterproductive
policy with more effective and humane criminal punishments, in line with
global trends
China ha ejecutado
a m�s personas en tres meses que el resto del mundo en tres a�os, seg�n
Amnist�a
LONDRES,
7 China ha ejecutado a m�s presos en los �ltimos tres
meses que el resto del mundo en tres a�os, seg�n denuncia en su �ltimo
informe la organizaci�n de defensa de los Derechos Humanos Amnist�a
Internacional (AI), precisando que desde el lanzamiento de la campa�a 'Golpear
Fuerte' han sido condenadas a la pena capital casi 3.000 personas y 1.800
han sido ejecutadas.
Seg�n Amnist�a, en los
�ltimos tres meses el n�mero de condenados a muerte se eleva a 2.960 y
el de ejecutados a 1.781. "Hace a�os que las detenciones masivas y
las condenas no alcanzaban este nivel", a�ade la organizaci�n,
precisando que la pena capital castiga delitos como la corrupci�n, el
robo, el desv�o de fondos, el fraude fiscal, el narcotr�fico, el robo de
petr�leo e incluso la venta de alimentos en mal estado.
"Se ha convertido en
un frenes� de ejecuciones", que en su mayor parte de producen tras
juicios conjuntos celebrados ante miles de espectadores en estadios y
plazas p�blicas. Los presos despu�s son 'paseados' por las calles en su
camino al pared�n en el que van a ser fusilados.
En la provincia de Yunnan
(suroeste), uno de estos eventos fue trasmitido en directo por televisi�n
y se cree que en Shaanxi (centro) casi dos millones de personas acudieron
a los juicios y ejecuciones entre abril y mayo.
'Golpear fuerte' fue lanzada el pasado marzo para frenar los crecientes
�ndices de delincuencia organizada en el pa�s, aunque poco a poco, como
hab�a ocurrido otros a�os, se ha extendido a otros "objetivos":
el separatismo uigur en Xinjiang (oeste), las organizaciones que ayudan a
los tibetanos a partir al exilio, o los cr�menes de tipo econ�mico en la
pujante Guangdong (junto a Hong Kong, en el sur).
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