One World

CHINA: Amnesty Condemns China Over Suspected New Year Executions

Amnesty International has condemned authorities in China for failing to openly declare the suspected execution of dozens of people over the last 10 days.

 No official information has been made available to human rights advocates at the London-based campaigns group despite media reports of more than 40 people put to death in China over the last week.

 "It's typical that no official information is available," Graham Weston, an Amnesty spokesperson said today. "There aren't even court records that can be consulted. This lack of openness makes the executions even more worrying."

 Those executed over the last week were given the death penalty for crimes ranging from violent robbery to activities connected with banned religious groups, according to agency reports and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

 Weston noted that China tended to carry out executions "in flurries" often linked to specific dates--such as New Year or Anti-Drugs Day in June--which, he said, increases the likelihood of miscarriages of justice as executions are hurried through to meet deadlines.

 A bullet in the back of the head has for years been the favored method of execution, but lethal injections are becoming more common, said Weston.

 China imposes the death penalty for a number of non-violent crimes, including theft, organizing prostitution, and fraud. It leads the world in judicial executions which, between April and June last year, resulted in at least 1,700 deaths, according to Amnesty.

In spite of a global trend towards abolishing the death penalty, Amnesty estimates that during the same period last year another 3,000 people were sentenced to death in China.

Analysts say there is also evidence that Beijing has taken advantage of the United States-led "war on terrorism" to clamp down on and execute Muslim separatists.

More executions are expected ahead of the Lunar New Year which China celebrates in February.