Chinese 'are executing thousands of people each year'

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
Updated:

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China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, say human rights leaders.

The number of death sentences carried out in 2009 is thought to be in the thousands.

The precise figure is unknown and Amnesty International called on the state to be more open about its punishment system.

convicted police killer Yang Jia on trial at his first appeal hearing in the Shanghai Peopleís High court.

Yang Jia was executed on November 26, 2008 for murdering six policemen in what he said was revenge for wrongful arrest

Iran had the second highest number of executions at 388, a third of which took place in eight weeks of turmoil following its disputed presidential election in June.

Iraq carried out 120 executions, putting it in third place.

More than 2,000 people were sentenced to death in 56 countries last year, with 714 carried out. 

Methods included hanging, shooting, beheading, stoning, electrocution and lethal injection.

Iran and Saudi Arabia were singled out for executing juveniles, which Amnesty says violates international law. The U.S. carried out 52, about half the number recorded a decade earlier.

There were no executions in Europe last year, a first since Amnesty began keeping records.

Amnesty interim secretary general Claudio Cordone said in a statement: 'The past year saw capital punishment applied extensively to send political messages, to silence opponents or to promote political agendas.

'Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place. If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?'

China is already under the spotlight due to a row over censorship with internet search giant Google Inc.

Amnesty said its figures were conservative and did not include a death count from China, which the rights group believes is in the thousands.

As in previous years, the majority of the world's executions took place in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, but Amnesty said more countries were moving towards abolishing the death penalty, and others were limiting use of the practice.

Amnesty calls for an end to capital punishment. It believes death sentences are often passed after unfair trials and are used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities.

The group said two more countries had abolished capital punishment in 2009, Burundi and Togo, bringing the total to 95.

'Fewer countries than ever before are carrying out executions. As it did with slavery and apartheid, the world is rejecting this embarrassment to humanity,' Cordone said.

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