China secretly executes thousands of people a year, new report reveals
China carries out thousands of secret executions but refuses to account for them, according to a report published this week by Amnesty International.
Amnesty International estimates that China executed several thousand people last year - more than all other countries combined - but its government refuses to confirm the exact number.
The Chinese government continues to impose death sentences for crimes not justified under Chinese law, such as drug trafficking or financial crimes, and after unfair trials, the report says.
Mabel Au, director of Amnesty International's Hong Kong branch, told Radio Free Asia that China stopped publishing execution figures in 2008 or 2009 and that the organization had compiled its data by analyzing reports from official media and adding up the figures.
He added that China also harvests organs for transplantation from executed prisoners, but is working to end the practice. China holds the world record for the number of crimes punishable by death: 55. Lawyer Sui Muqing told RFA that the government could begin to gradually abolish the death penalty by reducing the number of crimes punishable by death.
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