China secretly executes thousands of people a year, new report reveals

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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