France's justice minister Pascal Clement

FRANCE, CHINA SIGN EXTRADITION TREATY

March 20, 2007: France's justice minister said an extradition treaty signed with China would not be applied to people accused of political or military crimes.
For other crimes that risk the death penalty in China, France will only agree to extradition after the Chinese government has given "sufficient" guarantees that the suspects will not be executed, Justice Minister Pascal Clement said.
China is the world's leading user of the death penalty; France favors its total abolition.
In applying the treaty, China also agreed that arrest warrants must be approved both by its judicial authorities as well as by police, which "amounts to progress with regard to human rights," Clement said.
Amnesty International had asked France not to sign the treaty because of continued human rights violations in China. It cited China's extensive use of the death penalty, arbitrary detentions and torture.
Clement said extradition requests for political or military crimes could be rejected under the treaty. He did not define the scope of such crimes. (Sources: Ap, 20/03/2007)