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| A woman is shown being taken to her execution in Beijing, China, in 2001 |
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AMNESTY CALLS FOR ACTION AS CHINA EXECUTES 8,000 PEOPLE A YEAR
April 14, 2008: Amnesty International disclosed that China used capital punishment far more than any other country, executing an estimated 8,000 offenders every year.
That is equivalent to 22 prisoners being killed every day, or 374 executions during the 17 days of the Beijing Olympics in August. Amnesty called for the world community, including the International Olympics Committee (IOC), to use the games to press the Chinese government to reduce the use of capital punishment, and urged Beijing to end its secrecy over the issue.
Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said "even now, in Olympics year, China is secretly executing people after unfair trials and alleged torture."
She added "world leaders should encourage China to be more open about the use of capital punishment and reduce the list of nearly 70 crimes, including tax fraud, stealing VAT receipts, selling counterfeit medicine and embezzlement, which carry the death penalty." (Sources: The Independent, 15/04/2008)
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