Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Reuters

CHINA KILLS 1,781 IN 'EXECUTION FRENZY' - AMNESTY

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has executed at least 1,781 people since it 
launched a nationwide campaign against crime in April, the human rights 
group Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday.

Those executed were among at least 2,960 people condemned in the "Strike 
Hard" campaign, which started as a drive against organized crime but has 
expanded to target crimes ranging from embezzlement to pimping and ethnic 
separatist activity, it said.

"The campaign is nothing short of an execution frenzy -- a huge waste of 
human life," the London-based group said.

Many of the condemned prisoners were brought to public sentencing rallies 
in front of huge crowds or paraded through the streets on the way to the 
firing squad, it said.

The tally, based on state media reports, "is only the barest minimum figure 
because we know that cases are only selectively reported and what national 
statistics there are a still a state secret," said Catherine Baber of 
Amnesty's Hong Kong office.

Information on executions tends to be especially hard to obtain in regions 
such as Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Xinjiang, minority areas where Chinese 
policies come under intense international scrutiny, rights activists say.

Amnesty, a leading opponent of capital punishment, said police and 
prosecutors were given orders to achieve "quick approval, quick arrest, 
quick trial and quick results" and lawyers were told to work with the 
police and prosecution.

"Curtailed procedures plus great pressure on police and judicial 
authorities mean that the potential for miscarriages of justice, arbitrary 
sentencing and the execution of innocent people is immense," it said.

WORLD'S LEADING EXECUTIONER

Provincial official media have reported almost daily batches of executions 
since the drive began with a campaign against organized crime late last 
year and accelerated in April, claiming convicted killers, robbers and 
corrupt officials.

There was a huge spike of executions of drug traffickers for International 
Anti-Drugs Day on June 26, accounting for most of the death sentences and 
executions in June, Baber said.

The "Strike Hard" campaign, which began in April and will run for two 
years, has seen the death penalty used to punish ethnic separatism and 
"illegal religious activities" in the predominantly Muslim region of 
Xinjiang, Amnesty said.

It said China was by far the planet's busiest executioner in 1999 with an 
official tally of 1,263 people put to death -- more than the rest of the 
world combined. But the group said that was only a fraction of the actual 
total.

Diplomats said the torrid pace of executions put the 2001 tally on track to 
match the 4,367 people executed under the previous nationwide Strike Hard 
campaign, in 1996.

China insists it is not ready to do away with capital punishment and 
rejects outside pressure to stop executing criminals.

Calls within China for the abolition of capital punishment are rare among a 
public concerned about increasing crime spawned by widening income 
disparities with two decades of market economic reforms putting millions 
out of work.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens