Executions in China
Stop Executions!
"According to the Olympics Charter, one of the "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" is to "promote a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." The death penalty violates the right to life and the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The death penalty itself, as well as conditions of detention on death row in China, is an affront to human dignity.
China introduced an important reform to its death penalty system on January 1, 2007 by restoring Supreme People's Court review of all death sentences passed in China. Now the Chinese authorities need to build on this reform by introducing greater transparency: by ensuring that families and lawyers of those sentenced are given access to them and information about their cases, and by publishing statistics on the death penalty nationwide.
More information on Human Rights in China >>
Killed for Evading the Tax Man
Amnesty International also calls on the authorities to reduce the scope of the death penalty, pending full abolition. China maintains the death penalty for approximately 68 offences, including non-violent offences such as tax fraud, embezzling, accepting bribes and some drug-related crimes.
Killed After a Flawed Trial
No one who is sentenced to death in China receives a fair trial in accordance with international human rights standards. Failings include lack of prompt access to lawyers, lack of presumption of innocence, political interference in the judiciary and failure to exclude evidence extracted under torture. A number of cases reported in the Chinese and foreign press reveal that innocent people have been put to death in China due to such shortcomings in the system.
Sample Cases
- WU Zhenjiang, a 24-year old student was executed for murder in January 2005. His family was not allowed to meet with him after his first trial and were not given his body after the execution. They fear his organs may have been harvested illegally and has regularly petitioned the authorities for further information without success.
- In 1995, NIE Shubin was executed for rape and murder after reportedly being tortured in police custody. His family was denied access to him after his arrest. His father discovered Nie had been executed when he went to deliver some food to his son in prison. In 2005, another man confessed to the crime, describing the crime scene in detail.
Open letter to the National People's Congress on Death Penalty Reform
Prior to the opening of the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2008, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) published an open letter directed at the meeting. Amnesty International, a member of the WCADP and ADPAN, is one of the signatories of the letter. You can view the letter here.
Want more information? Download the China Death Penalty (PDF) issue brief.
Want to take action?
Download a Petition to Wen Jiabao (PDF), the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China.
