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China Gets 'Gold Medal' for Executions

Posted Apr 15, 08 8:26 AM CDT in Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions," Amnesty's British director told the BBC.

Some 88% of executions worldwide took place in only five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the US. In China, capital crimes include not paying one's taxes, accepting bribes, or selling dangerous counterfeit goods. While a few provinces have introduced lethal injection, the majority of Chinese executions are performed by a firing squad.

Source BBC

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Chinese police officers check the bodies of convicted drug traffickers and dealers after their execution by gunshot, in Yunnan province, in this Nov. 15, 1994 file photo.   (AP Photo/File)
Chinese police officers patrol outside the Great Hall of the People, March 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A Chinese woman wails after being roughly treated by police officers who stopped her and searched her belongings on Tiananmen Square.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
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China  • death penalty  • capital punishment  • lethal injection  • execution  • Amnesty International


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