As Amnesty International names China among the countries that most frequently carry out executions, The Economist reports that opinion in China may be swinging against the death penalty:
Even China, the world’s top executioner”which reports carrying out 1,010 death sentences last year, though the real number may be nearer 8,000″might be having second thoughts. Since January 1st all death sentences have had first to be approved by the Supreme People’s Court”a practice that had been suspended after the launch of China’s “strike hard” crackdown on crime in 2003, when publicly admitted executions soared to more than 7,000. In their annual report to parliament last month, representatives of China’s chief legal bodies, including the Supreme People’s Court, the public prosecutor’s office and the ministries for justice and the police, urged a reduction in use of the death penalty (as well as torture). [Full text]
