China was the world&#39;s top executioner last year, while the United States put to death fewer people than it has in more than two decades, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

More than 90 per cent of the world&#39;s executions took place in five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.&nbsp;

More than 3,000 people in 55 countries were condemned to death last year, marking a 56 per cent surge from 2015.

China is believed to have executed &quot;thousands&quot; of people, more than the combined figure of at least 1,023 executions in 23 other countries last year, the rights group said.

&quot;China now wants to assume a global leadership role. In respect to death penalty it is leading in the worst possible way,&quot; said Amnesty International&#39;s regional director for East Asia, Nicholas Bequelin.&nbsp;

&quot;Nobody executes at that scale. Nobody executes with such secrecy. Nobody executes so quickly.&quot;

China does not announce the number of people executed, guarding the data as a state secret.

The head of China&#39;s Supreme People&#39;s Court, Zhou Qiang, said in March China has made sure to impose capital punishment on &quot;an extremely small number of criminals who committed extremely serious crimes,&quot; according to the official Xinhua news agency.&nbsp;

But Bequelin called Zhou&#39;s statement &quot;misleading and disingenuous&quot;.&nbsp;

Amnesty&#39;s China-focused report, China&#39;s Deadly Secret, said for 2016, the group found 305 executions using a Chinese search engine, but only 26 of those cases made it to a national database.

&quot;Whatever is recorded officially is only the tip of a huge, shameful iceberg,&quot; Bequelin said.

&#39;Flawed and cruel&#39;

For the first time in a decade, the United States dropped out of the world&#39;s top five executioners, recording 20 death sentences carried out last year, the fewest since 1991, putting it in seventh place after Egypt.&nbsp;

Most US&nbsp;executions took place in the states of Georgia and Texas, while 19 states have abolished the death penalty. 
The number of death sentences in the United States, at 32, was also the lowest since 1973.

&quot;This shows that judges and juries are less inclined to resort to this flawed and cruel practice,&quot; said James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty International&#39;s Global Issues Programme.

Support for the death penalty in the United States fell to 49 per cent, the lowest in more than four decades, according to a 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center.

Although President Donald Trump has supported the death penalty, Lynch said the fight against capital punishment took place mostly at the state level, adding federal authorities had not carried out any executions since 2003.

&quot;Rhetoric and tone from important political figures, not the least the president, is important and is something we would be concerned about,&quot; Lynch said. &quot;But there is a long-term trend against the death penalty in the U.S.&quot;&nbsp;

(Reuters)

China topped 2016 global executions, US saw the lowest number in decades

China was the world's top executioner last year, while the United States put to death fewer people than it has in more than two decades, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday. More than 90 per cent of the world's executions took place in five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan. More than 3,000 people in 55 countries were condemned to death last year, marking a 56 per cent surge from 2015. China is believed to have executed "thousands" of people, more than the combined figure of at least 1,023 executions in 23 other countries last year, the rights group said. "China now wants to assume a global leadership role. In respect to death penalty it is leading in the worst possible way," said Amnesty International's regional director for East Asia, Nicholas Bequelin. "Nobody executes at that scale. Nobody executes with such secrecy. Nobody executes so quickly." China does not announce the number of people executed, guarding the data as a state secret. The head of China's Supreme People's Court, Zhou Qiang, said in March China has made sure to impose capital punishment on "an extremely small number of criminals who committed extremely serious crimes," according to the official Xinhua news agency. But Bequelin called Zhou's statement "misleading and disingenuous". Amnesty's China-focused report, China's Deadly Secret, said for 2016, the group found 305 executions using a Chinese search engine, but only 26 of those cases made it to a national database. "Whatever is recorded officially is only the tip of a huge, shameful iceberg," Bequelin said. 'Flawed and cruel' For the first time in a decade, the United States dropped out of the world's top five executioners, recording 20 death sentences carried out last year, the fewest since 1991, putting it in seventh place after Egypt. Most US executions took place in the states of Georgia and Texas, while 19 states have abolished the death penalty. The number of death sentences in the United States, at 32, was also the lowest since 1973. "This shows that judges and juries are less inclined to resort to this flawed and cruel practice," said James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty International's Global Issues Programme. Support for the death penalty in the United States fell to 49 per cent, the lowest in more than four decades, according to a 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center. Although President Donald Trump has supported the death penalty, Lynch said the fight against capital punishment took place mostly at the state level, adding federal authorities had not carried out any executions since 2003. "Rhetoric and tone from important political figures, not the least the president, is important and is something we would be concerned about," Lynch said. "But there is a long-term trend against the death penalty in the U.S." (Reuters)

China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan saw 90 per cent of world's executions in 2016

China executed more people last year than the rest of the world combined, Amnesty said Tuesday, defying a global decline with thousands of killings that have disproportionately targeted poor citizens.

Even as executions have dropped by more than a third globally, China&#39;s death penalty rate is &quot;shockingly high&quot; although the full extent of the secretive practice is unknown, Amnesty International said.

While President Xi Jinping&#39;s much-hyped corruption crackdown has seen many high-ranking figures sent to jail, their death sentences have often been commuted.

Meanwhile ordinary people caught in the crosshairs of the law have not been so lucky, it said.

Farmers were more frequently sentenced to death than any other group in China, Amnesty said in a report that sought to lift the veil on the workings of the system.

China&#39;s ruling Communist Party regards execution figures as a state secret, meaning that hundreds of death sentences are omitted from the public database of court verdicts.

&quot;China is really the only country that has such a complete regime of secrecy over executions,&quot; Amnesty&#39;s East Asia director Nicholas Bequelin said at a press conference in Hong Kong.&nbsp;

&quot;Probably the reason is the numbers are shockingly high&quot;, he added. &nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;Secrecy and speed&nbsp; 
 
Although local media reports estimated that at least 931 individuals were executed between 2014 and 2016, only 85 of them were found in the online database, Amnesty said. &nbsp;

Estimates from other rights groups also puts the number of annual executions in China in the thousands.

From arrest to execution, the process is characterised by secrecy and speed: a 2016 report from US-based Dui Hua 
Foundation said China&#39;s average death row prisoner waits only two months before being executed.&nbsp;

Dui Hua estimates that there were approximately 2,000 executions in China in 2016, down from 2,400 in 2013 and some 
4,000 in 2010 -- following legal reforms that improved oversight.&nbsp;

Concerns over wrongful convictions have grown in recent years, fuelled by police reliance on forced confessions and the 
lack of effective defence in criminal trials.

Chinese courts have a conviction rate of 99.92 per cent.&nbsp;

The nation&#39;s top judge, Zhou Qiang, apologised in 2015 for past miscarriages of justice, saying: &quot;We feel deep remorse for wrongful convictions&quot;.

Public anger has mounted over miscarriages of justice, including a high-profile case that saw a teenager in Inner Mongolia wrongfully convicted and executed for rape and murder in 1996.

Hugjiltu was put to death two months after the woman was killed and was finally exonerated nine years later when a serial killer confessed to the crime.

Despite Chief Justice Zhou&#39;s call to &quot;correct&quot; mistakes, experts say recent reforms have not been widely implemented.&nbsp;

&quot;Coerced confessions are supposed to be excluded from evidence. In practice, however, the police have unchallenged 
discretion to... extract confessions by detaining and torturing suspects for long periods,&quot; New York University professor 
Jerome Cohen told AFP.&nbsp;

Even cases which provoke widespread anger and online petitions calling for death sentences to be revoked are not exempt.

Farmer Jia Jinglong was sentenced to death for killing a village official with a nail gun after his home was demolished weeks before his wedding day in 2013.

Jia was beaten and denied compensation for his house, the state-run Global Times reported, and the case prompted fury in China, where land seizures and forced evictions of villagers by local officials have become a major source of social 
resentment.

But despite the public outcry and calls from legal experts to commute his sentence, he was executed last November.

Only a handful of countries still use the death penalty with regularity.

The United States executed 20 people last year, the lowest figure for the country since 1991.

All other countries together executed at least 1,032 people last year -- a decline of 37 percent compared to 2015. Of those, 87 per&nbsp;cent took place in just four countries &ndash; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

China has defied a global decline with thousands of killings that have disproportionately targeted poor citizens

China executed more people last year than the rest of the world combined, Amnesty said Tuesday, defying a global decline with thousands of killings that have disproportionately targeted poor citizens. Even as executions have dropped by more than a third globally, China's death penalty rate is "shockingly high" although the full extent of the secretive practice is unknown, Amnesty International said. While President Xi Jinping's much-hyped corruption crackdown has seen many high-ranking figures sent to jail, their death sentences have often been commuted. Meanwhile ordinary people caught in the crosshairs of the law have not been so lucky, it said. Farmers were more frequently sentenced to death than any other group in China, Amnesty said in a report that sought to lift the veil on the workings of the system. China's ruling Communist Party regards execution figures as a state secret, meaning that hundreds of death sentences are omitted from the public database of court verdicts. "China is really the only country that has such a complete regime of secrecy over executions," Amnesty's East Asia director Nicholas Bequelin said at a press conference in Hong Kong. "Probably the reason is the numbers are shockingly high", he added. Secrecy and speed Although local media reports estimated that at least 931 individuals were executed between 2014 and 2016, only 85 of them were found in the online database, Amnesty said. Estimates from other rights groups also puts the number of annual executions in China in the thousands. From arrest to execution, the process is characterised by secrecy and speed: a 2016 report from US-based Dui Hua Foundation said China's average death row prisoner waits only two months before being executed. Dui Hua estimates that there were approximately 2,000 executions in China in 2016, down from 2,400 in 2013 and some 4,000 in 2010 -- following legal reforms that improved oversight. Concerns over wrongful convictions have grown in recent years, fuelled by police reliance on forced confessions and the lack of effective defence in criminal trials. Chinese courts have a conviction rate of 99.92 per cent. The nation's top judge, Zhou Qiang, apologised in 2015 for past miscarriages of justice, saying: "We feel deep remorse for wrongful convictions". Public anger has mounted over miscarriages of justice, including a high-profile case that saw a teenager in Inner Mongolia wrongfully convicted and executed for rape and murder in 1996. Hugjiltu was put to death two months after the woman was killed and was finally exonerated nine years later when a serial killer confessed to the crime. Despite Chief Justice Zhou's call to "correct" mistakes, experts say recent reforms have not been widely implemented. "Coerced confessions are supposed to be excluded from evidence. In practice, however, the police have unchallenged discretion to... extract confessions by detaining and torturing suspects for long periods," New York University professor Jerome Cohen told AFP. Even cases which provoke widespread anger and online petitions calling for death sentences to be revoked are not exempt. Farmer Jia Jinglong was sentenced to death for killing a village official with a nail gun after his home was demolished weeks before his wedding day in 2013. Jia was beaten and denied compensation for his house, the state-run Global Times reported, and the case prompted fury in China, where land seizures and forced evictions of villagers by local officials have become a major source of social resentment. But despite the public outcry and calls from legal experts to commute his sentence, he was executed last November. Only a handful of countries still use the death penalty with regularity. The United States executed 20 people last year, the lowest figure for the country since 1991. All other countries together executed at least 1,032 people last year -- a decline of 37 percent compared to 2015. Of those, 87 per cent took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan. (AFP)

China executed more people in 2017 than rest of the world combined: Amnesty

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China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan saw 90 per cent of world's executions in 2016

China executed more people in 2017 than rest of the world combined: Amnesty