CHINA EXECUTED MORE PEOPLE IN 2016 THAN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES PUT TOGETHER -- AMNESTY.

 CHINA EXECUTED MORE PEOPLE IN 2016 THAN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES PUT TOGETHER -- AMNESTY.

It found news reports of at least 931 people executed between 2014 and 2016, but only 85 of these cases were included in the database, it said.

China executed more people in 2016 than all other countries put together – Amnesty

China executed more people in 2016 than all other countries in the world put together, human rights NGO Amnesty International said a global review of the death penalty released in Hong Kong on Monday.

The precise number of executions is considered a state secret, shrouded by a complex set of laws.

 Amnesty itself stopped publishing exact figures – which it believed to be low estimates – after it became concerned that the data was being used by the Chinese authorities to demonstrate that its efforts to reduce executions were successful.

Whilst China has been taking steps towards reforming its death penalty policies, it is hard to assess the progress without more transparency, William Nee, the lead author of the report told HKFP.

Nee said that one positive trend is that the Chinese government says it did not hand down any death sentences with immediate execution to corrupt officials last year, except for one who committed murder.

Amnesty researchers uncovered hundreds of cases missing from the new Supreme People’s Court online database that the government had hailed as a “crucial step towards openness” for its judicial system. 

It found news reports of at least 931 people executed between 2014 and 2016, but only 85 of these cases were included in the database, it said.

“It’s a positive first step, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough,” Nee said. “the database as it is right now is not complete.

 And that’s one of goals, its self-described goals, to operate on the principle of openness, to be complete. And it’s not at this point.”

The database, which states the values of openness and transparency on its website banner, was launched in 2013.

 It does not publish details of cases involving state secrets, divorces, and crimes by minors.

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