Capital executions in China hit record highs

the “strike hard” campaign against organised crime launched by President Jiang Zemin in early April has totalled over 350 public executions to date. AFP counted 250 executions since April 11, when the campaign seemingly began in earnest. A further 100 executions which had taken place the previous week were reported on Monday April 23, taking the toll to 350 executions in less than one month.
The “record” one-day tally of 89 executions on April 11 was surpassed on April 19, with 206 executions reported nationwide. The southwestern municipality of Chongqing alone carried out 55 of the day’s executions, with 30 of the death sentences coming from a single district , the Chongqing Daily reported. The convicts had been condemned for murder, armed robbery, theft, kidnapping and other violent crimes.The Zhongguo Xinwen agency reported more than 50 executions in the central Chinese province of Hubei.The Hebei Daily reported 20 executions in Xingtal on April 19, and a further 14 in Baoding on April 21. The eastern Jiangxi province carried out eight other executions, the Jiangxi Daily reported, and the Jilin Daily carried news of two more executions in China’s northeast on April 19. The actual number of executions may be much higher as various local newspapers simply refer to “groups” of convicts being executed, without reporting the specific numbers.Under the Strike Hard campaign, the death penalty is meted out for crimes which might have received a lesser penalty at other times, London-based Amnesty said in its annual survey issued in March.The state-run Xinhua news agency said the ongoing campaign is the fourth “strike hard” campaign in China since 1983 and is being carried out to combat rising crime. Xinhua reported a 50% increase in criminal cases since 1999, whilst gang-related crimes were up seven times and bomb explosions 2.6 times. Several thousands suspected criminals and gang members have been arrested all over the country.