China's human rights record deteriorated in 2002 as...

China's human rights record deteriorated in 2002 as government efforts to establish the "rule of law" were undermined by political campaigns and administrative fiats, Amnesty International said. "Tens of thousands of people continued to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or belief," the London-based rights group said in its report on 2002. "The combined effects of repressive and vaguely worded criminal legislation, the use of administrative detention, a weak judiciary and impunity for officials who abuse their power continue to result in widespread abuses of human rights," it said. A "strike hard" campaign against crime that was implemented in April 2001 was extended throughout 2002, which resulted in "the death penalty and harsh prison sentences, without due process, as well as the use of torture and ill-treatment to obtain confessions," Amnesty said. "The death penalty continued to be used extensively, arbitrarily and frequently as a result of political interference," it said. The group recorded 1,921 death sentences and 1,061 executions in China in 2002, "although the true figures were believed to be much higher."