The number of state-sanctioned executions around the...

The number of state-sanctioned executions around the world doubled in 2001, mainly because of a crackdown on crime in China, Amnesty International said.Releasing its annual report on the death penalty, the human rights group said at least 3048 people were executed in 2001, though the real figure was much higher.
Executions were carried out in 31 countries.
Between April and July 2001 alone, China executed at least 1781 people as part of its national "strike hard" campaign against crime. The total of Chinese executions for the year was 2468."Many of those condemned to death could have been tortured to extract confessions. Condemned prisoners were often shackled and humiliated by being paraded in public," Amnesty said.
The 39-page Amnesty report was released in Geneva, where the organisation is backing European Union plans to propose a resolution against the death penalty to the 53-nation United Nations Human Rights Commission.The meeting votes every year to call for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, but it has no power to force countries to comply.
Four countries China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States were responsible for 90 per cent of the death sentences carried out in 2001, Amnesty said.
It said it was particularly concerned about the increasing use of the death penalty for non-violent offences including homosexuality in Saudi Arabia, drug trafficking in south-east Asia, adultery in Nigeria and the Sudan, and corruption or theft in China.