China defends keeping execution statistics secret
Beijing (AsiaNews/agencies) - China defended on Thursday its practice of not releasing statistics on the number of people it executed each year, while insisting that it has become more open and transparent over the years.
Asked why China released information on the killing of poultry amid the bird flu crisis but not on humans put to death, foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said it was inappropriate to link the two issues.
"I think when a country has or maintains the death penalty, that's based on the country's situation," Ms Zhang told a regular briefing.
"As to whether to maintain such a system, one has to see whether it's in accordance with a country's situation and beneficial to a country's overall development, whether it's economic development or social stability."
She declined to explain why China did not release statistics on the total number of people executed each year, even though it sometimes releases reports about certain individuals executed - including corrupt officials or drug traffickers.
"The question you raised is not up to me to answer," Ms Zhang said. "But I think with China's improvement and reform and opening, China has made great improvements in information transparency."
China is the world's leading country employing capital punishment, but the number of death sentences and executions are closely guarded state secrets.
London-based rights group Amnesty International counted 1,060 publicly reported executions in China last year, but stated that the actual number was far higher.
Hands Off Cain, an international group opposed to the death penalty, estimated that more than 3,000 people were executed in China in 2002.
China on Thursday announced it had culled 1.2 million poultry as it battles against a bird flu epidemic.
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17/08/2004
