• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (signed only)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

a revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997. This law reduced the number of capital offences to sixty-nine. However, in March 1997 new amendments added to the number of crimes punishable by death. There are two types of death sentence in China: immediate execution and a death sentence with suspension that allows for the commutation of the sentence when the condemned prisoner does not deliberately commit further crimes during a 2-year suspension period. Offences that attract the death penalty include such non-violent crimes as tax evasion, drug-trafficking, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, gambling, bigamy, running a brothel, habitual theft, corruption, disturbing the peace, cigarette smuggling, organizing pornographic clubs, car smuggling, exploitation of prostitutes, speculation, publication of pornographic material, stealing or trafficking in national treasures, financial fraud, sale of false invoices, sale of the pelts of two giant pandas, stealing cows, camels or horses, sale of false birth certificates, sale of false sterility certificates, sale of counterfeit money, and killing giant pandas and golden monkeys. Hacking and other cyber crimes are also punishable by death. Anyone convicted of trafficking 50 grams or more of heroin is condemned to death.
According to a legal document released by the Supreme People's Court in January 2007, any act of oil or gas theft that leads to "serious consequences" such as the death of more than one person and the injury of more than three people, causes a well to blow out, leads to heavy pollution or creates "heavy economic losses" of more than RMB 500,000 ($64,000), will be subject to the death penalty.
Vandals who deliberately damage China's military telecommunication facilities will face long jail terms or even the death penalty, according to a judicial deliberation released by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) on June 28th 2007. The court stipulated that vandalism that hinders "important military communications", affects operations or inflicts losses on the army, causing the deaths of more than three people, injuring more than ten and losses exceeding one million yuan (128,200 U.S. dollars), could incur at least ten years in jail or even the death penalty. Actions that cause communication difficulties while troops conduct disaster-relief or military maneuvers, or deal with emergencies, with "extremely serious" results, could incur the same penalties. 
On August 21st 2007 the SPC declared that anyone who damages electric power facilities and causes the following four types of serious consequences will be sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years, life imprisonment and even the death penalty. In line with article 119 of China's criminal law, the four kinds of grave consequences are: 1- killing one or more people, seriously injuring at least three people, or slightly injuring 10 people or more; 2- causing power cuts for six hours or longer which affect 10,000 households or industrial production; 3- causing direct economic losses of over 1 million yuan (131,500 U.S. dollars), and 4- causing other serious consequences that endanger public security.
Since July 2006 death sentences are pronounced in public and the condemned prisoner is presented to the crowd and forced to bow his head and wear a sign with the name of his crime written on it around his neck. Defendants are often denied legal assistance, and when it is granted the lawyers have only a day or two to prepare their defence. Moreover, death sentences are often decided before the trial by a judging committee. After confirmation of a death sentence, the defendant has from 3 to 10 days to appeal. If no appeal is presented, the sentence is automatically referred to the Supreme People's Court which makes a decision within 6 weeks. Appeals are rarely successful. Executions are carried out with a shot to the back of the head or the heart from close quarters. The condemned are made to kneel, with their legs in shackles and their hands tied behind their backs.
In 1997, China introduced the lethal injection, applied first in Yunnan province, and has recently introduced mobile execution units. The units consist of specially-modified vans manned by execution teams and equipped with facilities to put people to death with lethal injections close to the venue of the trials. This removes the need to transfer prisoners to execution grounds, a procedure that requires considerable security measures. Convicts are strapped to gurneys a few minutes after their death sentences become final, the needle is inserted into their arm, a member of the execution team presses a button, and the fatal chemicals are injected into the veins. The whole procedure can be viewed on a monitor next to the driving seat and recorded. Since the September 11 attacks on the USA, the Chinese government has been using the war on terror to justify its crackdown on all forms of political or religious dissent in the region. Suspected 'separatists, terrorists or religious extremists' have for years faced imprisonment or execution after unfair trials, as well as torture and long-term detention without charge or trial or access to lawyers or family. In particular, China has repackaged its repression of Uighurs in the Islamic northwest of the country as a fight against 'terrorism’ and pressured neighbouring countries like Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Pakistan to forcibly return Uighur asylum-seekers. 
Members of religious or spiritual movements unauthorised by the State are often subject to persecution, interrogation, incarceration and physical abuse. In 2004 and 2005, hundreds of places of worship – clandestine mosques, Tibetan temples, Catholic churches, indigenous Protestant churches - were shut down by the police and in some cases, demolished. Thousands of suspected practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement branded an “evil cult” by the Communist authorities, remain imprisoned in jails, labour camps and psychiatric facilities. Since they were first persecuted in 1999, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners died in labour camps, many as a result of torture.
“China has no plans to abolish its death penalty but is carrying out reforms to ensure that it is used prudently”, Premier Wen Jiabao said on March 14, 2005. "Given our national conditions, we cannot abolish the death penalty. What we are doing is instituting an effective system in China to ensure prudence and justice in giving death penalties.''
Statistics on the death penalty continue to be considered a state secret in China, though in recent years some reports of a quasi-official nature have begun to trickle out of academic, legislative and judiciary corridors.
On February 27th 2006, Liu Renwen, professor of the Chinese academy of social sciences, confirming that, according to estimates that circulate in academic circles, 8,000 people are executed each year.
On march 15th 2007, Liu Jiachen, political counsel and former vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, declared that the number of people condemned to death in 2006 was the lowest in the last ten years. he did not, however, provide exact figures.
On June 7th 2007, John Kamm, founder of the Dui Hua Foundation, stated that executions in China had decreased by at least 40% in recent years bringing the total to approximately 7,500 annually. This, in part, was thanks to the 2008 Olympic games being awarded to host city Beijing six years ago.
On June 8th 2007, Ni Shouming, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court, declared that in the first five months of the year, the number of executions decreased by 10% in respect to the same period the prior year. A result, explained the magistrate, linked to reforms giving the Supreme Court exclusive powers of review and confirmation of death sentences, which has made lower courts more prudent in handing down capital condemnations.
In the opinion of Chen Weidong, professor of criminal law at Renmin University of China, death sentences are destined to decrease by 20%.
In any event, all estimates confirm China as the world’s top executioner, a title that will probably remain unrivalled in modern history and that, besides sparking criticism from international human rights organizations, has begun to cause the Chinese authorities themselves to reflect, resulting in some limited progress.
The most significant step is surely that of the approval, on October 31st 2006, of an amendment requiring that all death sentences receive confirmation from the Supreme Court. The new law represents one of the most important reforms regarding the death penalty in China in the last twenty years and is a drastic turn from the “strike hard” campaign of the 80s.
From January 1, 2007, the Supreme People's Court has to review, as it had done up to 1983, all death penalty cases before executions are carried out. However, this reform, and a suggestion that in some cases longer prison sentences should be passed instead of the death penalty, does still not address 'confessions' extorted through torture, limited access to lawyers, and political interference in the judicial process.
In 2007 and in the first five months of 2008 reports suggested that condemnations handed down by Chinese Courts in 2007 reflected a reduction of capital sentences as high as 30%. These facts surfaced on May 9, 2008, during a forum held in the port city of Liaoning Province, northeast China, at which legal experts, researchers and judges from China and Britain participated, with a focus on restriction and abolition of the death penalty.
According to Li Wuqing, a judge with the No. 1 criminal court of China's Supreme People's Court, the restitution to the same Court of exclusive power in approving death sentences has caused the country’s courts to handle capital cases with greater prudence. Wu Sheng, a judge from a court in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, said at the forum that the number of approved death penalties decreased by up to 40 percent last year in that city. Based on reforms taking effect on January 1, 2007, every capital sentence handed down in China by an inferior court must be reviewed by a panel of three judges of the Supreme Court that are responsible for checking the facts of the case, the legal norms applied and procedures as well as comparing these with the preceding trials.
According to the Beijing Morning Post of March 8, 2008, China's Supreme Court rejected 15 percent of all death sentences handed down by lower courts in 2007 due to a lack of evidence, injustices and illegal court procedures. Citing senior Supreme Court judge Huang Ermei, the newspaper said the verdicts were overturned “because facts surrounding initial convictions were unclear, evidence insufficient, punishment inappropriate, procedures illegal and other reasons”. Huang was quoted as saying China was not prepared to do away with capital punishment despite the problems in its lower courts. “The abolishment of the death penalty is the trend in international criminal justice, but in our nation we do not have ample conditions to abolish capital punishment,” said Huang.
Hands Off Cain estimates that at least 5,000 executions took place in the country in 2006 and in 2007.
On December 18, 2008 China voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.

July 23, 2010: China is considering reviewing the number of crimes which attract the death penalty, a report suggests.
The country's highest law-making body will debate a draft amendment to the criminal law next month, a report in a liberal newspaper said.
There are currently 68 crimes which carry the death penalty in China.
The South Weekend newspaper quotes a law professor at Beijing University as saying this was unnecessary and hurt China's global image.
The report has been widely republished in China's online media.
The newspaper, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, says the draft amendment will be debated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
One suggestion, it says, is that the death penalty is unsuitable for elderly people. (Sources: bbc, 23/07/2010)

June 8, 2010: a Chinese Supreme People's Court (SPC) official said courts must apply the most strict standards when verifying facts and evidence in cases involving the death penalty.
The Chinese Supreme People's Court Vice President Zhang Jun said at a national teleconference judicial personnel must present facts and solid evidence and leave nothing to chance before
making a verdict in a death penalty case. Judicial personnel should not trust unreliable evidence and they must embrace fairness and justice during trials, said Zhang. (Sources: Xinhua, 08/06/2010)

March 29, 2010: Rights group Amnesty International urged China to disclose the number of prisoners it executes. Amnesty said that "evidence from previous years and a number of current sources indicates that the figure remains in the thousands". "The Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place," said Amnesty's Interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone. "If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?" (Sources: BBC, 29/03/2010)

March 7, 2010: China has so far convicted 198 people for involvement in deadly ethnic violence last July in its restive western region of Xinjiang, with more sentencings to come, a top official said.
Nearly 200 people were killed and up to 1,600 injured when unrest exploded into street riots in the Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi -- some of the worst ethnic violence in China in decades.
"The investigations, prosecution and trials are still going on and the final figure of the people sentenced will be larger," Nur Berkri, Xinjiang chairman, told journalists on the sidelines of the nation's annual parliament.
The convictions were handed down in 97 separate cases, he said.
He refused to say how many defendants were sentenced to death or how many had been executed, but according to state press reports 26 have so far received capital punishment and at least nine have already been put to death.
Most of the names of those sentenced to death appeared to be Uighur, a largely Muslim ethnic minority that has chafed for decades under China's rule in Xinjiang, a region that borders Central Asia.
Nur Berkri insisted that the violence was the work of terrorists, separatists and religious extremists and not linked to China's development policies in the impoverished region.
"There are a few secessionists who are reluctant to see the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang living a happy life under the leadership of China's Communist Party," he said.
"They will do everything possible to sabotage ethnic relations, distort Xinjiang's history, and advocate their ideas of secession... but no matter what methods they use, they are doomed to failure." (Sources: Afp, 07/03/2010)

February 27, 2010: three people sentenced to death have been on hunger strike since February 23 in Jiangxi, China. They argue there is no evidence and their confessions were extracted under torture. Fang Chunping, Huang Zhiqiang and Cheng Fagen were sentenced to death in July 2003 for "murder, robbery and rape." (Sources: Asianews.it, 27/02/2010)

February 9, 2010: China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) said it had issued guidelines for courts nationwide to handle criminal cases with a policy of "justice tempered with mercy," stressing that death penalty use be limited.
The guidelines say the death penalty should be "resolutely" handed down to those who have committed "extremely serious" crimes, but that the punishment should be reserved for the tiny minority of criminals against which there is valid and ample evidence.
The guidelines also say that capital punishment reprieves should be granted for as long as they are allowed by law.
The guidelines are an interpretation of the "justice tempered with mercy" policy and details on the judicial principles used when handling criminal cases, SPC spokesman Sun Jungong said.
The "justice tempered with mercy" policy was first enacted in a document approved in 2006 by the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The policy required courts to issue both severe and lenient sentences, depending on the seriousness of each crime.
According to the guidelines, crimes involving officials taking advantage of their position and mafia-style gangs should be handled "with severity."
Severity should also be applied to repeat offenders.
On the other hand, the document says minors and senior citizens who commit crimes should be punished with leniency.
Commutation and paroles for ex-officials who took advantage of their public position, especially those at county-level or above, are required to be heard at court.
Commutations for criminals convicted of major crimes like murder and robbery are to be strictly limited, the guidelines say. (Sources: Xinhuanet.com, 09/02/2010)

January 26, 2010: lethal injection is set to replace shooting as the main technique for the death penalty in Beijing, China. Executioners from Beijing's Intermediate People's Court have now finished their training, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. (Sources: China Daily, 26/01/2010)

March 17, 2010: China commuted the death sentence of Malaysian national Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim, 26, to life imprisonment. Lazim was sentenced to death after 2kg of heroin was found in her luggage when she arrived in Shantou in 2007. She is currently being held in Guanzhou prison. (Sources: New Straits Times, 17/03/2010)

August 26, 2010: real estate employee Song Feiran, of Songxi Village, Xi'an, was executed for killing He An, 15, following a land dispute in northwest China' s Shaanxi Province. Feiran had been hired to intimidate villagers who refused to move in late June, 2007. The Xi'an Intermediate People' s Court sentenced Feiran to death on November 28, 2008, which was upheld by the Shaanxi Provincial Higher People' s Court in November 2009. (Sources: Xinhua, 26/08/2010)

August 13, 2010: the intermediate people's court in Changsha, in central China's Hunan Province, sentenced Chen Haitao, 36, to death for setting a bus on fire on July 21, 2010, that killed two people and injured 14. Haitao was also deprived of political rights for life. The court believed that Chen committed the arson to revenge society as he had "blamed his business failure on social injustice." (Sources: BBC, 13/08/2010)

August 11, 2010: in Chongqing Municipality, China, the No. 5 Intermediate People's Court sentenced an unidentified man to a suspended death sentence in a prostitution and gang case that has already seen two women sentenced to death. The court found the gang coerced hundreds of women into prostitution over a decade and obtained illegal gains of more than 100 million yuan. (Sources: Xinhua, 11/08/2010)

August 10, 2010: Hu Yihua, 29, was sentenced to death by the intermediate people's court in Jieyang City of Guangdong, south China, for shooting four people dead, including two traffic policemen, on July 2 and 5, 2010. Hu, an unemployed resident in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, was also deprived of political rights, fined 50,000 yuan, and was ordered to pay 531,317 yuan compensation. (Sources: BBC, 10/08/2010)

August 3, 2010: the Intermediate People's Court of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province in China, sentenced Xie Zaixing, 48, former chief of the Communist Party of China Committee in Ouhai District, Wenzhou City, to death. He allegedly suffocated his mistress Shao Songqiao after an argument in Hangzhou on November 15, 2009. (Sources: Xinhua, 03/08/2010)

July 26, 2010: gang boss Yang Jue, 32, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Jue was convicted by the Intermediate People's Court of Beihai City of organising gang crimes, intentionally injuring people, illegal gun trafficking and other crimes. (Sources: CRIEnglish.com, 27/07/2010)

July 21, 2010: the Tongren Intermediate People's Court sentenced He Shengkai, 30, to death for a murder, in southwestern China's Guizhou Province. Shengkai felt he had been unfairly convicted in 2005 and stabbed four court officials on September 14, 2009, killing one. The court also deprived he of political rights for life. (Sources: Shanghai Daily, 22/07/2010)

July 14, 2010: in China, the Heilongjiang Provincial Higher People's Court upheld the death sentence of Wang Wenxiang, founder and chairman of Xinheng Group, for hiring two people to murder former business partner Zhong Yishi on May 18, 2009. Bai Peng and Yu Yi were caught on videotape strangling Yishi to death in an underground car park. (Sources: Beijing News, 14/07/2010)

July 9, 2010: the Foshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court in south China's Guangdong Province rejected the appeal by Cheng Ruilong, 37, against his death sentence. Cheng was convicted of rape and robbery, as well as the murder of 11 people in southern and eastern China between May 1996 and January 2005. (Sources: CRIenglish.com, 12/07/2010)

June 28, 2010: an unlicensed food vendor in China will appeal against his death sentence over the killing two local security officers. Xia Junfeng, 34, from Shenyang in north China, was convicted of murder after stabbing the men to death. But his wife and lawyer say he was trying to defend himself as the officers beat and kicked him. (Sources: Guardian.co.uk, 28/06/2010)

June 14, 2010: in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Bai Yuku and Xu Guangdong were sentenced to death for murdering transport official Li Xingguang on August 17, 2009, local court officials announced. Yuku, Li's predecessor, was found guilty of hiring Xu to stab Li for 260,000 yuan (38,235 US dollars). (Sources: BBC, 14/06/2010)

June 11, 2010: Zhou Yezhong, 36, accused of fatally stabbing eight people, including three of his family members on May 8, 2010, was sentenced to death at a court in east China's Jiangxi province. Zhou was charged with and convicted of wilful murder in the first-instance trial by the intermediary people's court of Ji'an city of Jiangxi Province, said Long Xiaomao, a spokesman of the court. (Sources: DNAIndia.com, 14/06/2010)

June 11, 2010: the Intermediate People's Court of Zhanjiang City in Guangdong, China, sentenced former teacher Chen Kangbing, 33, to death for a knife attack at the primary school in Leizhou city in southern China in April. Although no one died, 16 students and a teacher were wounded, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said Chen was a former teacher who suffered from mental illness and had been on sick leave since 2006. (Sources: Associated Press, 12/06/2010)

May 27, 2010: two people in China were given suspended death sentences by a court in the southwestern province of Yunnan for pushing a mentally ill man into a coal mine shaft and then posing as his family members to get compensation for his death. The statement didn't say how the accused found the mentally ill victim, Cai Qianwen. It said they told Cai they would help him find a job and a wife. (Sources: CTV.ca, 27/05/2010)

May 27, 2010: the Taizhou Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu Province, China, upheld the May 15, 2010, death penalty of Xu Yuyuan, 47. He was convicted of attacking and injuring 32 kindergarten pupils and teachers in Taixing City on April 29, 2010. (Sources: Xinhua, 27/05/2010)

May 25, 2010: in China, the Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court upheld the death sentence of Chen Mingliang for running a mafia-style ring engaged in prostitution, drug-trafficking, gambling, kidnapping, among other crimes. Chen, 52, was handed death without reprieve on February 4, 2010 after the Third Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing. (Sources: Xinhua, 25/05/2010)

May 18, 2010: plumber Ren Wenli, 41, from Shijingshan district in China, was executed for the murder and dismemberment of his ex-wife surnamed Liu. He allegedly strangled his ex-wife while she slept on March 5, 2009, after she refused to give him money. Beijing's No 1 Intermediate Court also ordered him to pay Liu's family 690,000 yuan in compensation. (Sources: Asiaone.com, 19/05/2010)

May 17, 2010: China's Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court heard appeals against the death sentences of alleged crime boss Fan Qihang and his associate Wu Chuanjiang. They were sentenced to death on February 10 by the same court after being arrested for killing a man on June 3, 2009, in Chongqing. (Sources: Xinhua, 17/05/2010)

May 15, 2010: a court in eastern China sentenced unemployed man Xu Yuyuan to death for knifing 29 children and three adults with a meat cleaver at a kindergarten at Zhongxin nursery school in Taixing city on April 29, 2010. Xu, who had been jobless for nine years, told the court his motive was to vent his rage against society, but he appealed against a death penalty because he had not killed anyone. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 15/05/2010)

May 13, 2010: Wen Qiang, 54, former deputy police chief in Chongqing, China, appealed against his death sentence for protecting gangs, bribery, rape and property scamming during his second trial and asked for a lenient sentence. Wen was convicted of committing the crimes after his first trial in April. The second trial is expected to last two to three days in the Chongqing People's Higher Court. (Sources: China Daily, 14/05/2010)

May 5, 2010: a man who took eight people hostage in a hospital after killing the brother of his ex-wife was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Fuzhou City in east China's Fujian Province. Zeng Jianfeng allegedly murdered Zhan Kuanlin on April 5. Zeng's personal property was confiscated and he was deprived for life of political rights after he was also found guilty of kidnapping, intentionally injuring others and robbery, according to the court statement. (Sources: Xinhua, 05/05/2010)

April 28, 2010: former community doctor Zheng Minsheng, 42, was executed by shooting in Nanping, China, for stabbing eight young children to death at a primary school in the same city. Police blamed Minsheng's attack on his breaking up with a girlfriend. Zheng was convicted on 8 April and had appealed unsuccessfully against his death sentence. (Sources: BBC, 28/04/2010)

April 23, 2010: a 20-year-old Jiangxi migrant worker at a construction site, surnamed Yu, was sentenced to death by the Xiamen Intermediate People's Court in China for robbing and murdering prostitute Ah Zhu. Yu allegedly stabbed Zhu to death more than ten times with a fruit knife in Hongdaitou Village on July 15, 2009. (Sources: WhatsonXiamen.com, 23/04/2010)

April 20, 2010: the provincial high court in China's Fujian province upheld the death sentence against former doctor Zheng Minsheng for stabbing eight children to death outside their school on March 23, 2010, in a fit of rage after splitting up with his girlfriend. "The facts for the original verdict were clear, the evidence was reliable and abundant, the conviction was accurate, and the penalty was appropriate," the court said. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 20/04/2010)

April 16, 2010: A court in central China's Hubei Province sentenced a woman to death and another two to life in prison for trafficking more than 40 children.
The 23-member child trafficking ring were convicted of buying 49 children from Shizong County in southwestern Yunnan Province and selling them to people in Shexian County in northern Hebei Province, the Wuhan Railway Transport Intermediate Court said in a statement.
The ring, busted in May and June last year, sold the boys for up to 40,000 yuan ($5,860) and girls for up to 20,000 yuan each between March 2005 and July 2009.
The court handed down the death sentence to Yu Lixiang, the ringleader, for trafficking 33 children and causing one to death. Du Minghua and Yu's sister Yu Xiaofen were sentenced to life in prison in the first-instance trial.
The rest 20 accomplices were sentenced to two to 15 years in prison.
The railway transport court deals with criminal cases and economic disputes relating to railway and transportation. (Sources: Xinhua, 19/04/2010)

April 2, 2010: in China, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court handed Mao Xingguo, 65, a suspended death sentence for stabbing and strangling his adoptive mother Liu Wenmei, 88, on April 27. The sentence was suspended because the murder was caused by a family dispute and Mao surrendered himself to police. (Sources: Shanghai Daily, 02/04/2010)

March 25, 2010: in southern China, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen announced that Xu Qingxi and Xu Qifang were executed in separate cases. Qingxi abducted a boy, 13, for ransom in May 2008, who choked to death when Xu tried to silence him. Qifang kidnapped a girl, 6, for ransom in March 2006. He sealed her mouth and later found her dead.
The booming town of Shenzhen launched a campaign in December 2009 to crack down upon kidnapping and other serious crimes following a string of  abductions of school children. (Sources: China Daily, 26/03/2010)

March 17, 2010: in China, Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court official Yao Lan said two men were sentenced to death and executed. Li Guiyong, a peasant from Hebei Province, and Si Hailong allegedly robbed and killed nine illegal cab drivers in Chaoyang and Shunyi districts between 1999 and 2006. (Sources: Global Times, 18/03/2010)

March 16, 2010: Li Jia, 41, from Beijing, was executed in China for murdering his ex-wife Ren Liwen in March 2008. The No 1 Intermediate Court press officer said that Liu strangled Ren over a dispute and dismembered her body. Liu’s property was also confiscated. (Sources: China Daily, 18/03/2010)

February 21, 2010: a Chinese man was sentenced to death for murdering 13 people, robbery and rape between May 1996 and January 2005. Cheng Ruilong, 37, had his personal property confiscated, according to the sentence by the Foshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province. (Sources: China Daily, 22/02/2010)

February 11, 2010: mob boss Yue Ning was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for organising criminal gangs and prostitution rackets in southwest China's Chongqing City between 1998 and 2009. Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court also charged Ning with violence and bribing officials, and confiscated all his property. (Sources: China Daily, 11/02/2010)

February 10, 2010: the Chongqing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court in China sentenced two people to death and six to death with a two-year reprieve for organised crime. Gang leaders Fan Qihang and principal member Wu Chuanjiang allegedly killed a man on June 3, 2009, in Chongqing. (Sources: The Guardian, 10/02/2010)

February 10, 2010: the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court in east China's Zhejiang Province sentenced three gang leaders to death for trafficking of women, rape and robbery, while four gang members received death sentences with two-year reprieves. The leaders were identified as Xia and Li, who allegedly kidnapped 13 women, and Shao, who allegedly kidnapped eight. (Sources: English.cri.cn, 10/02/2010)

February 5, 2010: a court in Chongqing, China, sentenced Chen Mingliang, dubbed the city's richest godfather, and Zhou Yong to death for illegal gambling, bribery of officials, assault and the running of prostitution rackets. (Sources: Radio News Australia, 05/02/2010)

February 4, 2010: Chinese state media say 25 people have been sentenced to death for their roles in nine kidnapping cases.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency says two courts in the southern province of Guangdong handed down the sentences.
The high number of death sentences at once is unusual, though China executes more people than any other country.
In one of the kidnapping for ransom cases, Xinhua says the victim died from violent treatment.
Xinhua says the courts in the provincial capital of Guangzhou also sentenced 26 others to up to 20 years in prison for kidnapping. (Sources: Ap, 04/02/2010)

February 1, 2010: in China, Chongqing No.5 Intermediate People's Court sentenced former police director of Nanbin Road Police Station Yue Cun, 47, and right-hand man Yin Zhiwei to death for running a gang that was found guilty of 12 charges including three murders, intentional injury, and forced trades. Yue was also fined 150 million yuan.
Another member received reprieved death penalty.
Three of the 40 member gang got life imprisonment, while the rest 34 was sentenced to two to 20 years in jail. (Sources: Shanghai Daily, 02/02/2010)

January 20, 2010: Gao Hualiang, an explosive maker, was sentenced to death in China by the Intermediate People's Court of Handan. He was found guilty of making, selling and transporting illegal explosives. (Sources: AP, reported by Amnesty International)

January 19, 2010: two criminal gang leaders were executed by Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. Yang Tianqing and Liu Chenghu allegedly committed crimes including murder and racketeering. The Higher People's Court of Chongqing upheld the sentence and the Supreme People's Court approved the execution. (Sources: China Daily, 19/01/2010)

January 14, 2010: an unidentified gay Chinese hotel worker, 21, from the southwestern Sichuan Province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by the Intermediate People's Court in Zhongshan City, in south China's Guangdong Province. He allegedly killed his ex-partner, a 68-year-old German man, with a hammer after the German harassed him. He was arrested on July 23, 2009. (Sources: China Daily, 19/01/2010)

January 13, 2010: two members of an organised crime gang in central China's Hubei Province were executed after the Supreme People's Court (SPC) approved their death sentences on December 23, 2009. Liu Lieyong and Chen Xiaohui allegedly committed murder and other crimes related to criminal gangs. (Sources: Chinaview.cn, 13/01/2010)

January 7, 2010: seven men were executed by the by the Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's Court, in Hebei Province, north China. Zhang Baoyi, 47, Gao Yuehui,49, He Pidong, 39, Liu Luntao, Zhang Guo, Li Qing and Zhang Zhiyu, were executed for various charges including organising criminal gangs, theft  and murder. (Sources: Chinaview.cn, 08/01/2010)

January 3, 2010: three people were sentenced to death for gang-related crimes by the Zhangzhou Municipal Intermediate People's Court in southeast China's Fujian Province. Ke Yinlai got the death penalty for organising a criminal gang, intentional injury and operating underground casinos. Ke Zhiyi was sentenced to death for murder, intentional injury, and running illegal gambling dens. Xu Weichao received a suspended death penalty for murder, running illegal gambling dens and causing disturbances. All three received fines and were deprived of political rights for life. (Sources: Chinaview.cn, 04/01/10)

May 14, 2010: Four tomb robbers were sentenced to death for stealing more than 200 relics, including 11 items listed for the state's top level of protection, from ancient tombs in central China's Hunan Province.
The death sentences were handed down at the Intermediate People's Court in Changsha, capital of Hunan, after the first-instance trial to Lin Xisheng, Liu Shengli, Long Shouyun and Liu Zhihua.
They had been convicted of robbing ancient tombs as well as concealing illegal earnings.
Liu Zhihua was given a two-year reprieve.
The court heard the four were among a 27-member gang responsible for robbing a dozen tombs near Changsha, including a tomb of the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), from April 2008 to January 2009.
The other 23 members of the gang were also convicted and given jail terms ranging from 13 years and six months to life at the same trial.
"Police have retrieved all of the relics stolen by the gang," said Wang Lifu, a court investigator.
He said one of the stolen relics, a seal of a Changsha King, from a tomb of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 25 ), was under the state first-class protection.
Wang said the gang members were from several provinces, including Hunan, Shandong, Jiangxi, Shanxi and Gansu.
They had used professional prospecting equipment, digging machinery and explosives to carry out their raids.
"This is the largest tomb robbing case ever dealt with in Hunan," said Wang. (Sources: Xinhua, 14/05/2010)

May 26, 2010: the Lhasa Intermediate People's Court in China sentenced Tibetan Sonam Tsering, 23, to a suspended death sentence, the India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.
Tsering, who was born in Ganzi, allegedly rioted and led others to riot in 2008 by setting cars and shops on fire and overturning police vehicles.
The Center said Sonam Tsering is the seventh Tibetan so far to be sentenced to death for the riots, including two already executed. (Sources: Associated Press, 26/05/2010)

May 9, 2010: a Chinese man who spent almost 10 years in jail for murder was freed after his supposed victim was found alive. Zhao Zuohai's neighbour Zhao Zhenshang disappeared after they had fought and Zuohai was charged when a headless, decomposed body was found 18 months later. His brother said police had forced him to drink chilli-tainted water and set off fireworks above his head in order to make him confess. Henan Provincial Higher People's Court ordered an investigation into the case. Zhao was initially sentenced to death for the crime but the sentence was commuted to 29 years in prison. (Sources: Bbc, 09/05/2010)

May 28, 2010: five Chinese men were sentenced to death by the People's Court of northern Quang Ninh Province, in Vietnam, for illegally transporting 8 tonnes of marijuana resin.
Group leader Lu Minh Cheng, 53, and two accomplices, were also charged for carrying illegal amounts of cash. They were found transporting a total of HK$1.1 million (US$141,000) and US$20,000.
The marijuana was carried into Viet Nam from Pakistan in April, 2008. The group then planned to transport the resin to Canada but was stopped by local police on May 12, 2008. (Sources: Viet Nam News, 31/05/2010)

May 30, 2010: Evidence obtained illegally - such as through torture during interrogation - cannot be used in testimony, particularly in cases involving the death penalty, according to two regulations issued today.
A death sentence should be pronounced only with sufficient evidence acquired through legal means, stipulate the two regulations: One on evidence review in death sentence cases, and the other on excluding illegal evidence in criminal cases.
Jointly issued by the top court, the top procuratorate, the ministries of public security, state security and justice, they are the first specific rules on collection of evidence and review in criminal cases.
The first regulation sets out principles and rules for scrutinizing and gauging evidence in cases involving the death penalty, and the other sets out detailed procedure for examining evidence and for excluding evidence obtained illegally.
They are expected to cut down on death sentences and reduce forced confessions, experts said.
The regulations make it clear that evidence with unclear origin, confessions obtained through torture, or testimony obtained through violence and intimidation are invalid, particularly in death sentences.
"Not a single mistake is allowed in fact finding and collection of evidence in cases involving the death sentence," said a written Q&A released by the five central departments.
The new regulations define illegal evidence and include specific procedures on how to exclude such evidence.
Lu Guanglun, a senior judge at the Supreme People's Court, said such details do not exist in the Criminal Procedure Law and its judicial interpretations.
"This is the first time that a systematic and clear regulation tells law enforcers that evidence obtained through illegal means is not only illegal but also useless," said Zhao Bingzhi, dean of the law school at Beijing Normal University.
"Previously we could only infer from abstract laws that illegal evidence is not allowed. But in reality, in many cases, such evidence was considered valid," he said.
"This is big progress, both for the legal system and for better protection of human rights," he said. "It will help reduce the number of executions".
Zhao said the new rules will also help change the mindset of law enforcers and reduce torture in interrogation, one of the causes of wrongful sentences.
Ever since the top court started reviewing all death sentences in 2007, the overall quality of handling criminal cases has improved, but a lot of problems still remain.
In 2008, the top court announced that about 15 percent of death sentence verdicts by lower courts in 2007 were found to have faults.
The case of Zhao Zuohai, who stayed behind bars for 11 years until the man he allegedly murdered turned up alive on April 30, has attracted national attention and triggered public criticism of judicial officers after Zhao said he was tortured by local police to confess.
Three former police officers have been arrested for allegedly torturing Zhao.
"Such cases seriously undermine the image of China's justice system and people's trust in the government," said Bian Jianlin, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law. (Source: China Daily, 31/05/2010)

January 26, 2010: A Chinese court sentenced four more people to death for their part in bloody ethnic rioting in July last year in Urumqi, the capital of far western Xinjiang region, state media reported.
The new trial brings the number of death sentences for the rioting to at least 26, of which at least nine have already been carried out.
Judging from the names, the four sentenced to death are all Uighurs, a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people native to Xinjiang. Many Uighurs resent an influx of Han Chinese that has left them accounting for only half the population of their homeland. (Sources: Reuters, 26/01/2010)

August 11, 2010: a Chinese court sentenced two women, Wang Ziqi and Tao Minggu, to death for leading a criminal organisation, forcing women into prostitution, bribing officers and a list of other crimes in Chongqing between 1994 and 2009, Xinhua reported. (Sources: Montreal Gazette, 11/08/2010)

March 4, 2010: Chinese man Huang Haiyong (alias Wong Ho Wing) is facing extradition from Peru to China on charges that can carry the death penalty. Haiyong was arrested in October 2008 on arrival in Peru. According to his lawyer, the warrant refers to a charge of fraud. On 31 March 2009, the Inter-American Commission asked Peruvian authorities not to extradite Huang Haiyong until the IACHR had ruled on his petition for protection. (Sources: Amnesty.org, 04/03/2010)

July 7, 2010: China executed Wen Qiang, former head of the judiciary in the Chongqing region, after he was sentenced to death in April for charges including rape and taking bribes to protect criminal gangs. Xinhua reported that the Supreme People's Court upheld the sentence in May. (Sources: aljazeera.net, 07/07/2010)

January 21, 2010: Jiang Yongsheng was executed in Chiana for multiple rape. No further details are available. (Sources: http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org)

August 24, 2010: former Chinese Assistant Minister for Public Security Zheng Shaodong was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 8.3 million yuan, Xinhua news agency reported. (Sources: Reuters, 24/08/2010)

August 13, 2010: a Chinese court sentenced former senior city economic planner Pi Qiansheng to a suspended death and confiscated his property for taking bribes and abusing his power, state news agency Xinhua said. Qiansheng was found guilty of extorting money and accepted bribes of 7.55 million yuan ($1.12 million) during 1995-2005 while head of the Tianjin Economic and Technology Development Zone. (Sources: Hindustan Times, 19/08/2010)

August 13, 2010: the Beijing Higher People's Court in China rejected the appeal of former Ministry of Commerce senior inspector Guo Jingyi, 44, against his May 2010 death sentence for accepting bribes valued at about 8.45 million yuan between 1998 and 2007. The verdict also included the confiscation of all his personal property and lifetime deprivation of his political rights. (Sources: Xinhua, 13/08/2010)

July 23, 2010: Chen Shaoji, former top political advisor of south China's Guangdong Province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption by the Chongqing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. The court also ordered confiscation of all his property. (Sources: Global Times, 23/07/2010)

July 16, 2010: Wu Zhiqiao was executed in eastern China for illegally making and selling firearms. He was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court April 22, 2009.
The Supreme People's Court upheld the verdict, China Daily reported on its website.
Wu, from Guizhou province, was arrested in November 2007 for selling more than 50 guns and 200 bullets. (Sources: Indo-Asian News Service, 17/07/2010)

May 21, 2010: Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court in southern China upheld the death penalty of former police chief Wen Qiang, 55, for taking bribes from local gang leaders while he was director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, a report on the court's website said. Wen was sentenced to death in April. (Sources: Business Week, 21/05/2010)

May 20, 2010: a former top official at China's commerce ministry was given a suspended death sentence for graft including taking bribes from electronics giant GOME, state media said. A Beijing court convicted Guo Jingyi, 44, of taking 8.45 million yuan (1.24 million dollars) in bribes while serving in the ministry's treaty and law department, the Legal Evening News said. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 20/05/2010)

May 13, 2010: former high-ranking judicial official Wen Qiang, 54, appealed his death sentence in southwest China's Chongqing Higher People's Court. Wen was sentenced to death in April by the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court after he was convicted of an array of crimes including protecting organized crime, taking bribes, rape and corruption. (Sources: Global Times, 13/05/2010)

April 15, 2010: Wang Yi, 54, former vice president of the China Development Bank, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes totaling 11.96 million yuan (about $1.76 million) from November 1999 to February 2008. He was also deprived of his political rights for life and had all of his personal assets confiscated, according to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. (Sources: China Daily, 15/04/2010)

April 14, 2010: former police chief Wen Qiang, 55,was sentenced to death in China for taking bribes worth more than $2.4 million from gang members he protected as director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. (Sources: New York Times, 14/04/2010)

March 26, 2010: government official Li Shubiao, 46, was executed for corruption and embezzlement in central China's Hunan province. Shubiao was housing subsidy director in Chenzhou city and allegedly embezzled 120 million yuan ($US 18 million) of public funds. Li’s personal property was also confiscated. (Sources: China Daily, 26/03/2010)

March 26, 2010: the Higher People's Court in southwest China's Guizhou province upheld a suspended death sentence with a two year reprieve for Qiao Hong, former liquor maker Kweichow Moutai general manager. Qiao, 56, was convicted of accepting bribes from 2000 to 2007 by the Intermediate People's Court in Zunyi city in January. (Sources: China Daily, 26/03/2010)

March 12, 2010: Bengbu Municipal Intermediate People's Court in east China's Anhui Province sentenced government official Wang Haifeng, 56, to death with a 2-year reprieve for taking bribes of over 15 million yuan between 1997 and 2008. Haifeng was deprived of political rights for life and all his personal properties confiscated. (Sources: Arab News, 12/03/2010)

February 9, 2010: Sun Shanwu, former vice chairman of the CPPCC Henan Provincial Committee in China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. The Weifang Intermediate People Court in Shandong Province found Sun, 63, guilty of taking bribes of more than 9.1 million yuan from 2002 to 2006. (Sources: BBC, 10/02/2010)

February 8, 2010: a former local official in east China's Anhui Province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes and framing up an informant who reported against him.
Zhang Zhi'an, the former Party chief of the Yingquan District of Fuyang City, was given the sentence by the intermediate people's court of Wuhu City, Anhui Province.
Zhang was also deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal property was confiscated.
It was unknown whether Zhang would appeal or not. (Sources: English.People.com, 08/02/2010)

January 15, 2010: Qiao Hong, 56, former Moutai general manager, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption and taking bribes in China. The Zunyi Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, also deprived Qiao of his political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of his property. (Sources: Chinaview.cn, 15/01/2010)

August 7, 2010: Chinese-born French citizen Chan Thao Phoumy, 47, and Xie Weiming, were sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court in Guangzhou, China Daily reported. They allegedly manufactured large quantities of crystal methamphetamine in Boluo county, southern China, in 1999, before starting its production at other sites. (Sources: Sify.com, 09/08/2010)

June 23, 2010: two men convicted of selling and trafficking 12,242 grams of heroin to Taiwan were executed in southeast China's Fujian Province, Zhangzhou City's Intermediate People's Court announced. Chen Mingxiong and Jian Zhicheng were arrested in October 2007 and were later given the death penalty by the city court in Zhangzhou. The two appealed the death sentence, but a higher court upheld the sentence.
The death sentence was approved by the Supreme People's Court. (Sources: BBC, 26/06/2010)

June 23, 2010: six men were executed in southeast China's Fujian Province ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Zhang Jinxuan, Li Weiliang, and Dong Yunshi were sentenced to death in June 2009 for trafficking and transporting drugs according to Putian City's Intermediate People's Court. They were executed in Putian. Lu Jianjun, Shi Zhongping and Li Dezhong were executed in Fujian's Quanzhou City for dealing. Lu and Shi were convicted in 2008 of manufacturing and selling heroines from 2006 to 2007, the city court in Quanzhou said. Li was given death penalty in August last year for selling 25,000 grams of ketamine. (Sources: Xinhua, 23/06/2010)

May 12, 2010: Two drug traffickers have been sentenced to death for dealing large amounts of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", in east China's Zhejiang Province, sources with the local court said.
The Intermediate People's Court of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang province, sentenced Hu Zhongyi, a native of the city, to death for trafficking 3 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine between January and April 2009.
Wu Yiwei, also from Wenzhou, received death for trading 1.4 kg of crystal methamphetamine and possessing another 1 kg.
Eight others involved in drug trafficking received death sentences with reprieves, life imprisonment or jail terms. (Sources: Xinhua, 12/05/2010)

April 23, 2010: two leaders of a gang in north China's Henan Province were sentenced to death for drug smuggling using AIDS patients. (Sources: Shanghai Daily, 23/04/2010)

April 9, 2010: a court in China upheld the death sentence awarded to South African woman Janice Bronwyn Linden, 35, for smuggling drugs into the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Police discovered three kilograms of the banned methamphetamine hidden in her luggage at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou in November 2008.
In denying her appeal, the Higher Court in Guangdong province said Linden would not be allowed leniency. The Supreme Court must now approve the ruling before Linden is put to death. (Sources: RTTnews.com, 09/04/2010)

April 9, 2010: the Chinese Supreme People's Court announced that Japanese nationals Teruo Takeda, 67, Hironori Ukai, 48, and Katsuo Mori, 67, were executed in the northeastern province of Liaoning for drug trafficking.
Takeda bought about five kg of methamphetamine in June 2003 in China and instructed the other Japanese to take the drugs out of the country.
Takeda was arrested in June 2004 for trading more than 2.9 kg of stimulant drugs. Ukai was arrested at an airport in Dalian in September 2003 attempting to pass a security check with 1.5 kg of drugs hidden under clothes. Mori was arrested attempting to board a plane from Shenyang to Japan with 1.25 kg of drugs in July 2003. (Sources: Times of India, 09/04/2010)

April 6, 2010: China executed Japanese man Mitsunobu Akano in Liaoning province for drug smuggling, the Supreme People's Court announced. No other details were provided. Japan's Kyodo news agency said Akano was convicted in 2008 of attempting to smuggle 2.5 kgs of drugs from China to Japan in 2006. (Sources: Associated Press, 08/04/2010)

April 2, 2010: China informed Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that it will execute Japanese nationals Teruo Takeda, 67, Hironori Ukai, 48, and Katsuo Mori, 67, for drug-smuggling. According to the ministry, Beijing said they would be executed within seven days. (Sources: Japan Times, 03/04/2010)

April 1, 2010: China executed five persons for drug-related crimes. No further details are available. (Sources: http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/april10.html)

March 30, 2010: China told Japan that Beijing will execute, as early as next Monday, a Japanese man, Japanese government sources said. He was arrested in September 2006 attempting to smuggle 2.5 kgs of stimulant drugs from Dalian airport to Japan. (Sources: BeforeItsNews.com, 30/03/2010)

March 9, 2010: A Nigerian man received the death penalty in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, after being convicted of drug trafficking. Experts say it is the first case in the southern manufacturing city in which a foreigner has received a death sentence for drug trafficking.
His sentence was handed down from the Guangdong Higher People's Court. The execution still needs the review and final approval of the Supreme People's Court.
Osonwa Okey Noberts, 37, was found trading nearly 6 kg drugs to Chinese drug dealers at his rented apartment in Baiyun district of Guangzhou from February to April 2008, according to the investigation.
"Osonwa Okey Noberts took the drugs from the suppliers and sold them to the lower-tier buyers in China. The amount of heroin reached 5,978.1 grams. He deserves the most severe punishment," said a press release by the Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan, where the final verdict was announced.
Zhang Dongxiang, the 27-year-old Chinese girlfriend of Noberts, received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for assisting the illegal trade.
Two other Chinese drug dealers, Wu Xianjun and Jiang Xuzhi, also received death sentences with two-year reprieves for drug trafficking and employing people for the illegal activities.
According to China's criminal law, trafficking of more than 50 grams of heroin can warrant the death penalty. (Sources: China Daily, 11/03/2010)

January 6, 2010: ten Iranian citizens were sentenced to death in China for smuggling drugs and will be executed over next days, the website of Iranian television reported. (Sources: Day.Az, 06/01/2010)