MEP URGES END TO CHINA DEATH PENALTY

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 4th Jan 2008

In a letter to the Chinese ambassador, local Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne has today called on the Chinese authorities to end the death penalty and condemned the announcement yesterday that they would replace death by firing squad with an extended lethal injection programme, justified on humanitarian grounds.

China executes more convicts than the rest of the world combined, about 5,000 to 12,000 people a year according to estimates, but due to a lack of transparency, many experts believe this figure to be much higher.

Liz Lynne, who is a member of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights, has supported the efforts of the European Union to end the death penalty worldwide.

Speaking today she said:

"China must commit to real changes to improve the human rights of its people; the announcement of an extension of the lethal injection programme on so called humanitarian grounds flies in the face of this.

"The European Union and others must now step up pressure on the Chinese authorities to curb their use of the death penalty and ultimately join the growing number of countries around the world that have committed to a total ban on this appalling, outdated practice.

"2008 will see the Beijing Olympics, a sporting spectacle we can all look forward to, but we must remember this will set against a background of continuing human rights violations by the Chinese state.

"The wind is now in the sails of those who wish to see an end to all state-sponsored executions and this is something I will continue to call for."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The European Parliament has worked hard for an end to the death penalty, adopting a resolution a year ago calling for the EU to lead efforts at the United Nations for a moratorium leading to a universal abolition of the death penalty.

The United Nations General Assembly in turn adopted a resolution on a universal moratorium on the death penalty in December 2007. In line with longstanding EU policy against executions, EU Member States, supported by the European Commission, tabled the resolution at the UN. It was enthusiastically endorsed by the European Parliament. United Nations news release: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/ga10678.doc.htm

In recent months, the lethal injection has become a subject of much debate in the US. The US Supreme Court is currently considering a case brought by two death row inmates who say the method inflicts unnecessary pain and suffering.