CLOSED: China: British man facing imminent execution

We are appalled by news that Akmal Shaikh was executed at 02:30 GMT on 29 December, despite serious concerns about his mental health.

Sam Zarifi, our Asia Programme Director said:
"Akmal Shaikh's execution highlights the injustice and inhumanity of the death penalty, particularly as it is implemented in China...Mr. Shaikh's treatment seems consistent with what we know from other cases: a short, almost perfunctory trial, where not all the evidence was presented and investigated, and the death penalty applied to a non-violent crime. Under international human rights law, as well Chinese law, a defendant's mental health can and should be taken into account, and it doesn't seem that in this case the Chinese authorities did so. It's simply not enough for the Chinese authorities to say 'we did the right thing, trust us'. Now, there can be no reassessment of evidence, no reprieve after a man's life has been taken."

Thank you for taking action.

Previous Updates

Update: 26 December 2009

Beijing-based consular officials from the Foreign Office are reported to be flying to Urumqi in Xinjiang province where Akmal Shaikh is being held pending execution next Tuesday to make further appeals for his release.

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, has also expressed the UN's concern that in sentencing Akmal Shaikh to death Chinese officials appear not to have taken account of Mr. Shaikh's mental illness, and has urged officials to cancel the execution.

Thank you to Amnesty supporters for your continued efforts to press the UK Government to maintain their appeals in this case. Please continue to send messages to Gordon Brown to appeal directly to President Hu Jintao.

Update: 23 December 2009

We welcome the UK Foreign Office's statement yesterday (22 December) that the UK Government and Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be using the next few days to "renew and intensify" UK Government appeals to the Chinese authorities for clemency in Akmal Shaikh's case. With only days until his scheduled execution, AI supporters will continue to urge the Prime Minister and other ministers to make all possible representations to President Hu Jintao on Akmal Shaikh's behalf.


Background information

Akmal Shaikh was sentenced to death on 29 October 2008, by the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Intermediate People's Court.

His appeal was rejected by the Uighur Autonomous Regional Higher People's Court in October 2009, despite his lawyer's argument that he is mentally ill. Akmal Shaikh was detained at airport in the XUAR capital, Urumqi, on 12 September 2007, when he arrived on a flight from Tajikistan. He was accused of carrying four kilograms of heroin in his luggage.

According to Hong Kong and international media, Shaikh had been tricked by a criminal gang in Poland, where he had been living. Gang members had promised to introduce him to people in the music business, who would assist him with his music career, and arranged for him to travel to Kyrgyzstan and then to China; they asked him carry the luggage that contained the heroin. Believing that he was going to be able to launch a career as a pop star, he boarded a plane for China, carrying the piece of luggage.

Akmal Shaikh's family and lawyer have argued that he is mentally ill. They say he has suffered for many years with mental Despite these claims, the Chinese authorities have refused to allow Akmal Shaikh to be examined by a doctor. Forensic psychologist Dr Peter Shaapveld, who travelled to China specifically to meet with Shaikh, was not allowed to meet with him. After investigating through family members and other channels, however, he concluded that "the evidence clearly points to the fact that Mr. Shaikh was and/or is suffering from a severe mental disorder.

According to Article 18 of China's Criminal Law, a psychiatric patient who commits a crime, and has not completely lost the ability to recognize or control their own conduct at the time, has criminal responsibility, but may be given a lighter punishment.In the Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, adopted in 1984, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) states that executions shall not be carried out of persons who suffer from mental illness. In resolution 1989/64, adopted on 24 May 1989, ECOSOC recommended that UN member states eliminate the death penalty for persons suffering from limited mental competence, whether at the stage of sentencing or execution.The death penalty is applicable to approximately 68 offences in China, including non-violent ones.

China executes more people every year than any other country in the world. Amnesty International estimated that China carried out at least 1,718 executions and sentenced 7,003 people to death in 2008. These figures represent a minimum - the real figures are undoubtedly much higher. The Dui Hua Foundation, a US-based NGO, estimates that between 5,000 and 6,000 people were executed in 2008, based on figures obtained from local Chinese officials.

Statistics on death sentences and executions in China are classified as a state secret.In January 2007, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) review for all death sentences, which was suspended in 1982, was restored. All death sentences must now be reviewed by the SPC, which has the power to approve, revise or remand death sentences. Chinese authorities have reported a drop in executions since the SPC resumed this review. Nevertheless, the application of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy in China. Without access to such information it is impossible to make a full and informed analysis of death penalty developments in China, or to say if there has been a reduction in its use.

No one who is sentenced to death in China receives a fair trial in accordance with international human rights standards. Many have had confessions accepted despite saying in court that these were extracted under torture; have had to prove themselves innocent, rather than be proven guilty; and have had limited access to legal counsel.China provides no clemency procedures for condemned prisoners after they have exhausted their appeals through the courts.

We are appalled by news that Akmal Shaikh was executed at 02:30 GMT on 29 December, despite serious concerns about his mental health.

Sam Zarifi, our Asia Programme Director said:
"Akmal Shaikh's execution highlights the injustice and inhumanity of the death penalty, particularly as it is implemented in China...Mr. Shaikh's treatment seems consistent with what we know from other cases: a short, almost perfunctory trial, where not all the evidence was presented and investigated, and the death penalty applied to a non-violent crime. Under international human rights law, as well Chinese law, a defendant's mental health can and should be taken into account, and it doesn't seem that in this case the Chinese authorities did so. It's simply not enough for the Chinese authorities to say 'we did the right thing, trust us'. Now, there can be no reassessment of evidence, no reprieve after a man's life has been taken."

Thank you for taking action.

Follow up

We will continue to campaign for an end to the death penalty and for China to bring transparency and respect for human rights into its judicial system.