Mobile "death vans" are being deployed across China in what officials say is a "civilised alternative" to the traditional method of execution for death row prisoners, according to a report in a British newspaper.
Amnesty International has condemned the practice saying "there is strong evidence" Chinese authorities run a lucrative side business out of the vans by harvesting the organs of dead prisoners.
The vehicles, which can reach top speeds of 128km/h and look like an operating theatre inside, are cruising China's streets to make executions more cost-effective and efficient, The Daily Mail reports.
The vans are thought to have been launched after hushed trials before the Beijing Olympics.
"We have gathered strong evidence suggesting the involvement of Chinese police, courts and hospitals in the organ trade," an Amnesty International spokesperson was quoted as saying.
"The bodies cannot be examined. Corpses are driven to a crematorium and burned before independent witnesses can view them."
The prisoner is reportedly strapped to an electric-powered stretcher before a team of doctors administer drugs and then reportedly "harvest" the lucrative organs — eyes, kidney, liver, pancreas and lungs which are left pristine condition.
The British Transplantation Society has also condemned China in the past for harvesting prisoners' organs.
Annual executions in China are expected to rise from 1715 to around 10,000 in the next few years as more people are convicted for the 68 crimes, including tax evasion, that are punishable by death.
But the designer of the van, Kang Zhongwen, said the vehicles were "promoting human rights" as the executions were carried out more "quickly, clinically and safely" than the traditional gunshot to the head.
Jinguan Auto manufactures the high tech vehicles along with their bullet-proof limousines.
"We have not sold our execution cars to foreign countries yet but if they need one they could contact our company directly," the Daily Mail quotes a spokesman as saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment