China has triggered international outcry following the ‘inhumane’ execution of four Canadian nationals on drug-smuggling charges.
Beijing’s firing squads have been widely condemned by officials and activists.
Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said that after the dual citizens were linked to the alleged crimes, she and outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requested clemency for them.
However, Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa stated that China does not recognize dual citizenship and that drug-related offenses were the reason for the executions.
According to its most recent data, China executed thousands of individuals in 2023, and Amnesty International denounced the executions as cruel.
“Canada should take note of these shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, the group’s leader for English-speaking Canada, in a statement.
Although the exact figure is a closely-kept state secret, it is thought that China executes more convicts annually than the rest of the world combined.
Although deadly injections have been used recently, gunshots are still the most common method of execution.
The Canadian government ‘strongly condemned’ the most recent killings, Ms. Joly told reporters in Ottawa.
‘Any hopes that China might be willing to extend some olive branches or try to heal rifts in the relationship, to try to thaw things out, I think this pretty clearly demonstrates that that is not terribly high on its list of priorities’, he said.
About 100 Canadians are currently held in China, according to Canadian media, many of them on drug offences.
‘I asked personally for leniency… They were all dual citizens,’ she said, adding that Canada consistently asks for clemency for its citizens facing the death penalty abroad.
She said the families had asked the government to withhold details of the identity of the four individuals.