China reportedly uses ‘mobile death vans’ to speed up their execution process in a ‘conveyor belt’ with so many people being callously put to death in the country
China reportedly uses ‘mobile death vans’ to speed up their execution process in a ‘conveyor belt’ with so many people being put to death in the country.
The country has been put in the spotlight for its conveyor belt process where “mobile death vans” are said to be used to deal with the high numbers being killed. Canada was furious that four of its citizens had been executed under China’s death penalty in recent months, with Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly saying she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had asked for leniency in the drug-related accusations involving the dual citizens.
Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and that China does not recognise dual citizenship.
China is said to execute more prisoners every year than the rest of the world combined, reports Mirror.
Executions are usually carried out by gunshot but lethal injections have been introduced over the past few years.
Chinese courts have used the death penalty for non-violent crimes like corruption, and the country reportedly uses “mobile death vans” to speed up the process with a haunting similarity to Nazi Germany.
Convicts are believed to be strapped to beds in the vans before they are given lethal injections by police officials, and the whole process is recorded.
Amnesty International condemned the executions and noted that China executed thousands of people in 2023.
China does not disclose how many people it executes, whether it be by firing squad, lethal injections or in “death” vans.
The vans are used so that prisoners don’t need to be moved to specific execution centres.
A Minghui study into the persecution of the Falun Gong, a religious movement in China, says they have been used since 2004, and that said body parts are harvested.
It said: “In the eyes of CCP officials, the biggest advantage of the execution vehicle is the convenience of taking organs from criminals for profit: their eyes, kidneys, livers, pancreas, lung and all other useful body parts, are harvested.”
Human rights groups have criticised Chinese courts for their 99.9% conviction rate.
A report published in 2021 said China’s Penal Code of 1997, which is still in force today, has 46 crimes punishable by death, including 24 violent crimes and 22 non-violent crimes.
The families of the executed Canadians have asked for the four individuals’ identities not to be revealed, said Joly.
Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said they are continuing to provide consular assistance to families and requested that the media respect their privacy.
She said Canada continues to advocate for leniency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said: “China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes.
“The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient.”
They said Beijing “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned,” and urged Canada’s government to “stop making irresponsible remarks.”
Canada and China have a tense relationship, and China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products.
Former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said: “China is sending us a message that we have to take steps if we want to see an improvement in the relationship.”
Ian Brodie, a former chief of staff to ex-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, posted on social media to say: “Agricultural tariffs weren’t the worst part of the PRC response to EV tariffs.”
Opposition Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong said: “executing a number of Canadians in short order is unprecedented, and is clearly a sign that Beijing has no intention of improving relations with Canada.”
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, but relations have been tense since Canadian authorities in 2018 arrested a former Huawei executive who the US had charged with fraud.
China jailed another two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request.
They were sent back to Canada in 2021, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with U.S. authorities in her case.
Many other countries called China’s decision “hostage politics,” while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China’s economic and technological developments.