Wu Zhenjiang - put to death

Wu Zhenjiang was executed in 2005, but still to this day his body has never been returned to his grieving family.

The 24-year-old student's family say they were not allowed to see him after his trial, and didn't even get to say goodbye. His mother has petitioned authorities for more information about his case.

She suspects, although she has no evidence, that after his death Wu Zhenjiang's organs were taken without consent and used in transplant operations. His body was cremated after execution.

We are calling on Chinese authorities to provide Wu Zhenjiang's family with information about his case, particularly details about what happened to his body.

Internet café brawl

Wu Zhenjiang, who came from the Xinjiang Uighur Automonous Region, allegedly killed a man in a brawl outside an Internet cafe. He worked part-time at the cafe to pay for his studies and so he could send money to his family.

The brawl apparently broke out after he refused entry to a group of men, who did not want to pay, to use the cafe's computers. Wu Zhenjiang was convicted of intentional injury.

Secret figures

China is the world's leading executioner, killing more people each year than the rest of the world combined. We don't know the exact number of executions carried out each year because the figure’'s a state secret.

Based on media reports, we believe at least 470 people were executed and 1,860 sentenced to death in China last year. The previous year China executed at least 1,010 people and sentenced another 2,790 to death.

Early in 2006, a Chinese criminal law professor estimated that annually China carried out 8,000 executions.

China uses the death penalty for about 68 offences, including crimes that aren’t violent and white-collar crimes such as fraud and bribery. It's used arbitrarily and often there is political interference.