Activists: Olympics cutting PRC executions

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The Olympics is giving momentum to activists seeking to slow down the rate of executions in China.

The Beijing government has pulled back on the death-penalty throttle as the world spotlight shifts to the upcoming summer games in China and that has human rights activists calling for a permanent reduction in executions, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

"For China, it's an exciting breakthrough," New York University law professor Jerome Cohen told the Times. "Death penalty reforms will lead the way for improved procedures for other major criminal cases."

The Times said executions in 2006 tallied by Amnesty International were down 40 percent from the previous year. While seen as encouraging, other scholars cautioned that the death penalty was still handed down for non-violent crimes while Chinese courts remained under the influence of political leaders.