Tue Oct 28, 9:26 AM ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Amnesty International urged the European Union on Tuesday to rethink its China policy ahead of a high-level visit to Beijing, saying the Asian country's economic success overshadows a justice system plagued with human rights abuses.

Amnesty released a report detailing alleged human rights violations, including the frequent use of the death penalty, forced labor camps, arbitrary detention and torture of AIDS patients and an ongoing [persecution of] the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The report was published as Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi -- leading a delegation of senior EU officials -- headed for Beijing for talks Thursday with Chinese leaders. Italy currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

China executes some 15,000 prisoners a year, Amnesty said, though the government's own annual official tally barely exceeds 1,000.

"Official reports in China ... hailing the introduction of 'mobile execution chambers' for their 'cost-effectiveness and efficiency' should send alarm bells ringing in the corridors of the EU," said Dick Oosting, head of the human rights group's EU office.

[...]

The Amnesty report also scolds China for labor camps that "re-educate" more than 300,000 people, including Falun Gong practitioners, journalists, AIDS activists and "cyber-dissidents" who post "subversive" messages on Internet chat rooms.

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