Signs of progress towards ending death penalty, Amnesty International reports
“The 2012 figures on the use of the death penalty confirm that the overall trend globally is towards abolition: Only one in 10 countries worldwide carried out death sentences,” the London-based non-profit said in a statement about its annual review released Wednesday.
Amnesty International has reported signs of progress in the global trend toward ending the death penalty. However, the human rights group reported an “alarming escalation” in executions in Iraq.
In 2012, at least 682 executions were confirmed worldwide, two more than in 2011. At least 1,722 newly imposed death sentences in 58 countries could be confirmed, down from 1,923 in 63 countries the year before.
Amnesty found that a total of 21 countries carried out executions in 2012, the same as in 2011, but a sharp drop from 28 countries in 2003.
China once again executed more people than the rest of the world combined, the organization said, followed by Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
However, the 2012 figures do not include the number of executions in China, which keeps the data strictly secret.
The rights group reported an “alarming escalation” in executions in Iraq with at least 129 people killed last year, almost double the 2011 figure of 68.
Iran had 314 officially confirmed executions, however the organization said the actual number was almost certainly higher.
India, Pakistan and Japan resumed executions after abandoning the practice for some time, the group said.
“The regression we saw in some countries this year was disappointing, but it does not reverse the worldwide trend against using the death penalty. In many parts of the world, executions are becoming a thing of the past,” said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International.
Category: International
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