Amnesty International: Iran has the highest execution rate in the world after China

Amnesty International reported in its annual report on the death penalty in the world that Iran had the highest number of executions in 2019 after China. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt are the next most executing countries in the world.

According to an Amnesty International report published on Tuesday, May 2, in 2019, China (thousands of people), Iran (at least 251 people), Saudi Arabia (184 people), Iraq (at least 100 people), and Egypt (at least 32 people) were the five countries that carried out the highest number of executions.

Amnesty International reported that the number of executions fell to 657 in 2019, but these countries are moving against the global trend of decreasing executions.

Iran, which has the world's second-highest execution rate after China, executed at least 251 people in 2019, compared with at least 253 in 2018 – at least four of those executed were under 18 at the time of the crime. However, due to a lack of transparency from the authorities, the actual number of executions in the country is difficult to ascertain and may be much higher than the figures reported.

Previously, Amnesty International announced in a report that Iran alone has been responsible for 97 executions of children under the age of 18 in the world since 1990, equivalent to two-thirds of all such executions.

Amnesty International reported that a third of "globally recorded executions" in 2018, a total of 253, were carried out in Iran.

Claire Algar, Senior Director of Research, Legal Affairs and Policy at Amnesty International, said: “A small number of countries are increasingly resorting to executions, bucking the global trend of declining executions. Saudi Arabia’s increasing use of the death penalty, including as a weapon against political opponents, is a worrying development. The sharp increase in executions in Iraq, with the number of executions almost doubling annually, is also deeply concerning.”

The statistics on the number of executions recorded in the world do not include China, as the country does not publish information on the number of executions carried out.

Source: Voice of America