Amnesty International: Number of executions down in 2018
Amnesty International has released its annual report on the death penalty. According to the report, the number of executions in 2018 reached its lowest level in ten years.
According to Amnesty International's annual report, at least 690 people were executed in 20 countries last year. This figure is one-third less than the number of executions carried out in 2017. It is important to note that this figure does not include the number of executions in the People's Republic of China.
China refuses to release figures on its executions. Amnesty International believes that thousands of people were executed in China last year, making the number of executions in China more than the total number of executions in the world.
According to a report by Amnesty International, 993 people were executed worldwide in 2017. Thus, the number of executions in 2018 is about 300 fewer than the previous year.
Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia
According to Amnesty International's annual report, about 78 percent of all executions carried out last year were carried out in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Iraq.
After the People's Republic of China, Iran is in second place on the blacklist, carrying out at least 253 executions last year. Saudi Arabia also executed 149 people in 2018. Vietnam is next with at least 85 executions, and Iraq is next with at least 52.
The decrease in the number of executions in Iran last year was attributed to changes in the drug trafficking law. According to the report, the number of death sentences carried out in Iran in 2018 was halved compared to the previous year.
Amnesty International has been fighting the death penalty worldwide for more than forty years. “The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment that goes against the right to life and the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Markus Biko, Amnesty International’s executive director in Germany, told reporters.
It is said that two-thirds of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty or refrain from carrying it out.
The executive director of Amnesty International in Germany has said that 142 countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty from their laws or do not carry out these sentences. This is compared to only 69 countries opposing the execution of the death penalty in 1987. This indicates that more countries are turning away from the death penalty.
Continuing efforts
Despite the decline in the number of executions worldwide, according to Amnesty International's annual report, 2,531 new death sentences were issued last year and at least 19,336 prisoners sentenced to death are in prison.
The report also mentions two cases of stoning in Iran. The report also mentions the execution of the death penalty in the United States. Last year, 25 executions were recorded in the Americas. At least 13 people were executed in the state of Texas in 2018.
In addition, the report also noted an increase in death sentences issued in Egypt, where the number of executions last year increased by 75 percent compared to 2017.
Source: DW
