Amnesty International announces the rise of execution rates in the world
The international human rights organization Amnesty International stated that the number of executions in 2021 increased by 20% compared to the previous year. At the same time, the number of countries where the death penalty is legal has reduced to a minimum.
This is stated in the organization's report, according to Suspilnе.
In 2021, the organization recorded at least 579 executions in 18 countries. The death sentences were carried out by beheading, hanging, shooting, and injecting poison. One in every four executed people was a woman.
"Iran accounted for the biggest portion of this rise, executing at least 314 people (up from at least 246 in 2020), its highest execution total since 2017. This was due in part to a marked increase in drug-related executions," the report said.
Human rights activists emphasize that the death penalty for such crimes is a violation of international law, which prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes not related to premeditated murder.
A significant increase in the number of death sentences compared to 2020 was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (at least 81 vs. 20), Egypt (at least 356 compared to 264), Iraq (at least 91 vs. 27), Myanmar (86 versus 1), Vietnam (at least 119 versus 54), and Yemen (298 versus 269).
Amnesty International has noted that the number of executions in Saudi Arabia has increased more than two times – in 2021, 65 people were executed there. This trend continued into 2022, when 81 people were executed in one day in March.
Experts note that the actual number of executions is probably much higher, as in China – the country where the highest number of death sentences is imposed and executed – the relevant information is considered a state secret, so the AI's statistics do not take the data on China into account. Amnesty estimates that thousands of people are being executed in China each year.
The report also does not take into account the data on Vietnam and North Korea – due to the lack of official statistics and independent information.
At the same time, AI notes that despite the current increase in the number of executions worldwide, the results for 2021 are one of the lowest since 2010. The number of countries still using the death penalty has dropped to 18. This is the minimum for all statistics. The authors of the report call these countries an "isolated minority."
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