Amnesty International
Amnesty International recorded at least 690 executions in 20 countries in 2018, a decrease of 31% compared to 2017 (at least 993). This figure represents the lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the past decade.
Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq – in that order.
China remained the world’s leading executioner – but the true extent of the use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least 690 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China.
The authorities of Viet Nam indicated in November that 85 executions had been carried out during 2018, placing the country among the world’s top five executioners.
Excluding China, 78% of all reported executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq.
Botswana, Sudan, Taiwan and Thailand all resumed executions last year. Amnesty International did not report any executions in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Palestine (State of) and United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite having done so in 2017.
Executions in Iran dropped from at least 507 in 2017 to at least 253 in 2018 – a decrease of 50%. Executions in Iraq decreased from at least 125 in 2017 to at least 52 in 2018, while in Pakistan, executions fell from at least 60 in 2017 to at least 14 in 2018. Somalia halved its executions, down from 24 in 2017 to 13 in 2018.
Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty in its new penal code in June. In February and July respectively, Gambia and Malaysia both declared an official moratorium on executions. In the US, the death penalty statute in the state of Washington was declared unconstitutional in October.
At the end of 2018, 106 countries (a majority of the world’s states) had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes, and 142 countries (more than two-thirds) had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Amnesty International recorded commutations or pardons of death sentences in 29 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, China, Egypt, Guyana, India, Iran, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco/Western Sahara, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
Eight exonerations of prisoners under sentence of death were recorded in four countries: Egypt, Kuwait, Malawi and USA.
Amnesty International recorded at least 2,531 death sentences in 54 countries, a slight decrease from the total of 2,591 reported in 2017.
At least 19,336 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2018.
The following methods of execution were used across the world in 2018: beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Two new death sentences by stoning were known to have been imposed in Iran.
Reports from 2018 indicated seven people were executed in Iran for crimes committed when they were younger than 18 years of age.
At least 98 executions were known to have been carried out for drug-related offences in 4 countries – 14% of the global total and down from 28% in 2017. At least 226 of such death sentences were known to have been imposed in 14 countries.
Death sentences were known to have been imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards in countries including Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Viet Nam.
Read More https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/death-penalty-facts-and-figures-2018/
