LONDON, United Kingdom: Executions worldwide rose to the highest number in nearly a decade in 2023, with a sharp increase in the Middle East, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
The 1,153 known executions that took place last year were the most recorded by the global rights monitor since 2015 – and more than a 30 percent increase from 2022.
Despite this, the number of countries carrying out executions was the lowest on record, according to the UK-based NGO.
The data did not include “thousands of people” allegedly executed in China, as well as other executions believed to have taken place in North Korea and Vietnam, where data was missing.
“The lowest number of countries in history carried out the highest number of known executions in almost a decade,” Amnesty said in its annual report on the subject.
it attributed this to an “alarming” increase in the number of executions in Iran, where the numbers have been rising by nearly 50 percent annually.
Amnesty’s global chief Agnes Callamard said Iranian authorities had “multiplied the number of executions for drug-related offences”, with the punishment disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.
The report also noted a 20 percent increase in the number of death sentences handed down worldwide.
However, the data showed that only 16 countries recorded executions, an all-time low.
Pakistan abolished the death penalty for drug-related offenses and Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty for a range of offences.
In the United States, the number of executions increased from 18 to 24 for the second year in a row.
Five states have carried out executions, all using lethal injection.
The report pointed to the introduction of firing squad laws in two US states and a new law in South Carolina to keep the identities of those involved in executions secret.
Twenty-three US states have completely abolished the death penalty, and another 14 have not carried out executions for at least a decade.
