Recorded executions rise to highest in five years: Amnesty
In its annual report, the rights group says “killings” were led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Some 883 people were executed last year, the highest number of known executions in five years, according to Amnesty International, which also raised concerns about the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
The number of executions, not including the thousands believed to have been carried out in China, is up more than 50 percent from 2021, Amnesty said in its annual report on the use of the death penalty on Tuesday.
About 90 percent of the world’s known executions outside China took place in just three countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the human rights group said.
Iran executed 576 people last year (314 in 2021), Saudi Arabia 196 people (65 in 2021) and Egypt 24 people.
Amnesty noted that Saudi Arabia’s executions were the highest in 30 years.
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa violated international law when they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, in a statement. declaration.
“The number of people who have lost their lives has risen dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed as many as 81 people in one day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran has executed people simply for exercising their right to protest.”
A total of 20 countries are known to have used the death penalty last year, with five countries resuming executions, including Myanmar’s military regime that shocked the world last July by hanging four of its political opponents in its first executions since the 1980s .
Amnesty noted that nearly 40 percent of all executions carried out last year related to drug offenses and took place in Iran (255), Saudi Arabia (57) and Singapore (11). People are also likely to have been executed for drug offenses in China and Vietnam, where the use of the death penalty remains a state secret, it added.
Under international human rights law, countries that maintain the death penalty are only allowed to use it for “the most serious crimes” involving intentional killing.
“It is time for governments and the UN to step up the pressure on those responsible for these blatant human rights abuses and ensure that international safeguards are put in place,” Callamard said.
But while the number of executions increased, the number of registered death sentences fell 2 percent last year to 2,016.
Six countries – Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia – have abolished all or part of the death penalty.
Liberia and Ghana have taken legislative action to abolish the death penalty, while the authorities of Sri Lanka and the Maldives said they would not resort to carrying out death sentences.
Malaysia has also taken steps to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
“As many countries continue to consign the death penalty to the dustbin of history, it is time others followed suit. The brutal actions of countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, but also China, North Korea and Vietnam are now firmly in the minority. These countries urgently need to keep up with the times, protect human rights and execute justice instead of people,” Callamard said.