MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2019) There were at least 690 executions in 20 countries in 2018, which is the record low number in a decade, a human rights group said on Wednesday.
"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," the Amnesty International group said in a report.
As of the end of 2018, 106 countries had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes, while 142 states had abolished the capital punishment in law, or in practice.
"The dramatic global fall in executions proves that even the most unlikely countries are starting to change their ways and realize the death penalty is not the answer," Amnesty International's Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said, as quoted by the report.
According to the group, the largest number of executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq. China remains the world's leading executioner with thousands executions believed to have taken place in the country. As Beijing made statistics of death penalty classified, the number of executions in this country is not included in the global figure provided by Amnesty International.
"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," the report stressed.
At the same time the number of executions increased last year in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the United States. Moreover, last year, Thailand carried out its first execution since 2009.
