Some 20 countries executed 883 people in 2022, a more than fifty percent increase from the year before, according to rights group Amnesty International. And the number does not include the thousands of people believed to have been executed in China, for which it is impossible to get transparent figures.
The total number of recorded executions is the highest number since 2017, according to the group’s annual report on executions and the death penalty.
'Killing sprees'
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa were guilty of state-sanctioned “killing sprees”, according to the report, with executions surging in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
China is believed to come in at the top of the ranking, but it keeps statistics secret.
Iran leads the list of recorded executions, with 576 people put to death in 2022, up from 314 the year before, as the government tried to put down a popular uprising.
“Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard.
Saudi Arabia executed 196 people – including a “staggering” 81 people in a single day in March 2022 – its highest number in 30 years.
Egypt and the United States follow in the ranks, with 24 and 18 people put to death, respectively.
North Korea and Vietnam use the death penalty extensively, but as with China, the figures are “shrouded in secrecy,” according to the report.
Crackdowns on dissent
One reason for the rise in numbers are official crackdowns on dissent, though the report points out that nearly 40 percent of all known executions were for drug-related offenses, including 11 in Singapore.
While executions were up, the total number of recorded death sentences did not change significantly, with a slight decrease in 2022, to 2,016, down from 2,052 the year before.
In what Amnesty calls a “glimmer of hope”, six countries abolished the death penalty, partially or fully, in 2022: Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Kazakhstan and Papua New Guinea
“The brutal actions of countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia as well as China, North Korea and Vietnam are now firmly in the minority,” said Callamard.
“These countries should urgently catch up with the times, protect human rights, and execute justice rather than people.”
(with AFP)
