A spike in the number of executions recorded worldwide saw more people put to death last year than at any point since 1989, according to a new report from human rights group Amnesty International.
The total number of reported executions rose to at least 1,634 people in 2015, an increase of more than 50 per cent over the previous year.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The world's "top five executioners" have been named as China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US, The Guardian says. However, Amnesty's report does not include figures from China nor North Korea, where records of executions are kept secret.
"Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have all put people to death at unprecedented levels, often after grossly unfair trials," Shetty added. Together, those three countries account for 89 per cent of executions listed in the report.
Iran put 977 people to death in 2015, mostly for "drug-related offences", said the human rights group, while Pakistan executed 326 people.
The country lifted its seven-year moratorium on the death penalty to "allow executions for terrorism-related offences" following the Taliban massacre in Peshawar in December 2014, CNN reports.
Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty's death penalty expert, told CNN that global unrest is a leading factor in the rise. "Many governments' responses to evolving security threats is leading to the unravelling of human rights protections around the world," she said.
But it isn't all bad news for anti-death penalty campaigners. "Four countries – Fiji, the Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Suriname – abolished the death penalty for all crimes, reinforcing the long-term trend towards abolition," the Guardian reports, while Mongolia is also in the process of implementing a new criminal code outlawing execution.
-
How the ‘British FBI’ will workThe Explainer New National Police Service to focus on fighting terrorism, fraud and organised crime, freeing up local forces to tackle everyday offences
-
The best family hotels in EuropeThe Week Recommends Top kid-friendly hotels with clubs, crèches and fun activities for children of all ages – and some downtime for the grown-ups
-
Moon dust has earthly elements thanks to a magnetic bridgeUnder the radar The substances could help supply a lunar base
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
