Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
# Death Penalty
50% more people were executed last year than in 2014
Amnesty International has said that 1,634 people were executed in 25 countries last year.
THE NUMBER OF people being executed around the world has jumped up, according to new figures from Amnesty International.
In 2015, 1,634 people were executed in 25 countries around the world – a staggering rise of more than 50% on the 1,061 killed in 22 countries in 2014.
According to the human rights group, this is the highest number of executions since 1989.
Where are these taking place?
The world’s worst offender is China.
In the East Asian nation accurate statistics for executions are a state secret; for this reason Amnesty leave it out of their overall figure.
However, best estimates put the number killed by the state in the thousands.
China is followed by Iran (977+), Pakistan (326), Saudi Arabia (158+) and the United States (28) to make up the five countries where most executions are carried out.
Around the world the death penalty was found to be carried out in the following ways:
- Beheading,
- Hanging,
- Lethal injection and,
- Shooting.
At the end of 2015, 20,292 people were on death row, nine of whom are understood to be under the age of 18 – four in Iran and five in Pakistan.
Is it all bad news?
While there was a big yearly increase in 2015, there were some positives to be taken away.
The number of countries carrying out the death sentence has dropped significantly over the past 20 years – 25 countries carried it out last year was down 14 from 39 in 1995.
Last year also saw Fiji, Madagascar, the Republic of Congo and Suriname all abolish the death penalty.
Read: Two-week protest on the doorstep of power will aim to push abortion issue
Also: Woman forced to work in Irish brothel to ‘repay her debt’
