Daily Reports
The global number of executions reached a decade-high in 2023, driven predominantly by a notable surge in the Middle East, according to Amnesty International’s annual report on the death penalty. The London-based human rights organization documented a total of 1,153 executions, reflecting a 30% increase from 2022. This tally excludes the thousands of executions believed to have occurred in China, where official figures remain undisclosed.
Iran was notably responsible for a significant portion of these executions, with authorities there executing 853 individuals, marking nearly a 50% rise compared to the previous year. A substantial number of these were for drug-related offenses, highlighting the death penalty's discriminatory impact on marginalized communities within the country, such as the Baluchi ethnic minority. Despite this rise, the number of countries carrying out executions has decreased to 16, an unprecedented low, indicating growing global isolation of nations that still practice the death penalty.
Apart from Iran, other countries with the highest execution rates in 2023 included Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the United States. Iran alone accounted for 74% of the recorded executions, while Saudi Arabia was responsible for 15%. The United States also saw an increase in executions, with the number rising from 18 in 2022 to 24 in 2023.
Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a regression regarding the death penalty. The number of executions more than tripled from 11 in 2022 to 38 in 2023, and death sentences surged by 66%, with 494 reported cases. Amnesty International’s report highlighted that no new countries in this region abolished the death penalty during the year.
The report did not account for the executions in repressive regimes like North Korea and Vietnam, where the death penalty is practiced under a veil of secrecy. The secrecy surrounding these figures is seen as a tactic to instill fear and suppress dissent.
Despite the alarming increase in executions in certain parts of the world, progress towards abolishing the death penalty continues globally. As of 2023, 112 states have completely banned the death penalty, and 144 have abolished it either by law or in practice. Amnesty International urges all governments to back the United Nations’ call to end the use of the death penalty, advocating for a strong commitment to human rights.
- Amnesty International's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, emphasized the organization's determination to abolish the death penalty worldwide, describing it as a cruel punishment that leads to severe human rights violations. She highlighted that in regions like Iran, the death penalty is increasingly employed as a tool of oppression.
- In the United States, the methods and legislative changes concerning the death penalty have sparked controversy. States like Idaho and Tennessee introduced execution by firing squad, while South Carolina passed a law concealing the identities of those involved in execution processes. Alabama made headlines by using nitrogen gas for executions, a first in the state's history.
- In Asia, positive steps were noted with nations such as Pakistan and Malaysia making legislative changes to reduce the scope of the death penalty. Pakistan abolished the death penalty for drug-related offenses, and Malaysia overhauled laws to eliminate mandatory death sentences for specific crimes.
- Despite a lack of new abolishments in sub-Saharan Africa, some legislative movements show promise. Kenya, Liberia, and Zimbabwe have ongoing parliamentary debates aimed at outlawing the death penalty. In Ghana, parliament has voted to remove the death penalty from existing laws, though these changes have not yet been officially enacted.
