Global executions surge to highest level in eight years
By Francesca Merlo
The world has witnessed the highest number of annual deaths by capital punishment in eight years.
The international human rights NGO, Amnesty International鈥檚 latest dedicated to the Death Penalty, published on 29 May, has revealed a harrowing increase in global executions. In fact, according to the report, in 2023, 1153 people were killed in 16 countries across the globe 鈥 a 30% increase since 2022.
As the world advances in the fields of technology and medicine, human rights continue to fall behind. Amidst wars, climate disasters and indifference, capital punishment is persistently seen as a viable form of punishment in so many countries across the globe, completely disregarding human life and the idea of rehabilitation, change and forgiveness.
Middle East
According to Amnesty International, the alarming increase in deaths in 2023 came predominantly from Middle Eastern nations, with Iran and Saudi Arabia at the forefront.
Iran alone was responsible for 74% of these executions, mostly for drug-related offences, while Saudi Arabia accounted for 15%.
State secrecy in Asia
Amnesty鈥檚 statistics do not include countries with stringent state secrecy, including many Asian nations like North Korea and Vietnam, which along with others are believed to have high execution rates.
North Korea has published a new law that includes the death penalty as a possible punishment for those who do not use the indigenous Korean language. Meanwhile, military authorities in Myanmar continue to impose death sentences in military-controlled courts, 鈥渋n secretive and grossly unfair proceedings鈥, reads the statement.
Amnesty International鈥檚 Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, condemned the authorities for their disregard for human life. 鈥淭he small minority of countries that insist on using it must move with the times and abolish the punishment once and for all,鈥 she said, adding that the death penalty will again come under scrutiny at this year鈥檚 UN General Assembly. Amnesty International urges all governments to rally behind the UN鈥檚 call to end the use of the death penalty in a vital show of commitment to human rights.鈥
Positive steps
Positive steps were seen, however, in other regions such as in Pakistan, where the death penalty for drug offences was repealed, and Malaysia, where the mandatory death penalty was abolished.
As of today, 112 countries are fully abolitionist and 144 in total have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
The United States
Far from making the progress it should be is the US. Amnesty International highlights the horrible reality surrounding capital punishment in the United States, which ranked in the top 5 for most executions carried out in 2023. 鈥淎 select number of US states demonstrated a chilling commitment to the death penalty and a callous intent to invest resources in the taking of human life鈥, said Agnès Callamard. She recalled the first execution using Nitrogen gas, describing the use of this 鈥渃ruel untested method鈥 used to kill Kenneth Smith earlier this year, 鈥渏ust 14 months after subjecting him to a botched execution attempt鈥.
鈥淧resident Biden must stop delaying his promise to abolish the federal death penalty鈥, she added.
The 杏MAP导航s and the Church
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here