In 2023, there were at least 883 executions worldwide. A record number in the last five years, with a more than 50% increase in victims compared to 2021. This is what we read in Amnesty International’s annual report, which states that the main perpetrators are Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran, but “thousands of murders ordered by the Chinese government” are missing.
According to the report published by the NGO, there was an unprecedented increase in executions last year. If at least 579 people died from the death penalty in 2021, that number grew exponentially the following year, exceeding 880 victims. A staggering 53 percent increase led Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard to speak of “a callous contempt for human life”.
According to the report, about 90 percent of these executions took place between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Among them, many followed the commission of “non-lethal” crimes related to the drug trade, and others were committed against minors in violation of international law. Among the main executioners, Egypt was the only country to have dropped 24 from the previous year, while 83 people were executed in 2021. The number of death sentences in Saudi Arabia has tripled to 196 victims – 81 of them killed in one day. This crackdown on justice has coincided with sustained crackdown on opposition across King Salman’s authoritarian reign and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who came to power in 2015. 82%.
Riyadh’s response was swift: “Like many other countries, Saudi Arabia includes the death penalty as a form of criminal justice for the most gruesome crimes,” the government told the New York Times in a statement. There was also a large increase in executions in Iran, where growth exceeded 83% compared to 2021. According to the NGO’s report, at least five young children were allegedly hanged or stoned to death here. According to the Iranian penal code, every man over the age of 15 and every woman over the age of 9 is sentenced to death.
Countries such as Kuwait and Myanmar also contributed to the very high figure, where the rise in deaths from the death penalty was significant, along with the Gaza Strip. The exact number of death sentences executed in China is lacking, according to Amnesty International. In this case, the lack of transparency has allowed Beijing to subtract “thousands” of victims from the final total.
The global increase was partially countered by a large number of signals going in the opposite direction. Many governments around the world, including the Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, and Sierra Leone, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. It is only the USA that executes people in America. There were 18 executions in 2022, the lowest number for the country since 1991. Consensus on this form of justice in the country has dropped from a year ago, according to reports from the Death Penalty Information Centre, a group that opposes the death penalty in overseas countries. .
However, according to the United Nations, there are at least 209 victims in Iran alone in 2023, with an average of 10 victims per week proving to be “the world’s leading perpetrator,” as Human Rights Director Volker Turk noted. Un. in the Rights section.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.