Despite 112 countries globally being fully abolitionist and 144 countries having abolished the death penalty either through law or practice, global executions have reached their highest level since 2015, according to Amnesty’s 2023 annual report, published last week. There were 1,153 executions recorded in 2023 across the world, accounting for an increase of over 30% from 2022. While the number of countries reported to carry out the death penalty has decreased to 16, many of the executions, Amnesty reported, were contrary to international human rights law standards, being used to punish crimes such as drug offences and robbery.
The highest number of executions were in countries including China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the USA, however, due to state secrecy, Amnesty were unable to include the figures from China, and faced similar issues with North Korea and Vietnam. Of the 853 executions recorded in Iran, at least 545 were carried out for crimes that should not result in a death penalty outcome as per international law, according to Amnesty, such as robbery, drug crimes and espionage. Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard noted,
“The huge spike in recorded executions was primarily down to Iran. The Iranian authorities showed complete disregard for human life and ramped up executions for drug-related offences, further highlighting the discriminatory impact of the death penalty on Iran’s most marginalized and impoverished communities.”
Sub-Saharan Africa saw an increase from 11 executions in 2022 to 38 in 2023. The region underwent several changes to death penalty law in 2022, with Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Zambia abolishing the death penalty for different crimes, but there were no further enactments since then. Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, stated that these executions could be solely attributed to Somalia,
“…recorded executions in sub-Saharan Africa more than tripled from 11 in 2022 to 38 in 2023, although all of them were recorded in Somalia.”
There are many countries taking the final steps towards reducing or removing the death penalty as a punishment, including Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Pakistan, and Amnesty notes,
‘…the world has made some progress towards abolition.’
To read Amnesty’s report, click here.