Global executions hit their highest figure since 2015, as over 1,500 people were executed across 15 countries in 2024. A number of 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024, Amnesty International noted in its annual report on the global use of the death penalty, IPN reports.
Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the sharp spike in deaths last year, carrying out over 91% of known executions, violating human rights and callously taking people’s lives for drug-related and terrorism charges
The authorities in Iran executed at least 972 people, compared to 853 a year earlier, while Saudi Arabia doubled its yearly total to at least 345. In Iraq, the death penalty was applied 63 times, almost twice more often than in 2023.
According to Amnesty International, the available information indicates that thousands of people were executed in China. But Beijing refuses to disclose data.
The organization also suspects North Korea and Vietnam of having extensively used the death penalty.
Throughout 2024, Amnesty International witnessed leaders weaponizing the death penalty under the false pretense that it would improve public safety or to instill fear among the population.
In the USA, which has experienced a steady upward trend in executions since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, 25 people were executed (against 24 in 2023).
In some countries in the Middle East region, death sentences were used to silence human rights defenders, dissidents, protesters, political opponents, and ethnic minorities.
According to the report, more than 40% of executions in 2024 were carried out illegally, for drug-related crimes.
According to international human rights law and standards, the use of the death penalty must be limited to the "most serious crimes" and sentencing people to death for drug-related crimes does not meet this threshold.
On 17 December 2024, 130 United Nations Member States voted in favor of adopting the tenth resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, while 32 countries voted against the proposal and 22 members abstained.
Photo source: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/picture Alliance
