Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said: “Following a drop in their execution figures in 2020, Iran and Saudi Arabia have once again increased their use of the death penalty over the past year, going so far as to unapologetically violate human rights. His eagerness to put the executioner to work does not seem to have subsided in the first months of 2022.”
As the Covid-19 health measures were lifted in many parts of the world, judges handed down at least 2,052 death sentences in 56 countries, an increase of close to 40% compared to 2020. Along these lines, large spikes were observed in countries such as Bangladesh (at least 181, compared to at least 113 in 2020), India (144, compared to 77), and Pakistan (at least 129 compared to at least 49).
“Instead of capitalizing on trends that have seen the numbers decline, some states have shown worrying enthusiasm for the death penalty. In this way, they expose a cruel disregard for the right to life despite the urgent and continuous global human rights crises,” said Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina.
Despite these setbacks, the total number of executions recorded in 2021 is the second lowest figure, after 2020, that Amnesty International has recorded since at least 2010.
The organization, meanwhile, clarified that secrecy and restricted access to information in China, North Korea and Vietnam prevented a rigorous monitoring of these actions, while in the case of other countries, the totals recorded should be considered minimum figures.
Iran retains the mandatory death penalty for possession of certain types and amounts of drugs, and the number of recorded executions for drug-related offenses more than five-fold to 132 in 2021 (up from 23 the previous year). ). The confirmed number of women executed also increased from 9 to 14, while the Iranian authorities continued their heinous assault on children’s rights by executing three people who were under 18 at the time of the crime.
In addition to the increase in executions seen in Saudi Arabia (65 vs. 27 in 2020), there were other significant increases over 2020 in Somalia (at least 21 vs. at least 11), South Sudan (at least 9 vs. at least 2) and Yemen (at least 14, compared to at least 5). Belarus (at least 1), Japan (3) and the United Arab Emirates (at least 1) also carried out executions, despite none in 2020.
Compared to 2020, significant increases in death sentences were recorded in Egypt (at least 356, compared to at least 264), Iraq (at least 91, compared to at least 27), Myanmar (at least 86, compared to at least 1) , Democratic Republic of the Congo (at least 81, compared to at least 20), Vietnam (at least 119, compared to at least 54), and Yemen (at least 298, compared to at least 269).
Source: Ambito
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