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the death penalty reached a record number since 2017, according to Amnesty International

the death penalty reached a record number since 2017, according to Amnesty International

“The number of recorded executions in 2022 reached its highest level in five years, with the main countries responsible for this record in the Middle East and North Africa delivered to a wave of murders”criticized the NGO for the defense of human rights.

The report counts 883 people executed in 20 countries in 2022, an increase of 53% over the previous year.

“This drastic increase in executions, not taking into account the thousands that probably took place in China last year, is mainly due to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded numbers rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022”says Amnesty International.

king salman of arabia and iranian president raisi.jpg

Iran and Saudi Arabia, main executors of the death penalty

The number of executions in Iran went from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022tripled in Saudi Arabia, going from 65 to 196 (the highest figure recorded by the NGO in 30 years), while Egypt executed 24 peopleaccording to the report.

Saudi Arabia “came to execute 81 prisoners in a single day”, highlights Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

He also points to Iran, where “in a desperate attempt to quell popular protest, the authorities took the lives of people who were only exercising their right to demonstrate.”

Amnesty International stresses that the total number of executions in the world in 2022 was actually “considerably higher” than recordedsince “the secrecy surrounding the use of the death penalty continues to prevent an accurate assessment in several countries, such as China, North Korea and Vietnam.”

“Although the exact number of people executed in China is not known, China is still clearly in the lead.”

However, the report highlights “a ray of hope”: six countries have fully or partially abolished the death penalty by 2022.

Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the Central African Republic abolished it for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished it only for common law crimes.

Source: Ambito

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