London, (EFE) that the total is actually higher in the absence of data from China.
AI says that these executions, which represent 53% more than in 2021, were carried out in around twenty countries, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa, where they skyrocketed from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022.
The organization for the defense of human rights, whose investigation includes only judicial executions, warns that it has not been able to include exact data from China -which it places in first position, with thousands of them-, Vietnam or North Korea, due to the secrecy in those territories.
Despite the increase in executions last year to its highest figure since 2017 (when there were 993), Amnesty highlights that death sentences imposed globally experienced a slight decrease, falling from 2,052 in 56 countries in 2021 to 2016 in 52 countries in 2022.
The main executioners
90% of known executions outside of China – by beheading, hanging, lethal injection or shooting – occurred in three states: Iran, which went from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; Saudi Arabia, which jumped from 65 to 196 (its AI record in 30 years, with 81 in a single day); and Egypt, which dropped from 83 to 24.
“The (most prolific) countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law by increasing executions, revealing their contempt for human life,” AI Secretary General Agnès Callamard said.
They are followed in the table by the United States -the only one in America-, which went from 11 in 2021 to 18 in 2022; Iraq (down from 17 to 11); Singapore (11); Kuwait (7); Somalia (with at least 6); South Sudan (5); the State of Palestine (5); and Yemen (4).
Bangladesh and Burma registered 4 and Belarus and Japan 1, and the statistics are also unknown in Afghanistan and Syria, indicates AI.
Executions resumed last year in five countries: Afghanistan, Kuwait, Burma, the State of Palestine and Singapore, the report said.
Amnesty denounces that 37% of the verified executions were for drug-related crimes, with 255 in Iran; 57 in Saudi Arabia and 11 in Singapore, which, according to the organization, may violate international law.
“It is important to highlight that it is often people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are disproportionately affected by this cruel punishment,” says Callamard, who calls on the UN and governments to “increase pressure on those responsible for these flagrant violations ”.
Abolition of the death penalty
AI highlights as a “ray of hope” the fact that six countries abolished the death penalty in whole or in part by 2022.
Thus, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic eliminated it for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia only for common ones, he specified.
This means that, as of December 2022, 112 countries have abolished the death penalty in the world and 9 have done so for common crimes, while others, such as Ghana, Liberia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Malaysia have they plan to do it.
“The brutal acts of countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as China, North Korea and Vietnam are now in the minority. They must adapt to the times, protect human rights and execute justice, rather than to people”, says the Amnesty leader.
AI recalls that 125 UN member countries (out of 195) have called for a moratorium on executions, which invites “hope that this abominable punishment can be relegated to the annals of history.”