DUSHANBE, March 28, 2011, Asia-Plus — According to a new report released by Amnesty International (AI) over the weekend, at least 527 people were executed across the world in 2010.
The new report estimates that China could have put to death thousands more.
The global number was down from 714 in 2009. “But Beijing, which would not release figures, was thought to have executed far more criminals than the rest of the world combined”, the rights body says.
Calling for an end to capital punishment, Amnesty International says that: “At least 23 countries held judicial execution last year, up four on 2009.
“A number of countries continue to pass death sentences for drugs-related offences, economic crimes, sexual relations between consenting adults and blasphemy, violating international human rights law forbidding the use of the death penalty except for the most serious crimes”, says Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Salil Shetty.
Of the executions recorded last year, at least 252 were in Iran, with 60 in North Korea, 53 in Yemen, 46 in the United States, 27 in Saudi Arabia, 18 in Libya and 17 in Syria, says Amnesty, while noting that only a few nations gave official figures.
Methods included beheading, hanging, electrocution, injections and shooting.
At least 17,833 people were on death row at the end of last year.
“But the number of countries that had abolished the death penalty had risen to 139 from 108 in 2001,” Amnesty further revealed.
We will recall that Tajikistan introduced moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in 2004 and no executions have taken place since then. But capital punishment remains on the lawbooks, making Tajikistan the only Central Asian country where this is the case for common crimes, as opposed to exceptional circumstances such as in time of war.
