12, Apr 2018 | CJP Team

Amnesty International has released its report on death sentences and executions in 2017, where it notes that the number of executions that were carried out in 2017 reduced compared to 2016 and 2015. According to the report, Amnesty documented 993 executions in 2017, 4% lower than executions in 2016, which numbered 1,032, and 39% lower than the 1,634 executions in 2015. 2015 saw the most  executions since 1989. 52% of all documented executions were carried out in Iran. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran collectively carried out 84% of the overall world’s executions. This figure excludes China, since Amnesty stopped reporting on its estimates about executions in the country over concerns about misrepresentation by Chinese authorities. According to the report, the organisation “always made clear the figures it was able to publish on China were significantly lower than the reality, because of the restrictions on access to information.” For 2017, Amnesty said it believed that China retained its position as “the world’s top executioner, implementing more death sentences than the rest of the world combined,” estimating that thousands were sentenced to death and executed in the country, which considers data on the death penalty as a state secret. Amnesty also documented a 17% decline in the number of death sentences that were imposed around the world in 2017 compared to the previous year. 2017 saw 2,591+ death sentences being imposed, compared to 2016’s 3,117 executions, a record high. The complete report may be read here.