Amnesty International Reports Worldwide Decline in Executions

Executions around the world declined by 22% last year, according to Amnesty International’s 2014 annual report on death sentences and executions. The report — released on April 1 — indicates that an estimated 607 people were executed worldwide in 2014, compared to 778 in 2013. The global totals do not include executions in China, where data on the death penalty is considered a state secret. On a regional level, Amnesty reported notable declines in Sub-Saharan Africa, where both the total number of executions and the number of countries carrying out executions dropped. The number of death sentences imposed worldwide increased compared to 2013, with 2,466 people sentenced to death. This increase was attributable to actions in Egypt and Nigeria, in which mass sentencings occurred and death sentences rose by more than 900. The total number of death sentences imposed in the rest of the world actually decreased compared to 2013. The United States was the only country in the Americas to carry out any executions, though the number of executions dropped to its lowest level in 20 years. The United States had the fifth most executions of any country, behind China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. (Click image to enlarge.)

(“Death Sentences and Executions 2014,” Amnesty International, April 1, 2015.) See International and Studies.