The New York Times reports that the num­ber of coun­tries using cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment con­tin­ued to shrink and its use became more iso­lat­ed from 2013 to 2014, even as the num­ber of death sen­tences world­wide rose. 105 coun­tries have abol­ished the death penal­ty, most recent­ly Suriname and Mongolia, and the United Nations lists 60 addi­tion­al coun­tries as ​“de fac­to abo­li­tion­ist” because they have not had any exe­cu­tions in at least 10 years. That leaves just 28 coun­tries that still prac­tice cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. However, the Times reports, the num­ber of death sen­tences imposed around the world increased by 28%. Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations assis­tant sec­re­tary gen­er­al for human rights, called it ​“a trou­bling para­dox that while the major­i­ty of coun­tries have aban­doned the use of the death penal­ty, the over­all num­ber of those sen­tenced to death has been increas­ing recent­ly.” He said, ​“Terrorism offens­es and drug-relat­ed offens­es seem to be the dri­ving argu­ments behind this increase, although there is no evi­dence of its deter­ring effects.” China car­ries out more exe­cu­tions than any oth­er coun­try, esti­mat­ed in the thou­sands, though the exact num­ber is unknown. Saudi Arabia’s January 2 exe­cu­tion of a Shiite cler­ic sparked con­flict between that nation and Iran; both coun­tries have been crit­i­cized by human rights groups for using the death penal­ty for drug offens­es and reli­gious charges. The 5 coun­tries that con­duct­ed the most exe­cu­tions were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Iraq. (Click image to enlarge.)

(S. Sengupta, ​“Death Sentences Surge, Even as More Countries Drop Capital Punishment,” The New York Times, January 4, 2016.) See International. Map reflects data from Amnesty International’s ​“Death Sentences and Executions 2014.”

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