A new report released by Amnesty International reveals that the world is mov­ing away from cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Amnesty’s annu­al report showed that only 59 nations retain the death penal­ty, and of those nations, only 25 used it in 2008. Among the nations still employ­ing the death penal­ty, China was the most pro­lif­ic with 1,718 exe­cu­tions, fol­lowed by Iran with 346, Saudi Arabia with 102, United States with 37, Pakistan with 36, and Iraq with 34. Argentina and Uzbekistan abol­ished the death penal­ty in 2008 and Belarus was the only European nation to car­ry out exe­cu­tions. The num­ber of ver­i­fied exe­cu­tions in China in 2008 was an increase from 2007, but the report does not con­sid­er the ver­i­fied exe­cu­tions in China to be a true pic­ture of the total exe­cu­tions for either year. Amnesty’s ​“Death Sentences and Executions in 2008” report may be found here.

(“Death penal­ty ​‘clos­er to demise’,” BBC News, March 24, 2009). See International and Studies. The num­ber of exe­cu­tions in the U.S. in 2008 marked a 14-year low and a 62% drop from 1999. In 2008, 95% of the exe­cu­tions in the U.S. were in the South. In 2009, there have been 20 exe­cu­tions to date, a pace faster than last year’s, as many cas­es received stays of exe­cu­tion last year after the de fac­to mora­to­ri­um on lethal injec­tions was lift­ed. So far, 100% of the exe­cu­tions have been in the South.

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