Death Sentences and Executions 2024

A report titled “Death Sentences and Executions 2024” was released by Amnesty International. The number of state executions around the world has reached its highest level in ten years, says the report.

Key Highlights of Report

• Executions hit a 10-year high, with over 1,500 documented — though that figure excludes countries like China, North Korea, and Vietnam, where reliable data isn’t available but where executions likely continue at a significant scale.
• Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia alone accounted for over 90% of the known executions, with sharp increases, especially for drug-related offenses — something Amnesty highlights as a violation of international human rights standards.
• The U.S. carried out 25 executions, showing it’s still among the few Western countries actively using the death penalty.
• Despite the rise in execution numbers, only 15 countries carried out executions, marking a record low for the second year in a row — a paradoxical but promising sign of global movement toward abolition.
• Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes — a major legal shift.
• And importantly, there were cases of clemency and acquittal in both the U.S. and Japan — rare but significant steps for death row inmates.

(Source: BBC)