1153 executions

Number of executions reaches ten-year high

More people were also executed in the USA in 2023 than in 2022.

(Bild: AP)

The number of executions worldwide climbed to its highest level in almost ten years last year. According to Amnesty International, 1153 death sentences were officially carried out. In addition, there were several thousand more suspected executions in China and a sharp rise in the Middle East region.

In the past ten years, only in 2015 were more people killed as a punishment than in 2023, according to Amnesty International's annual report. At the same time, the number of countries that carried out the death penalty fell to its lowest level in 2023 since Amnesty began compiling its annual report. The five countries with the most executions in the previous year were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the USA.

Amnesty continues to believe that China executes the most people. Due to state secrecy, there are no official figures, but Amnesty International suspects several thousand executions per year. For the same reason, no figures are available for North Korea and Vietnam. It can be assumed that the death penalty is also applied "on a large scale" in these two countries.

Iran mainly responsible for peak
In Iran, the number of executions rose sharply - by 277 cases from 576 in 2022 to 853 in 2023. The Islamic Republic is thus primarily responsible for the highest level since 2015. Iran alone accounted for 74 percent of all officially registered executions in 2023, Saudi Arabia for 15 percent.

According to Amnesty, 545 of the 576 executions in Iran were carried out in violation of international law for crimes that should not be punishable by the death penalty under international law, including drug offenses, robbery and espionage. The number of executions for drug offenses accounted for 56 percent of all executions in Iran, an increase of 89 percent compared to 2022.

Cruel methods in the USA
More people were also executed in Somalia and the USA in 2023 than in 2022. In the US state of Alabama, the new method of asphyxiation by nitrogen, which Amnesty considers cruel, was also used for the first time. Bills to carry out executions by firing squad were also introduced in Idaho and Tennessee, while Montana is considering expanding the substances used in lethal injections.

Complaints about unfair procedures
In Myanmar, ruled by the army, Amnesty deplores the imposition of death sentences in secret and extremely unfair trials before military courts. There have also been setbacks in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of registered executions in the region more than tripled - from eleven in 2022 to 38 in 2023. The number of people sentenced to death there also increased by 66 percent year-on-year: 494.

More death sentences handed down
Not only did the number of executions increase last year, but more death sentences were handed down worldwide: 2428. That is 20 percent more than in 2022.

We will continue until the death penalty is abolished worldwide.

Shoura Hashemi, Geschäftsführerin von Amnesty International Österreich

"Despite the setbacks, the countries that still carry out executions are increasingly isolated. Our campaign against this life-destroying punishment is having an impact. We will continue until the death penalty is abolished worldwide," summarized Shoura Hashemi, Executive Director of Amnesty International Austria. The death penalty has been completely abolished in 112 countries around the world. The lowest number of executions to date has been recorded in 16 countries. In Belarus, Japan, Myanmar and South Sudan, for example, which all carried out executions in 2022, no executions were recorded in 2023.