Amnesty hails 37% fall in global executions

The number of executions recorded worldwide in 2016 fell by 37% on the previous year, human rights group Amnesty International has said.

The number of executions around the world fell by more than a third to 1,032 across 23 countries in 2016, compared with 1,634 in 25 countries in 2015. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan were the top executioners.

The fall was largely driven by fewer deaths recorded in Iran and Pakistan.

China is believed to have executed more than all countries combined but has not been included in the figures given the lack of reliable data, the group added.

It is estimated that China executes thousands of people, but Beijing does not release statistics and considers the number of death sentences to be a state secret.

China has a conviction rate of about 99.9% and criminal trials heavily rely on confessions. Rights activists say suspects are often tortured or coerced into admitting guilt.

The Chinese government claims it has reduced the use of the death penalty and taken steps under a policy of “killing fewer, killing cautiously”. As part of this, the county’s top court must now approve death sentences handed out by lower courts.

But without concrete statistics, activists say there is no way to verify government claims. “There is absolutely no way to tell if death sentences are going up or down in China,” Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty’s east Asia director, said. “Members of the international community have become very complacent on taking China’s word at face value.”

Furthermore, the US was removed from the top five for the first time since 2006, according to Amnesty.

The United States carried out 20 death sentences last year, the lowest number since 1991, and the number of people sentenced to die dropped to the lowest since 1973.

Despite fewer executions, Iran and Pakistan remain in Amnesty's top five list, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Iran executed at least 567 people in 2016, mostly for drug crimes, the Amnesty report said, followed by Saudi Arabia with at least 154 executions and Iraq with 88.

Pakistan's execution rate dropped from 326 recorded deaths in 2015 to at least 87 the following year. The country then created military courts to try civilians suspected of terrorism-related offences. In 2016, at least four of those executed in the country were convicted by the military courts.