The pace of executions has increased dramatically in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt by 90 per cent in 2022, according to a report by Amnesty International.
In its annual report, issued on Tuesday, the organization indicated that the number of known executions in the world reached 883 in 2022, compared to 579 in 2021, an increase of 53 per cent.
According to Amnesty report, China is believed to be carrying out thousands of executions, but they cannot be verified since Beijing keeps that data under wraps.
The report indicated that only three countries accounted for 90 per cent of the executions that were known to have taken place in 2022.
Iran
Iran put 576 people to death – up from 314 in 2021. Of 2022’s total, 279 people were convicted of murder, 255 of drug-related offences, 21 of rape, and 18 of the national security charge of “enmity against God”.
Amnesty said that the Iranian authorities “used the death penalty as a tool of political repression of protesters, opponents, and members of ethnic minorities,” adding that “the number of members of the repressed Baloch minority among those executed is disproportionate.”
The organization pointed out that the authorities have resumed carrying out public executions after a two-year hiatus.
It explained that the death sentences came “after grossly unfair trials, including for crimes that do not meet the criterion for the most serious crimes, such as drug trafficking, financial corruption and vandalism, and for acts protected by international human rights law, such as the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”
It added that several people were executed “as punishment for crimes committed when they were children. Dozens of others who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime remained on death row.”
Saudi Arabia
While Saudi Arabia, executions tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 – the highest number that Amnesty has recorded in the country in 30 years.
On a single day in March 2022, authorities carried out the mass execution of 81 people.
In Saudi Arabia, the increase in the number of executions was mainly for terrorism-related offenses and the resumption of executions for drug offences.
The Amnesty report stated that the number of executions for terrorism-related crimes increased from 9 in 2021 to 85 in 2022, while the number of executions for drug-related crimes increased from zero to 57.
Egypt
In Egypt, 24 people were put to death last year. However, that represented a 71 per cent decrease compared to 2021, when 83 were executed.
Amnesty also reported executions in
- Iraq— 11
- Kuwait— 7
- Palestinian Territories—5
- Yemen— 4
- Syria— unknown
“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have violated international law by escalating the use of the death penalty during 2022, which shows a flagrant disregard for human life,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard, commenting in the report.
She continued, “In just one day, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people, which is a horrific number. In a desperate attempt to quell the popular uprising, Iran recently executed a number of people simply for exercising their right to demonstrate.”
“We must continue to fight until the death penalty is abolished all over the world,” Callamard emphasized.
