In 2023, 1153 people were executed, 850 of them in Iran
In 2023, 1153 death sentences were executed in 16 countries of the world. 24 of those executed were women, 5 were children. Most of the executions were carried out in Iran, mostly of Sunni Baloch people.
The annual report was published on the website of Amnesty International on May 28. Iran was the primary cause of the increase in reported executions. At least 853 people were executed here last year, and 576 people in 2022. The highest number of executions recorded since 2015 is 1,634 (in 2016).
The execution methods used were mainly beheading, hanging, lethal injection and shooting.
Among those executed are 24 women and five children. The practice has disproportionately affected the Baloch ethnic minority, who account for 20 percent of reported executions. Although they themselves make up only 5% of Iran's population. According to the report, the number of drug-related executions will increase by 88 percent to 481, from 255 in 2022.
It should be noted that Iran ranks second after China. These numbers do not include thousands of executions, as the country's execution statistics are a state secret. Amnesty International was also unable to provide information on North Korea and Vietnam, which also carry out little-publicized executions.
Saudi Arabia (172), Somalia (38) and the United States (24) were among the top five execution countries. Saudi Arabia is famous for beheading. In 2022, the kingdom executed 81 people in one day.
The number of executions in Somalia increased: from 6 in 2022 to 38. The number of executions in the United States increased from 18 to 24 in 2022.
The number of people sentenced to death and executed in African countries has increased dramatically. The number of executions recorded in the region increased from 11 in 2022 to 38 in 2023, and the number of death sentences increased sharply by 66%, from 298 in 2022 to 494 in 2023.
In addition, no country in the region has abolished the death penalty in 2023. Meanwhile, bills to repeal it are pending in Kenya, Liberia and Zimbabwe. Ghana's parliament has voted in favor of bills that would remove the death penalty from existing law. In 2023, South Sudan, Belarus, Japan and Myanmar did not execute the sentences.
A total of 112 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, nine more have abolished it for general crimes, and another 23 are de facto abolitionists because they have not executed anyone for ten years.
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In Alabama, 58-year-old Kenneth Smith, who was sentenced to death for contract murder in 1988, was executed. For the first time, the process was carried out using pure nitrogen. An attempt was made to execute the prisoner in 2022, but it did not happen.
