The United States carried out the fifth most executions in the world in 2014, more than Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, and Somalia, according to a new Amnesty International report.
The report, released Wednesday, lists fewer government-sanctioned executions in the world, but more death sentences versus 2013.
The number of people sentenced to death increased 28 per cent.
More than 600 people were executed in 2014 – a 22 per cent drop compared to the previous year. But that number doesn’t include the number of people executed in China.
China executes the most people worldwide, according to the report, but it’s unknown exactly how many since the country keeps that information secret. Despite that, Amnesty suggests China “continued to execute more than the rest of the world combined.”
The Amnesty report says much of the increase is due to mass death sentences in Egypt and Nigeria. Countries like China and Pakistan are using executions against “real or perceived threats to state security” according to the report.
The United States continues to be the only country in the western hemisphere to still have the death penalty. Thirty-five people were executed in the United States in 2014, and 72 people were sentenced to die.
The United States uses lethal injections, though Utah has approved a bill to bring back firing squads should the drugs needed for lethal injections be unavailable.
A look at how the death penalty was used worldwide in 2014
Leo Kavanagh / Global News
According to the Amnesty report, the six countries that executed the most people in 2014 are:
China – ?
Iran – At least 289
Saudi Arabia – At least 90
Iraq – at least 61
The United States of America – 35
Sudan – at least 23
