Nearly 900 people were executed in 2022 in 20 countries, the highest since 2017, the non-governmental organization Amnesty International said in its annual death penalty report released today, condemning the “murderous madness” it has seized on. certain states.

“The number of executions recorded in 2022 has reached a five-year high. [αρχές στις] The countries to which this record is mainly due, in the Middle East and North Africa, were seized with a murderous frenzy,” the NGO said in a statement.

The human rights organization counted 883 executions in 20 countries in 2022, up 53% from a year earlier.

“This impressive increase in the number of executions, which does not include the thousands likely to have taken place in China last year, is mainly due to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where the number of executions recorded rose from 520. [εκτελέσεις] in 2021 to 825 in 2022,” emphasizes Amnesty International.

The number of executions in Iran rose from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022, tripled in Saudi Arabia from 65 to 196, the highest number recorded by an NGO in the Sunni kingdom in 30 years, while Egypt executed 24 last year person. according to the report.

Saudi Arabia went so far as to “execute 81 prisoners in just one day,” says Amnesty International Secretary General Anis Kalamar.

He also complains that in Iran, as part of a “desperate attempt” by the authorities to “end a popular uprising,” people were executed “simply for exercising their right to protest.”

Amnesty International emphasizes that the total number of executions worldwide in 2022 was actually “much higher” due to “the secrecy surrounding the death penalty”, making it difficult to accurately assess the situation in countries such as “China, North Korea and Vietnam”.

“While the exact number of people executed in China is not known, it is clear that the country remains the biggest executioner,” the NGO added.

However, the report speaks of a “ray of hope”: six more countries have decided to fully or partially abolish the death penalty in 2022.

Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic have taken steps to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia now apply it only for particularly serious criminal offences.

Source: RES-IPE