Executions soar to highest number in a decade: AI

KABUL (Pajhwok): Amnesty International (AI) says a total of 1,153 executions took place in 2023, marking an increase of more than 30 percent from 2022.

It was the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since 2015, when 1,634 people were known to have been executed.

According to AI, a spike in executions in Iran led to the record surge since 2015. Despite this increase, the number of countries that carried out executions reached the lowest figure on record with AI.

The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the US.

It said Iran alone accounted for 74 percent of all recorded executions

Saudi Arabia accounted for 15%. Somalia and the USA carried out an increased number of executions in 2023.

There was a 20 percent increase in the number of death sentences handed out globally in 2023, taking the total to 2,428.

sa/mud

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