{"id":11161,"date":"2011-04-04T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=11161"},"modified":"2011-04-04T12:56:17","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T11:56:17","slug":"death-penalty-in-2010-executing-countries-left-isolated-after-decade-of-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/04\/death-penalty-in-2010-executing-countries-left-isolated-after-decade-of-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Death Penalty in 2010: Executing Countries Left Isolated After Decade of Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

28 March 2011<\/em><\/p>\n

Countries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated following a decade of progress towards abolition, Amnesty International has said today in its new report Death Sentences and Executions in 2010<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A total of 31 countries abolished the death penalty in law or in practice during the last 10 years but China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Yemen remain amongst the most frequent executioners, some in direct contradiction of international human rights law.<\/p>\n

The total number of executions<\/a> officially recorded by Amnesty International in 2010 went down from at least 714 people in 2009 to at least 527 in 2010, excluding China.<\/p>\n

China is believed to have executed thousands in 2010 but continues to maintain its secrecy over its use of the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minority of states that continue to systematically use the death penalty were responsible for thousands of executions in 2010, defying the global anti-death penalty trend,\u201d said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International\u2019s Secretary General.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile executions may be on the decline, a number of countries continue to pass death sentences for drug-related offences, economic crimes, sexual relations between consenting adults and blasphemy, violating international human rights law forbidding the use of the death penalty except for the most serious crimes,\u201d said Salil Shetty.<\/p>\n

Two regions are responsible for most executions worldwide: Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

China used the death penalty in 2010 against thousands of people for a wide range of crimes that include non-violent offences and after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards.<\/p>\n

A significant proportion of the executions or death sentences recorded in 2010 in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were for drug-related offences.<\/p>\n

Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates ignored international prohibitions in 2010 and imposed death sentences on individuals that were below 18 years of age when the crimes were committed.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International\u2019s report highlights a number of setbacks during 2010 when six other countries and territories carried out executions after a hiatus and one country expanded the scope of the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn spite of some set backs, developments in 2010 brought us closer to global abolition. The President of Mongolia announced a moratorium on the death penalty, an important first step as capital punishment is still classified as state secret. For the third time and with more support than ever before, the UN General Assembly called for a global moratorium on executions\u201d said Salil Shetty.<\/p>\n

Since 2003, less than half of retentionist countries have carried out executions. Less than a third were known to have executed prisoners every year over the last four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny country that continues to execute is flying in the face of the fact that both human rights law and UN human rights bodies consistently hold that abolition should be the objective.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA world free of the death penalty is not only possible, it is inevitable,\u201d said Salil Shetty.\u00a0 \u201cThe question is how long will it take?\u201d<\/p>\n

REGIONAL SUMMARIES
\n<\/strong>
\nAmericas<\/strong><\/p>\n