Tehran arms the executioner and leads the global execution record in 2023

According to Amnesty International's annual report, 1153 death sentences are the highest figure for the past eight years and an increase of more than 30% compared to 2022. In contrast, the number of nations (16) in which people are executed is falling. The sad record goes to the Islamic Republic with 853 hangings. But data (secret, but in the thousands) from China, North Korea and Vietnam are missing. 

Tehran (AsiaNews) - The Iran of the ayatollahs is leading the record increase in global executions in 2023, with the highest figure in the last eight years due to the extensive use of executioners by the Islamic Republic and several other Middle Eastern nations. Raising the alarm are the activists of Amnesty International in their latest annual report published these days, according to which a total of 1,153 people were executed in 16 countries around the world (at least these are the official figures), a record 30% higher than in 2022. 

Tehran alone carried out 74% of the executions, intensifying the use of capital punishment for drug offences, while Saudi Arabia - in the past among the great advocates of death sentences - carried out 15%. It should be mentioned here that China is excluded from the count, which although it makes extensive use of the executioner keeps the numbers secret and is therefore not included in the lists; however, various sources agree that there are thousands every year and there is no reversal. 

‘Because of state secrecy [opposed by Beijing], Amnesty's figures,’ the activist movement points out, ‘do not include the thousands of people believed to have been executed in China, which remains the world's leading executioner. ‘Similarly, Amnesty,’ the note continues, ‘was unable to provide exact figures for North Korea and Vietnam, nations believed to make extensive use of executions.

The figure for executions is the highest recorded by the international NGO since 2015, when the number of people executed reached 1634. According to the report, the Islamic Republic put at least 853 people to death last year - up from 576 in 2022 and 314 in 2021. More than half of the executions in 2023 were for drug-related offences, but there was no shortage of sentences imposed for participation in street protests, particularly those related to the killing of Mahsa Amini, or for ‘corruption on the ground’. A generic offence exploited to send to the gallows [hanging is practised in Iran] opponents, critical voices or those who fight for freedom or denounce the distortions of the ayatollahs' regime. 

Despite the rise in executions worldwide, the number of countries putting people to death was ‘the lowest’ to date, the activist NGO notes. No executions were recorded in Belarus, Japan, Myanmar and South Sudan, all countries that carried out death sentences in 2022. ‘The huge spike in recorded executions is mainly due to Iran,’ confirmed Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard.

‘The Iranian authorities have shown a total disregard for human life and have increased executions,’ the expert continued, ‘for drug-related offences, further highlighting the discriminatory impact of the death penalty on the country's most marginalised and impoverished communities. Of opposite sign is the direction taken by Pakistan, which last year repealed the death penalty for drug offences, while the requirement to use the executioner in Malaysia for drug use or drug trafficking was abolished. 

Elsewhere in Asia, the Sri Lankan authorities confirmed that the president does not intend to sign execution warrants, dispelling fears that the country might resume putting people to death. Finally, the annual report highlighted data from the United States, the only western nation where - at least in part - capital punishment still remains in force. Last year, executions rose to 24 from 18 in 2022. In Idaho and Tennessee, bills have been introduced for execution by firing squad, while the state of Montana has considered a measure to expand the range of substances used in lethal injections.