​Amnesty report reveals executions rise globally with more now executed than in the last 25 years

A dramatic rise in the number of executions recorded in 2015 saw more people put to death around the world than at any point in the last quarter-century.

Amnesty International annual review of the death penalty worldwide shows at least 1,634 people were executed in 2015, a rise of 54% on the year before and the highest number Amnesty has recorded since 1989.

This total does not include China where thousands are likely to have been executed but where the death penalty is a state secret.

The figures - contained in a 70-page report Death Sentences and Executions in 2015 - show that the top five executioners in the world in 2015 were China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

The surge in executions - which Amnesty described as “profoundly disturbing” - was largely fuelled by big increases in Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

In Iran at least 977 people were executed in 2015 - compared to 743-plus in 2014 (up 31%) - the vast majority for drug-related crimes. Iran is also one of the world’s last executioners of child offenders, in violation of international law.

Not for the last 25 years have so many people been put to death by states around the world.

Last year Iran executed at least four people who were under 18 at the time of the crime for which they were convicted.

The number of countries using capital punishment also rose last year, from 22 in 2014 to 25 in 2015. At least six countries which did not carry out executions in 2014 did so in 2015, including Chad where executions were carried out for the first time in more than a decade.

Amnesty also stressed that in the majority of countries where people were sentenced to death or executed, the death penalty was imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty said: “The rise in executions last year is profoundly disturbing.

“Not for the last 25 years have so many people been put to death by states around the world.

“Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have all put people to death at unprecedented levels, often after grossly unfair trials. This slaughter must end.”

There were however some positive developments during 2015. Four countries completely abolished the death penalty in 2015 - Fiji, Madagascar, Republic of Congo and Suriname. Mongolia also passed a new criminal code abolishing the death penalty, which will take effect later this year.

Iran (977+), Pakistan (326), Saudi Arabia (158+), USA (28), Iraq (26+), Somalia (25+), Egypt (22+), Indonesia (14), Chad (10), Yemen (8+), Taiwan (6), South Sudan (5+), Bangladesh (4), Japan (3), Sudan (3), Jordan (2), Oman (2), Afghanistan (1), India (1), UAE (1); plus Malaysia (unknown number), North Korea (unknown number) and Vietnam (unknown number).