1,600 executed last year, says Amnesty

Chennai: Nearly half the world —102 countries to be exact—have abolished death penalty. But 1,634 people were executed in 2015 against 1,061 in 2014, with a 54 per cent increase in just one year, says latest Amnesty International (AI) report. But the number of death sentences came down to 1998 last year from 2,466 in 2014.

Though AI believes that China is the top executioner in the world, the exact number of people who died is not there in the report as that country treats it as a secret. Amnesty notes that the figure 1,634 of  2015 is without the figure from China which executes thousands every year. Excluding China of which data is not available, almost 90 per cent of total executions were in three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In 2015, four countries – Fiji, Madagascar, Surinam and Republic of Congo – abolished death penalty for all crimes.

“All countries should abolish death penalty. There is no need for such a punishment. A punishment should be aimed at reforming a prisoner. It should not be aimed at killing them. How can you justify such killings?” asks Arputhammal, mother of A.G. Perarivalan, a convict in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, when this newspaper contacted her. She had been fighting for abolishing death penalty for more than a decade now. The organisation estimates that at least 20,292 people were in death row in  2015.

According to AI findings, people continue to be sentenced to death and executed for offences that do not meet the ‘most serious crimes’ criteria. These offences include drug-related crimes in 12 countries in Asia and Middle East, adultery in Maldives and Saudi Arabia, economic crimes in China, North Korea and Vietnam, apostasy in Saudi Arabia and insulting the Prophet in Iran.

US, one of the most developed countries in the world, is the lone country in the American continent which carried out executions last year. The country put to death 28 persons. There were discussions on death penalty in India, particularly when a person is sentenced to death or when the matter of death penalty to Rajiv Gandhi killers surfaces in court or in political debates. “I think Supreme Court is moving on the path of abolishing death penalty, at least while delivering sentences. The option of giving death penalty will not be taken off completely. But, I think SC is not in favour of delivering death sentence. SC had been commuting death sentences to one of life imprisonment with conditions,” said M. Radhakrishnan, an advocate.

Of the 367 executions in Asia-Pacific, Pakistan carried out 326 death penalties. This is the highest number of executions in Pakistan ever recorded by AI, says the report. The agency says it could not get the number of executions from North Korea also. Europe and Central Asia reported no execution. Belarus is the only country where death penalty is awarded and it had not executed anybody last year. In the   Middle-east and north Africa, 1196 persons were executed. While Iran accounted for 82 per cent of total executions in the area, Saudi Arabia carried out death penalty on 158 persons last year. AI says it could not access the details of executions in Syria, a country shattered by IS terror acts.
Amnesty also says at least nine persons – four in Iran and five in Pakistan – were executed for crimes they committed when they were under 18 years of age.