London (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In 2016, the number of recorded executions worldwide fell by 37 percent over the previous year according to the latest Amnesty International report on the death penalty. The Human Rights Organization believes that China has performed more convictions than all other countries put together. However, the lack of reliable data means it is impossible to establish a precise number for Beijing.
The international organization says that despite China's promise of greater transparency in the use of capital punishment, the national courts database contains less than one-tenth of the cases reported in the media. In its annual report published yesterday on executions, Amnesty reports that the database has been able to trace only 26 cases, while the media reports show that last year at least 305 executions have taken place in China.
In 2016 Amnesty tracked at least 1,032 executions worldwide, down from 1,634 in 2015. That is due in large part to fewer executions in Iran and Pakistan. Despite fewer death sentences, Iran and Pakistan remain in the top five of the list, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
For the first time since 2006, the United States is not among the world's leading, dropping to seventh place behind Egypt. Last year, Washington executed 20 people, the lowest number since 1991.
