Amnesty: The number of executions worldwide has nearly doubled in a year
18 May 05:33
In 2025, the international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) recorded 2,707 executions, a 78 percent increase from 2024, when 1,518 cases were reported. This is reported in AI’s annual report, published on Monday, May 18. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to DW.
As human rights activists point out, the 2025 figure is the highest since 1981, when—excluding China—3,191 executions were recorded.
“The use of the death penalty has risen sharply as authorities in a number of countries have placed this cruel punishment at the center of flawed concepts of public safety and a ‘tough fight against crime’ with the aim of strengthening control, demonstrating state power, and reaping political dividends,” the document notes.
This trend is most pronounced in countries where authorities have tightened control over society, restricted civil society, and silenced dissent, demonstrating disregard for international law and human rights standards, human rights advocates noted.
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Data on China is missing
At the same time, the document notes, the actual number of executions may be even higher. The available data does not account for thousands of people believed to have faced this severe punishment in China. According to AI experts, China remains the world leader in the number of executions. Amid the state secrecy surrounding data on death sentences, comments from Chinese authorities indicated the deliberate use of the death penalty as a tool through which the state makes it clear that it will not tolerate threats to public safety or stability. In addition, the death penalty in China is used as a means of combating corruption in the financial sector and punishing those found guilty of abusing their official positions for personal gain.
Amnesty International was also unable to establish reliable figures for executions carried out in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Vietnam—countries believed to continue to use the death penalty extensively.
In Iran, the highest number of recorded executions
The sharp increase in the number of state-sanctioned killings was primarily driven by the situation in Iran. The Islamic Republic recorded the highest number of executions in recent decades—at least 2,159, more than double the 2024 figure (at least 972), and accounting for nearly 80% of all recorded executions worldwide. As noted in the document, Iranian authorities carry out the death penalty following trials that are often clearly unfair, with the aim of instilling fear in the population.
In addition, under the pretext of protecting national security interests, Tehran has also intensified the use of the death penalty against individuals accused of espionage or collaboration with Israel. For instance, following Israeli military strikes on Iran in June 2025, the authorities executed at least 11 men on these charges. Prior to the strikes, two people had been executed under this charge.
Nearly 2,000 people are on death row in the U.S.
For the seventeenth consecutive year, the U.S. was the only country on the entire American continent where executions were carried out. Moreover, the number of executions nearly doubled (47) compared to the previous year (25), reaching the highest figure since 2009 (52). Moreover, nearly half of all executions (19) took place in the state of Florida. This is the highest figure since 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared existing death penalty laws unconstitutional, resulting in a nationwide moratorium on their implementation.
In 2025, 23 death sentences were handed down in the U.S., and the number of prisoners awaiting execution stood at 1,948, including 47 women.
No one was executed in Belarus
Human rights defenders did not record a single case of a death sentence being handed down or carried out in Europe and Central Asia. At the same time, 2025 marked the first year that Amnesty International did not record a single new case of a death sentence or execution in Belarus since Alexander Lukashenko came to power in 1994. However, the report notes that Amnesty International was unable to confirm how many people in the country have been sentenced to death because the authorities carry out death sentences in strict secrecy. Thus, human rights activists noted, the fate and whereabouts of two men whose death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court of Belarus in 2020 and 2024 remain unknown.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Constitutional Court ruled on December 10 that President Sadyr Zhaparov’s proposal to reinstate the death penalty violates the constitutional right to life and Kyrgyzstan’s international obligations, which must be strictly observed. The court’s ruling also states that the president’s proposals cannot be put to a referendum and must be rejected in their entirety.
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