Alarming increase: executions worldwide at record high in 2024!

Alarming increase: executions worldwide at record high in 2024!

The report on the global application of the death penalty shows alarming trends and developments in 2024. The increase in executions in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which together is responsible for over 90 % of all documented executions, is particularly striking. According to a report of the Kleine Zeitung , 972 people were executed in Iran, which is an increase of 14 % compared to 2023, while Saudi-Arabia 345 executions recorded more than twice as many as in the previous year. In Iraq, the number of executions rose from 16 to 63.

The number of places of the executions could be even higher, since Amnesty International assumes that not all executions are documented. In the conflict regions of Palestine and Syria, there are also no reliable figures.

global trends and statistics

2024 marked the highest level of executions worldwide since 2015. A total of at least 44 women were executed, which represents an increase compared to 31 in 2023. There were no executions in Bangladesh, while in Oman the first one took place since 2021. In Europe, Belarus is the only country that continues to use the death penalty, and in 2023 a person was sentenced to death.

The United States remain the only country in North and South America that carries out executions. The increase in executions in the United States by 33 % from 18 to 24 is a worrying trend. Florida has carried out executions again since 2019, including six last year. According to the information from Amnesty International , a total of 948 new death sentences in the Asian-Pacific area were imposed in 2023, which increases an increase of 10 % compared to 2022 corresponds.

suggestion methods and international law framework

Five different directional methods were used in 2024 worldwide. This includes concepts in Saudi Arabia and hang in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Singapore and Syria. In addition, deadly injections in China, the USA and Vietnam as well as shootings in Afghanistan, China, North Korea, Oman, Somalia and Yemen were practiced. The use of suffocation using nitrogen in the USA was new.

The application of the death penalty in drug offenses remains a central point of criticism. Over 40 % of all executions in 2024 were related to such offenses, which is a violation of international law and international norms. At least eight people were executed who were minors at the time of their crimes, and at least eight executions took place in public.