PENALTY

GLOBAL DEATH PENALTY
TRENDS IN 2014
Salil Shetty 1
Amnesty International has been campaigning for abolition of the
death penalty since 1977. As part of this work, the organization
monitors the use of capital punishment globally and publishes annual
figures on the number of countries known to have carried out judicial
executions, as well as the number of people known to have been
sentenced to death or executed. This annual report also looks at how
capital punishment is applied and at trends in its use, as far as these
can be determined.
One of the greatest challenges we face each year is the lack of official
information on the application of the death penalty in most countries
that retain it. Using a variety of non-governmental sources, we are
able to establish what we term credible minimum figures—meaning
that we can say that at least this number of people were executed or
sentenced to death. The true figures are often higher.
THE 2014 FIGURES
Amnesty International recorded executions in 22 countries in 2014,
the same number of countries as in 2013. 2 Although the number
remained constant, there were some changes in the countries carrying
out executions. Seven countries that executed in 2013 did not do
so in 2014 (Bangladesh, Botswana, Indonesia, India, Kuwait, Nigeria
and South Sudan), while seven others resumed executions (Belarus,
Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and the United
Arab Emirates).
At least 607 people were executed, and at least 2,466 people were sentenced
to death. These figures represent a decrease in the number of
executions compared to in 2013 (at least 778) but a sharp increase in
the number of death sentences (at least 1,925). Whilst the challenges
of data collection referred to above mean that year-on-year comparisons
should be treated with caution, some specific developments
during 2014—such as mass death sentences imposed in Egypt—shed
light on the increase in this figure.
At least 509 death sentences were imposed in Egypt in 2014. These
included the mass death sentences handed down by Egyptian courts
after mass trials that were grossly unfair. For example, the Minya
criminal court imposed death sentences on 37 people in April 2014
and 183 people in June 2014. 3 In December 2014, the Giza criminal
court recommended death
sentences against 188 people
for involvement in the killing
of 11 police officers in Giza
in August 2013.
“WHEN IT COMES TO
THE DEATH PENALTY,
HUMANITY’S GOAL
IS CLEAR”
Amnesty International’s —Salil Shetty,
annual figures do not include Amnesty International
the thousands of people
sentenced to death and executed in China. In 2009, Amnesty International
stopped publishing estimates for China, where data on capital
punishment are considered a state secret. Instead, we challenge the
Chinese authorities to prove their claims that they are reducing the
application of the death penalty by publishing the figures themselves.
In 2014, as in 2013, it was also impossible to confirm if judicial executions
took place in Syria. In addition, no information could be
confirmed on North Korea.
The following methods of executions were used: beheading (Saudi
Arabia), hanging (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan,
Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestine, Singapore, Sudan), lethal injection
(China, United States, Viet Nam) and shooting (Belarus, China,
Equatorial Guinea, North Korea, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia,
Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen). As in previous years, there
1 Salil Shetty is secretary-general of Amnesty International.
2 All data in this article are drawn from Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions in
2014 (London, Amnesty International, 2015), available from www.amnestyusa.org/research/
reports/death-sentences-and-executions-2014.
3 The death sentences followed referrals from the court to the grand mufti, Egypt’s highest religious
official. Egyptian criminal courts must refer a case to the grand mufti for review before
handing down a death sentence; however, the opinion of the grand mufti is advisory and not
binding.
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