March 31, 2015: Amnesty International recorded fewer executions globally in 2014, compared to 2013 – a year in which the organization recorded a spike in executions.
In 2014, executions were recorded in 22 countries, the same number of countries as in 2013.
Although this number remained constant, some countries resumed executions while others – which had executed in 2013 – did not carry out executions in 2014.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the resumption of executions in Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates led to an increase in the number of executing countries in the region in 2014.
In Europe and Central Asia, Belarus resumed executions after two execution-free years. Belarus remains the only country in the region to use the death penalty.
Although the USA remained the only country in the Americas to impose death sentences and carry out executions, numbers for both declined in 2014.
Seven US states carried out executions, two fewer than the previous year. The state of Washington imposed an official moratorium on executions in February 2014.
The overall number of executions recorded in Asia-Pacific decreased slightly, despite resumptions in Pakistan and Singapore.
In sub-Saharan Africa, executions were recorded in three countries, two fewer than in 2013.
Source: Amnesty International, April 1, 2015
