From beheadings to firing squads…World’s deadliest year for executions in DECADE with Iran & China crowned globe’s worst
THE world has seen its deadliest year for executions in a decade, with Iran and China crowned the worst globally.
Various methods of execution used in countries – including the US – include beheading, hanging, lethal injection, shooting and nitrogen gas asphyxiation.
Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq made up a whopping 91 per cent of recorded executions, therefore making them responsible for the rocket increase in the years data, Amnesty International reports.
But Iran topped the Middle Eastern counties, with Ali Khamenei’s nation putting at least 972 people to death, up from 853 the year prior.
Alongside the surging numbers of executions, Iranian prisoners are subject to other medieval-style punishments such as public flogging, limb-removal and eye-gouging.
Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, the number of those killed doubled to at least 345, chillingly marking the most ever recorded for the country.
And in Iraq, the number of death penalties quadrupled compared to 2023 and was used 63 times.
But the final statistics may actually just be the minimum recorded, as China is thought to have carried out more executions globally by a mile.
Dubbed the “world’s leading executioner” in Amnesty’s annual report, a definitive number couldn’t be reached because the country refuses to disclose its execution data.
North Korea and Vietnam‘s execution numbers also couldn’t be confirmed as access to information has been restricted, similarly to China, but the NGO suspects the two are resorting to the death penalty significantly.
The spike in executions comes as accusations swirl that states are threatening the death penalty against protesters and minorities, Amnesty said.
This is particularly the case in Saudi Arabia, despite Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salma pledging to minimise executions.
Similarly, in Iran, protesters have been sentenced to death, like two people who were sentenced to death in connection with the nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s tragic death in police custody in 2022.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said: “Those who dare challenge authorities have faced the most cruel of punishments, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia, with the death penalty used to silence those brave enough to speak out.”
Meanwhile in the US, where 25 people were executed last year alone, President Donald Trump has consistently called for the death penalty to be used as a tool to protect the country’s citizens from “violent rapists, murderers and monsters”.
Earlier last month, double murderer Brad Sigmon was the first person to choose execution by firing squad in 15 years.
And, a few weeks later, killer Jessie Hoffman was executed with nitrogen gas in the states too in a 19-minute ordeal that left him “twitching and jerking”.
The report also shows a spike in countries sentencing people to death for drug-related offences, which the NGO argue is not the “most serious crime” to result in getting killed.
All drug-related executions occurred in China, Iran, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
A minimum of 42 per cent of all known executions in 2024 were carried out in relation to drugs, impacting those “disproportionately” from “disadvantaged backgrounds,” the report says.
In March alone, it was revealed that China executed four Canadian nationals over drug smuggling charges earlier this year.
All four had been dual citizens, Canada‘s Foreign Minister said, with Ottawa demanding leniency for other Canadians facing the same heinous fate.
China said it had acted “in accordance with the law” and suggested the Canadians had been convicted over narcotics offences, saying “combating drug crimes is the common responsibility of all countries”.
“China is a country under the rule of law,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
She added that Beijing “treats defendants of different nationalities equally without discrimination” and “handles cases fairly in strict accordance with the law.”
Despite the worrying statistics and spike in executions, Amnesty reassured that only 15 counties were known to have carried out the death penalty.
Like in the US, a Californian federal court demanded a review of 34 capital convictions in Alameda County using evidence of systematic discrimination in jury selection.
This led to the re-sentencing of 18 people.
Amnesty’s Callamard added: “Despite the minority of leaders determined to weaponise the death penalty, the tide is turning.
“It’s only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadows of the gallows.”
Who were the last people executed in Britain?
THE death penalty was scrapped by parliament in 1969.
This came after public anger led to the suspensions of executions in 1965.
The last people to be sentenced to death in Britain were Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans – real name John Robson Walby – in 1964.
They had knifed a friend to death for money.
The executions took place simultaneously at 8am on August 13.
Public anger about previous wrongful executions led to their suspension in 1965 and they were abolished in 1969.
Technically, the death penalty could still be imposed for offences including treason, violent piracy or certain military crimes until 1998, but no executions took place.
The last woman to be executed was Ruth Ellis, a peroxide-blonde club hostess with film-star looks, who shot dead her posh racing-driver lover David Blakely outside a London pub in 1955.