Report: Amnesty International has reported a sharp rise in executions worldwide during 2024, marking a troubling global trend despite a slight decline in the number of countries actively carrying out the death penalty.
According to the organization's latest report, 1,518 people were executed globally in 2024, a 32% increase compared to 2023. This marks the highest number of recorded executions since 2015, even though the number of countries enforcing the death penalty dropped from 16 to 15.
China is believed to remain the world’s leading executioner. However, due to the secretive nature of its justice system, accurate data is unavailable, as the government treats execution figures as state secrets. Vietnam and North Korea also reportedly carry out numerous executions, but they do not publish official statistics.
Iran topped the list of countries with known executions, with at least 972 people executed in 2024, including 30 women — up from 853 in 2023. Human rights groups link the spike in executions to internal political unrest and efforts to suppress dissent.
Report noted the disturbing rise in the execution of women: 12 in 2022, 25 in 2023, with many linked to drug-related offenses. Additionally, women who challenge discriminatory laws are being targeted.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq followed Iran with 345 and 63 executions, respectively. Iran and Somalia also carried out the execution of four individuals under the age of 18, in violation of international human rights standards.
Iran and Afghanistan were the only two countries known to have conducted public executions in 2024.
Amnesty’s death penalty expert, Chiara Sangiorgio, stated that thousands of executions in China remain unaccounted for in the organization’s report: “These numbers don’t include the likely thousands of death sentences carried out in China. The secrecy surrounding capital punishment there paints a frightening picture.”
Sangiorgio added that China continues to violate UN resolutions by applying the death penalty for non-violent crimes like corruption and drug trafficking. She noted that authorities use executions as a tool for state control, sending a clear message that dissent will not be tolerated.
China’s long-standing use of capital punishment dates back to its 1983 “Strike Hard” campaign aimed at cracking down on organized crime. Some reports even suggest executions were carried out for non-lethal offenses like stealing cattle or vehicles.
On June 26, 1996, coinciding with the International Day Against Drug Abuse, Amnesty International documented over 230 executions in a single day in multiple Chinese cities, mainly targeting drug traffickers.
Amnesty International has called the 2024 figures a grave warning for the state of human rights globally and urged countries to abolish the death penalty, which it views as an inhumane and irreversible punishment.
