NEW YORK (AP) — Amnesty International says there was a dramatic 54 percent increase in executions globally in 2015, with Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia responsible for nearly 90 percent of the killings.
The human rights organization said that the figure of at least 1,634 people executed last year — up from 1,061 in 2014 — does not include executions in China where data on the death penalty is considered a state secret.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Salil Shetty told several reporters on Tuesday that for China “our estimate is that they execute as much as the rest of the world.”
He said China is currently reviewing crimes punishable by the death penalty so there is “a slim ray of hope” that the number of executions may be reduced.
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