As Kuwait hangs seven people in rare mass execution, a look at the death penalty across the world

Paris: Kuwait on Wednesday became the latest country to revive capital punishment, hanging seven prisoners for the first time since 2017, amid a spike of executions in the Gulf. Most countries have abolished the death penalty, with Equatorial Guinea in central Africa the latest to announce in September it was ending the practice decried by rights groups. But around 50 other states continue to put prisoners to death and some, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, have dramatically increased the number of executions since last year. Abolished in over 100 countries A total of 108 countries had formally abolished the death penalty for all crimes by the end of 2021, according to Amnesty International, up from 16 in 1977. Papua New Guinea in January announced plans to join the club, with Equatorial Guinea, which has one of the world’s most authoritarian regimes, following suit in September. Dozens of other countries have halted executions, without taking the death penalty off their statute books. [caption id=“attachment_11642961” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Kuwait on Wednesday became the latest country to reintroduce the death penalty. AFP[/caption] Iran, Saudi uptick At least 579 people were put to death in 18 countries in 2021 — the last full year for which statistics are available — 96 more than in the previous year, according to Amnesty. The group’s figures do not include executions carried out in North Korea, Vietnam or China, which is believed to be the world’s biggest executioner. The three countries keep data on executions secret. The uptick in executions last year, with most of them in Iran (314), Egypt (83) and Saudi Arabia (65), followed six years of steady decline. So far, 2022 has proved even deadlier. At least 462 people have been executed in Iran this year according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, continuing what Amnesty has called an “horrific” killing spree. Saudi Arabia has executed 128 people so far, according to an AFP tally, nearly twice as many as last year. In March, it put to death a record 81 people in a single day for terrorism-related offences. Myanmar’s junta in July resumed executions for the first time since 1990, hanging four prisoners including a former lawmaker from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. Generally declining in United States The number of executions carried out in the United States has been generally declining in recent years. Virginia became the 23rd US state to abolish the death penalty in 2021, making it the first from the old Confederate south to do so. California, Oregon and Pennsylvania all have a moratorium on capital punishment. So far this year, 13 people have been put to death across the United States, up from 11 last year but down from 17 in 2020. Most of the 2020 deaths were federal executions which then-president Donald Trump had resumed after a 17-year hiatus, and which President Joe Biden halted after taking office. On the rise At least 2,052 death sentences were handed out around the world in 2021, according to Amnesty. This represented a 39 per cent increase from the previous year, reversing a nearly equivalent drop in 2020 when justice systems had been snarled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Figures for 2022 are not yet available, but Iran’s death row inmates include at least five people sentenced in connection with the nationwide wave of protests over Mahsa Amini’s death. The 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish origin died on 16 September in police custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.