As the ninth World Day against the Death Penalty raises the awareness of the inhumanity of the law and calls for an end to capital punishment - we take a look at the five countries that carried out the most executions last year.



The latest statistics from Amnesty International show that of the 58 countries which retain the death penalty, 23 of them carried out at least 527 executions (excluding China) in 2010 and at least 67 imposed death sentences. Last year only one country, Gabon, scrapped the death penalty, becoming the 139th country to ban it.



1. China



Officially the country with the highest population, China has remained the top executioner of the world since records began with an estimated 2000 executions carried out last year – more than the rest of the world put together, a recent report by Amnesty reveals. However, the real number of death sentences and executions are skewed as all aspects of capital punishment remain a state secret.



Scarily, even non-violent white-collar crimes such as embezzlement and fraud may also warrant an execution in China. A recent judicial review removed issuing false tax invoices, robbing ancient ruins, and smuggling rare animals from the list of crimes punishable by death.



Two cases of wrongful conviction got widespread coverage in China in 2005. A butcher who was executed for murder in 1989 turned out to be innocent when his alleged victim was found alive; while a man was freed after 11 years in jail when his wife, whom he was accused of killing, was also found alive. The main methods of execution are death by firing squad and the lethal injection.



2. Iran



Although execution figures significantly fell from 714 in 2009, 252 executions took place in the Middle Eastern country last year. This included five women and one juvenile with 14 people executed. Despite the lower figures, Amnesty International said that 300 of the executions were not publicly acknowledged.



In Iran, crimes don’t have to be violent to warrant an execution. Homosexuality, blasphemy and adultery also warrant punishments by death. For example, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani – a Christian pastor living in Tehran – has been making the headlines because the Muslim-born man faces execution for failing to denounce his Christian faith before the Iranian supreme court.



The methods used by Iran have ranged from beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and various kinds of shooting by firing squad. Videos of stoning have previously been smuggled out of Iran where a person’s movements are restricted and an organised group throws stones at them until they are dead. Women are known to have been stoned for offences like adultery.



3. North Korea





Public capital punishment is common in North Korea. According to official Amnesty International statistics, 60 people were executed in 2010. The typical method of execution is by firing squad. Although the numbers have recently been declining as North Korea faces international criticism over its record on human rights, in an extreme case in 2007, a pensioner was shot by firing squad in front of 170,000 people at a football stadium. Six people were crushed to death and thirty-four others injured in a stampede as they left the stadium. Treason against the fatherland and treason against the people under Korean law are also punishable by death.



An Amnesty media release highlighted the people executed for crimes that were “not commonly considered criminal, or after unfair procedures”. It said: “A 75 year-old North Korean factory manager was shot by firing squad in October for failing to declare his family background, investing his own money in the factory, appointing his children as its managers and making international phone calls.”















































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