In September of last year, we pointed out [6] that contrary to popular belief, ISIS does not have a monopoly on executions. In fact, executions occured in 22 countries in 2013, up 15% from the previous year, with China topping the list and the US coming in a disappointing fourth place (so China wins again).
Now, courtesy of Amnesty International and The Economist, we have the latest data (current through Wednesday) which shows that although China is still in the lead in terms of total executions since 2007 (amusingly the data for China is, much like economic data, just an estimate as official figures are hard to come by), Pakistan and Saudi Arabia look to be the most prolific executioners YTD.
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More from The Economist [8]:
On April 29, Indonesia executed eight people convicted of drug trafficking. Despite concerns over legal failings and the mental health of one prisoner, four Nigerians, two Australians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian were put to death by firing squad. A ninth, a Filipina, was granted a surprise last-minute reprieve...
The Indonesian government is less keen on seeing its own citizens meet the same fate. Between 2011 and 2014, 240 out of 570 Indonesians facing the death penalty abroad had their sentences commuted. And of the remainder, 130 were charged with drug offences in countries where the war on drugs is being waged with greater enthusiasm. In China, by far the most prolific executioner and where numbers are shrouded in secrecy, around 8% of judicial killings in 2014 were for drug crimes. In Iran, almost half of the 278 people executed in 2014 were for drug offences. But this year alone, 241 traffickers have been put to death.
