Executions Up 16% in Middle East and North Africa

According to Amnesty International, the number of executions around the world in 2019 decreased by 5% compared to the year before. However, the number in the Middle East and North Africa increased by 16%, from 501 in 2018 to 579 in 2019.

Amnesty International's 2019 Death Sentences and Executions report noted that the number of executions in the world decreased from at least 690 in 2018 to at least 657 in 2019. That's the lowest number in more than 10 years.

All of the world's executions occurred in just 20 countries.

Amnesty says that China executed the most people in 2019. While the rights group estimates that the number is in the thousands, it is a state secret, and China was not included in Amnesty's global total. The rights group also did not have enough information to estimate the number of executions in North Korea or Vietnam.

Iran likely executed at least 251 people, the second-most after China.

Saudi Arabia executed 184 people in 2019, the highest number for a single year in the country, and up from 149 in 2018. A total of 178 men and six women were executed there in 2019, most for murder or drug crimes, and more than half of them foreigners. Amnesty says there has also been an increase in political executions.

Iraq's executions almost doubled from at least 52 in 2018 to at least 100 in 2019, making it fourth in the world. The increase was largely due to the execution of former members of the Islamic State group.

Yemen and South Sudan also had more executions. But for the first time since 2010, there were none in Afghanistan.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the number of countries carrying out executions dropped to the lowest level since 2011. In Japan, the number fell from 15 in 2018 to three in 2019. The number also fell from 13 to four in Singapore.

Globally, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Amnesty International wants the death penalty abolished in all countries.

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