Executions worldwide jumped last year to the highest number since 2015, Amnesty report says

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Amnesty International says the number of executions recorded worldwide last year jumped to the highest level since 2015. The rights group said in a report released Wednesday that it recorded a total of 1,153 executions in 2023 — a 30% increase from 2022. Amnesty says the figure does not include thousands of death sentences believed to have been carried out in China, where data is not available due to state secrecy. The group says the spike in recorded executions was primarily driven by Iran, where authorities executed at least 853 people last year, compared to 576 in 2022. Amnesty says China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the U.S. were the five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023.