The number of known executions worldwide in 2022 rose by 53 per cent on the figure recorded for 2021, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Amnesty said 90 per cent of the world’s known executions in 2022 were carried out by just three countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

In a report on the worldwide use of the death penalty, the human rights organisation documented at least 883 executions in 20 countries for 2022, the highest figure in five years.

It noted that the number was likely higher, as thousands of executions in China “are being kept under wraps.”

State secrecy in North Korea and Vietnam, along with limited access to information in several other countries, continued to hinder a fuller assessment of the use of the death penalty, the report said.

The number of recorded executions in Iran rose from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022, it said.

In Saudi Arabia, the number tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 last year – the highest figure recorded by Amnesty for the country in 30 years.

The report stated that six countries abolished the death penalty entirely or partially last year.

However, executions resumed in five countries in 2022 – Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine, and Singapore, the report said.

More than a third of the world’s recorded executions in 2022 were for drug offences, a clear breach of international law, Amnesty said.

(dpa/NAN)