The Global Decline of the Death Penalty

China executes more of its citizens than any other country, followed by Iran. “Amnesty does not provide a precise figure of executions in China as Beijing keeps such figures secret. Instead, it has challenged the Chinese authorities to publish figures for the number of people sentenced to death and executed each year to confirm claims of a reduction in the use of the death penalty. China, however, last year did move to cut down the number of offences that carry the death penalty, which applies to no less than 68 crimes. If the changes go through, the death penalty would be removed for such crimes as tax fraud, and for smuggling valuables and cultural relics.”