- Until the end of 2020, there were records of at least 28,567 people sentenced to death worldwide.
- The countries that apply the most punishments of this type are Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
- In addition, there are cases such as China and North Korea where the death penalty is in force but the information is reserved and therefore there are no official figures.
Throughout history, crimes and offenses have always existed because these types of failures are as old as humanity. One of the first measures to punish offenders was the death penalty and after so many years there are still countries where it remains valid. Although the truth is that fewer and fewer nations apply this sentence.
What does it consist of?
Before moving forward, it must be understood that this action consists of causing the death of a person convicted by the State. It is a punishment for committing a crime established in the legislation and is distinguished from extrajudicial executions because there is a legal process here.
The convictions for which this sanction is usually applied are called capital crimes. To date, a philosophical debate persists about whether it is correct to deprive a criminal of his life.
Throughout history, multiple methods have been used to apply the death penalty. Within the long list, the bonfire, hanging, beheading, shooting, stoning and execution stand out.
While more “humane” modalities such as the electric chair, the gas chamber and the lethal injection. In all cases, the aim is to cause death instantly and with as little suffering as possible.
What is currently happening?
Based on Amnesty International, 2020 left 26% fewer death penalty executions worldwide than in 2019. This continues the reduction that has been recorded year after year since 2015. It is the lowest figure in more than a decade.
This considerable decline is linked to a reduction in the number of executions in two of the countries that have historically reported high numbers. These are Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and, to a lesser extent, some outages declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of countries where executions are known to have taken place also decreased compared to 2019, confirming that executions occur in only a minority of countries.
The global evolution of the death penalty in recent years confirms that the world is moving steadily towards its abolition. The year 2020 also pointed in the same direction: in May, Chad fully abolished the death penalty, becoming the fifth African country to take this step in the last decade. In September, Kazakhstan signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolishing the death penalty, and in December took steps to ratify it.
In addition, countries such as Bahrain, Belarus, Japan, Pakistan or Sudan, where executions had been carried out in recent years, in 2020 none were registered. The Gambia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan continued to apply official moratoriums on executions.
While in the United States, Colorado became the 22nd abolitionist state, and moratoriums on executions ordered by governors continued during the year in California, Oregon and Pennsylvania; Ohio rescheduled all scheduled executions.
Countries with the most death penalty cases
For its part, at the end of 2020 there was evidence of at least 28,567 people sentenced to death worldwide. Although of that figure there are nine countries that are responsible for 82%. These are Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
In addition, there are large numbers of people under sentence of death in several other countries, but figures are not available or it is impossible to calculate an adequate number. They are Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Egypt and Iran.
For now we share the following graph prepared with information from Statesman to know the status of the death penalty worldwide. As can be seen, more and more countries have abolished this strict measure among their inhabitants.