Executions on decline

EXECUTIONS fell worldwide by nearly a third last year to their lowest levels in at least a decade, but several countries recorded a rise, Amnesty International said yesterday.

Use of the death penalty dropped in Iran – by 50 per cent, following a change to its anti-narcotics laws – Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia, the rights group found. But it rose in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the US.

Death penalty figures fell around the world from at least 993 in 2017, to at least 690 last year, excluding China where numbers are classified.