Amnesty International: 31 countries abolished death penalty during last 10 years
A total of 31 countries abolished the death penalty in law or in practice during the last 10 years, Amnesty International has said in its new report Death Sentences and Executions in 2010.
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Yemen remain amongst the most frequent executioners, some in direct contradiction of international human rights law.
The total number of executions officially recorded by Amnesty International in 2010 went down from at least 714 people in 2009 to at least 527 in 2010, excluding China.
A significant proportion of the executions or death sentences recorded in 2010 in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were for drug-related offences.
Armenia abolished death penalty yet in 2003.