Global executions reach 25-year high

The number of executions carried out globally during 2015 rose to a 25-year high, a review of the global state of the death penalty has found.

According to new figures, 2015 saw a sharp rise in executions in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Iran, and a total of at least 1,634 people executed overall in the year. The report, from Amnesty International, follows the news this weekend (4 April 2016) that in Saudi Arabia, over 80 people have been executed in the country since the start of 2016 – setting the Kingdom on course to double its 2015 total this year. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/22912)

The figures come ahead of a visit to Saudi Arabia by President Obama, expected to take place later this month (April 2016). The international human rights organisation Reprieve, which assists juveniles and others facing execution the Kingdom, is urging the US government to use the trip to raise the cases of three juveniles – Ali al Nimr, Dawood al Marhoon and Abdullah al Zaher – who face execution after being arrested at protests.

Research by Reprieve late last year found that over 70 per cent of those facing execution in Saudi Arabia were arrested for non-violent offences, including political protest, while reports of torture and forced ‘confessions’ were widespread.

The Amnesty report also follows concerns, raised yesterday (5 April 2016) by the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee, over the UK government’s commitment to preventing human rights abuses abroad. In an interim report on the Foreign Office’s on the UK’s overseas human rights work, the FAC said that there was “plainly a perception” that the government had recently downgraded its commitment to the promotion of human rights.(http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/22920)

Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “The huge rise in executions in countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt is extremely troubling. The US and European countries must urgently speak out about these grave abuses by our allies – from mass trials and torture to death sentences handed down to political protesters and juveniles. When President Obama visits Saudi Arabia this month, he must challenge the Saudis on their appalling human rights record – and urgently press for the release of juveniles such as Ali al Nimr.”

* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

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