The number of executions in the world returns to Cold War levels

According to with what International Amnesty has announced in their annual report, 2015 was the year with the largest number of death penalties carried out in more than 25 years. A total of 1634 people were executed what is the highest figure recorded since 1989. This number also suppose an increase of 573 cases with respect to 2014. The global increase of this data is because of three countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan wich were responsable of the 89% of the death penalty cases during 2015. Another cause of concern is the increase in the number of countries around the world that apply this penalty last year. If in 2014 were 22 countries, the last 2015 the number rise until 25. One of the new countries that are now in the statistics is Chad, where the last august 10 presumed terrorist were shooted.

 

The director who carries out the study concludes that 2015 was a year of extremes because it let us both good and bad news. On one hand we have and increase the number of death penalties but on the other hand, 2015 was the year when the majority of the world, 102, countries abolish completely this kind of sentences. Some of this new countries are Madagascar, Republic of Congo or Mongolia. 

But there is another bad data. Inside of the 1634 sentences does not include China ones because this kind of data is a state secret. Although International Amnesty esteem that about thousands of people were executed last year in this country. China leads the listing of the countries with more executions per year and it's followed by Iran, that executed at leats 977 people in 2015, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Besides Iran apply the death penalty to minors so it means that the country violates the international right. By the other way, Pakistan killed 320 people and in Arabia the number of people executed by sentences like the beheading increase in a 79% in relation with 2014. 

Chiara Sangiorgio, who is an expert in the death penalty, argue that the government say that they use this kind of sentence referring to the keep of national security. The true governments use them to create an emotional response in the citizens and not to make the nation more secure. 

There are also a lot of countries where the international rules about fair trials are infringed because these country use tortures or threats to obtain confessions. In addition, a lot of countries use this kind of sentence to condemn crimes related with drugs or money that have any relation with death crimes what are the only ones for which there is an international law that allows the use of this practice.

This news surprised me, not only because of the increase in the number of cases where the death sentence was applied during last year but also because it made me see how different things are and how little we know about what really happens. The news shocks me because I used to think that the death sentences were something of the past but the fact is that 2015 has been the year with the largest number of executions in last 25 years and it shows us that it's something very real and it's happening every day. 

Another thing that can surprise us is that the United States are the number seven in the list of the countries that use this sentences. All we know about the death sentence in the United States but I didn't know that it was used as much. 

Well, maybe we can have the feeling that things are changing very fast but the reality is very different to this feeling.