Has the US-Israeli war on Iran worsened human rights in Iran? Amnesty International has documented a spike in executions in Iran under the cover of war. DW speaks to Amnesty International’s Iran researcher Raha Bahreini, who says the regime is increasingly using the death penalty to crush dissent.
The number of executions recorded globally in 2022 was the highest in five years, as several Middle Eastern states ramped up their use of the death penalty, Amnesty International said.
A total of 883 people are known to have been put to death across 20 countries, marking a rise of 53% compared to 2021, according to the group's annual review.
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt alone carried out 90% of those executions.
The figures exclude China, which is thought to execute thousands each year.
In a new report titled "Death in Slow Motion," human rights group Amnesty International says the "suffocating crackdown against Afghanistan's female population is increasing day by day."
Amnesty International says the world has become a darker place, with a rise in 'divisive and dangerous' politics.
Amnesty International's latest snapshot of the world paints a picture of darkness, division and danger.
The human rights watchdog says 2016 was the year of "us versus them" - that governments world-wide are pushing a "toxic agenda that scapegoats and dehumanises people".
Amnesty blames US President Donald Trump, the Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Amnesty report documents abuses and intolerance in almost every country.
In Iran, emerging from isolation after the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, at least 977 people were executed in 2015, up 31% from the 2014 figure of at least 743. The vast majority were for drug-related offences. Iran is one of the last executioners of child offenders, in violation of international law. Last year it executed at least four people who were under 18 at the time of their crime.
Pakistan continued an “alarming” killing spree it embarked on when it lifted a moratorium on civilian executions in December 2014. More than 320 people were sent to the gallows in 2015, the highest number Amnesty has ever recorded for Pakistan. At least five were reportedly child offenders.
In Saudi Arabia, executions rose by 76% on 2014’s figures, with at least 158 people executed last year – the highest number since 1995. Most were beheaded, but firing squads were also used and bodies were sometimes displayed in public. The Saudis used the death penalty disproportionate
A young man in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to be crucified and beheaded following his arrest and trial for participating in an anti government protest.
A young man facing beheading and crucifixion in Saudi Arabia was tortured and sentenced for political reasons, according to rights groups and a source close to his family calling for a halt to his execution.Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for participating in a protest. He was later sentenced to death for joining a criminal group and attacking police forces in proceedings which a United Nations body said "fell short of international standards." The conviction was upheld this week by Saudi Arabia's highest court, and the execution could take place at any time. Al-Nimr's family has appealed for Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to issue a pardon during the current Muslim holiday period of Eid. The crucifixion sentence means that al-Nimr will most likely be beheaded first and his body later displayed on a cross in a public location, according to campaigners.
