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ALMOST 1,000 EXECUTIONS were recorded around the world last year, according to figures released by Amnesty International today.
The organisation recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, down by 4% from 2016 (1,032 executions) and reduced by 39% from 2015 – when Amnesty reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989.
Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan – in that order.
China remained the world’s top executioner. However, Amnesty said the true extent of the use of the death penalty there is unknown as this information is classified as a state secret. The global figure of at least 993 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China.
Excluding China, 84% of all reported executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan. During 2017, 23 countries are known to have carried out executions – the same as in 2016.
Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) resumed executions in 2017. Amnesty did not record executions in five countries − Botswana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan and Taiwan − that carried out executions in 2016.
Executions decreased in Belarus (by 50%, from at least four to at least two); Egypt (by 20%); Iran (by 11%); Pakistan (31%) and Saudi Arabia (5%). Executions doubled or almost doubled in Palestine, from three in 2016 to six in 2017; from four to eight in Singapore; and from 14 to 24 in Somalia.
In 2017, two countries – Guinea and Mongolia – abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes. Guatemala became abolitionist for ordinary crimes only. Gambia signed an international treaty committing the country to not carry out executions and to move to abolish the death penalty in law.
Exonerations
At the end of 2017, 106 countries (a majority of the world’s states) had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes and 142 countries (more than two-thirds) had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Amnesty recorded commutations or pardons of death sentences in 21 countries: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco/Western Sahara, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tunisia, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
Fifty-five exonerations of prisoners under sentence of death were recorded in six countries: China, Maldives, Nigeria, Taiwan, USA and Zambia.
Amnesty International recorded at least 2,591 death sentences in 53 countries in 2017, a significant decrease from the record-high of 3,117 recorded in 2016. At least 21,919 people were known to be on death row at the end of 2017.
Methods of execution
The following methods of execution were used across the world in 2017: beheading, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Public executions were carried out in Iran (at least 31).
Amnesty said reports from 2017 indicated that at least five people were executed in Iran who were under 18 at the time of the crime for which they were sentenced to death.
In many countries where people were sentenced to death or executed, the proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards, the organisation said. This included the extraction of alleged confessions through torture or other ill-treatment, including in Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Americas
For the ninth consecutive year, the US remained the only country to carry out executions in the region. The number of executions (23) and death sentences (41) in the US slightly increased compared to 2016, but remained within the historically low trends of recent years.
For the second year in a row, and the second time since 2006, the US did not feature among the top five global executioners, with its position in the global ranking dropping from seventh to eighth.
The number of US states carrying out executions increased from five in 2016 to eight, with Arkansas, Ohio and Virginia resuming executions after a hiatus. Four states – Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri and Nebraska – as well as US federal courts, imposed death sentences in 2017, after a hiatus, bringing the number of US states imposing death sentences to 15 (two more than in 2016). Kansas, North Carolina and Oregon, which imposed death sentences in 2016, did not do so in 2017.
Only three countries in the region imposed death sentences – Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the US. Guatemala became the 142nd country to have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Asia-Pacific
At least 93 executions in nine countries were known to have been carried out throughout the region in 2017 – down from at least 130 in 11 countries in 2016. Amnesty said the decrease was linked to a decline in Pakistan, where executions reduced by 31%. These figures do not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty believes were carried out in China.
Singapore doubled its number of executions, from four to eight, compared to 2016. All its executions were for drug-related offences.
At least 1,037 new death sentences were imposed in the region, a slight decrease from 2016. This number is down to a variation in figures for a number of countries, and because of information provided to Amnesty by authorities. Figures for death sentences in India, Indonesia Pakistan and Thailand, among other countries, were lower compared to 2016.
Increases were recorded in countries including Bangladesh (from at least 245 to at least 273), Singapore (from at least seven to 15) and Sri Lanka (from at least 79 to 218).
Eighteen countries across the region were known to have imposed death sentences, the same number as in 2016. Brunei imposed a new death sentence after it did not impose any in 2016; Papua New Guinea did not impose any death sentences in 2017, after it did so in the previous year.
Across Asia-Pacific, the death penalty was extensively used for offences that did not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes”, going against international law, Amnesty stated.
Europe and Central Asia
In Europe and Central Asia, Belarus was the only country to execute people. The country carried out at least two executions in 2017, and at least four new death sentences were imposed.
One man remained under sentence of death in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Russia and Tajikistan continued to observe moratoriums on executions.
Middle East and North Africa
There was a small reduction in the use of the death penalty in this region in 2017. The number of executions recorded in the Middle East and North Africa decreased by 1%, from 856 in 2016 to 847 in 2017.
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq remained the top three executing countries, accounting for 92% of executions in the region.
Iran executed at least 507 people, accounting for 60% of all confirmed executions in the region. Saudi Arabia executed 146 people, representing 17% of all confirmed executions in the region.
At least 264 executions were carried out for drug-related offences (27% of all recorded executions in 2017).
Amnesty International confirmed that at least 619 death sentences were imposed in the region in 2017, a reduction on the 764 death sentences recorded in 2016. Egypt imposed at least 402 death sentences, the most in the region.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Amnesty said a reduction in the number of executing countries was recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa. Two countries (Somalia and South Sudan) recorded executions in 2017, compared to five countries the previous year.
Twenty-eight executions were carried out: 24 in Somalia and four in South Sudan, a slight increase compared to the 22 recorded in 2016.
Overall, death sentences decreased, from at least 1,086 in 2016 to at least 878 in 2017. Nigeria imposed the highest number of death sentences in the region.
Guinea abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia and Kenya moved towards abolishing the death penalty.
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Theres NOBODY in ireland would admit to being concerned about sitting beside a muslim on a plane in europe…while he texts in arabic..
I would!
I would
Not so long ago British airlines had volunteer lists for crew willing to travel to Belfast!
Totally unnecessary!
I do not look at people in Islamic attire and immediately think they’re terrorists!
But then again, I’m educated!
This is how it starts. This is how Daesh wins. I have worked with many people who happened to be Muslims and they love their kids and work very hard. We now have to work hard to defend our way of life and stop Daesh from winning over our thoughts. Sure we must stay alert but we must not also hate. Then they win.
No
Peter…do you really think thats how irish people feel…!!…its not what i here every day speaking to irish and non moslim people…..!!!!!
I wonder what it was that she saw. She must have known that by alerting the authorities everybody would have to disembark.
A guy texting just before the request to turn your phone off or to aeroplane setting, like 100 other people on the plane. But not being white and texting in a language she understood, she hysterically jumped to terrorist… As you do.
He may have written to his wife:
“It IS in the drawer. I put it there before I left”
Referring to the spare car key she couldn’t find.
Where does it say he was not white or was or tjat the language he was texting im the woman did not understand…. I think its you thats jumping to conclusions..
As an Iraqi he is unlikely to be white.
Well Jesus came from that part of the world and he was white :)
And as an Iraqi citizen there’s a high probability that he wasn’t texting in English
I know in this case she was wrong but where’s the harm in being vigilant?, she’s probably incredibly embarrassed but fair play, can’t blame anyone for being over anxious given the current state of affairs, the main thing is all’s well that ends well, and when all is said and done there would be a lot more people alive today had our vigilance not collapsed in Europe!
Vigilant that’s is utter rubbish. She’s an out and out racist.
What’s vigilant? Do we accuse any Arab or anyone Soesking a foreign language of being a member of a terrorist organisation?
This kind of stupidity is why Islamic State are winning.
Hear hear sir
Ivor…winning? At what?
Don’t forget the guns and the bombs or the suicidally dedicated soldiers or the oil money and funding from multiple different governments or the instability in the region. I don’t think one man rightly or wrongly being removed from a plane is the cause of global terrorism
@Peter Fechter – they have us by the balls mate. No street in Europe is safe because we stood by and let them grow after we removed (murdered) the dictators that kept them in check in their own countries. Do you think Europe is winning this war? All we do is pray and light candles. Thats not gonna win anything.
Well in fairness we don’t know the situation. He could have been reading an Arabic article about Isis . Lots of Islamists hate Isis too you know.
@Ivor
No they dont. I feel safe walking the streets of cork and i also felt safe walking the streets of Birmingham recently. And i’ll feel safe going to France in the summer. All because i wont let them stop me doing what i would always do. And France and Britain are doing more than light candles and praying. What do you want to happen?
Well said sir, about time someone talked a bit of sense
If he is innocent, he just got pulled off a plane and questioned by police for no reason other than he was put beside a paranoid passenger. Sad.
Whats sad about it? Would it be sad if said paranoid passenger was right saving lives? Im glad she did it and hope many more do! PC bs will endanger everyone!
You know what annoys me about people like you? You will spout crap like this instead of holding up a guy for few hours until your loved ones get caught up in this rubbish. Think about it! Man gets stopped, accused and cleared and allowed to travel on after a few hours. A family or families could easily be going through heartbreak because someone didnt report what she tought was valuable info at time. Relax, the world wont end because someone missed their flight but someones world might end if she was right!
The guy missed his plane because a woman was suspicious he was the wrong colour. Whatever way you dress it up, it’s racism.
I missed the part that described him as dark skinned and the woman expressing her belief in white skinned folks superiority…must read it again…
Read the article! Again if your loved ones were harmed you wouldnt be spouting such drivel! Racial profiling, gender profiling, national profiling…who gives a flyin f…? Keep people safe including those of colour, male or female or nationality. This “profiling” doesnt just keep white people safe you know!! Bloody racist card!!
I wonder if you were pulled off a flight because somebody heard your Irish accent and thought they saw you write ira on your phone would you feel the same way?
..well just cos you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re NOT out to get you….
A.J you are some clown. So you are saying that for example, if I thought you were a terrorist with no proof, you are OK with the police arresting and questioning you against your will? Give me a break. Go back to school
Who says im irish? Is this social media profiling? Anyway, wouldnt give a monkeys ;)
Yes idiot, its the times we live in. Now back to your pc heaven with you.
PCBs are everywhere. Indeed the one on our boiler went there the week before last and we had no heating or hot water.
…arresting you against your will? What the hell does that mean ? You mean you’d only accept being arrested if it was your will? What kind if nonsense talk is that ?
This is exactly how America ended up with the Patriot Act
Nervousness justified after downing of Russian airliner in Egypt, Paris, Brussels attacks all the while applauded by psycho islamists on-line. They should be put on separate flights, the risk is too great and too many got thru when Fr Merkel invited them w/o documentation. Profiling is in this case entirely necessary. Shut-down Schengen and bring in US style controls like iris and fingerprint control. Technology is there time for the Governments to get off their ass get organized and use it.
Extreme!!
You think IS wont down a plane full of Muslims to terrorise Europe?? IS are slaying Muslims daily! 29 or 30 at a football match yesterday, untold numbers in Syria daily.
I do think that some controls are needed but profiling ain’t the way to go. Where do you start? Radicals can be in any shape or size.
You can’t bomb an idea. You can’t stop an idea.
Profiling is a stanndard operating procedure when we seek to identify criminals or terrorists. The security agencies like the FBI MI5 FSB BVD all use it in an attempt to solve and prevent crime regardless of the demographic being profiled. If the likely culprit is a white male 40′s or middle eastern male 20′s it matters not. What matters is the effectiveness of the techniques used in achieving stated objectives, in this case preventing terrorist attacks. Too many people have died already and as I said time for the Governments an Brussels Plutocrats to get off their a*ss and do something.
We should copy israeli security techniques at lod airport….we wont though…israel wont recognise the total and absolute sanctity of the burqua as a means of disguise and concealment…..we tend to curtsey to it.
Peter, an excellent point. They’re simply employing effective measures. I was checked thoroughly@moscow airport c/w full xray. Security guy even checked my wallet. You also have to show ur barcode sticker or they won’t let u out of collect baggage area…. EU badly needs border controls to stop criminals and terrorists running riot & trafficking arms munitions explosives drugs cash drugs. The EU doesn’t even have an FBI or borders so a really soft touch for the baddies. We don’t need politicians crying or sympathizing we need competent people putting effective measures in place to ensure the safety of the public and maintenance of Law & Orde.
You are advocating we should be more like Russia?? Have you tried to do business in Russia? its economy is tanking all the mindless beaurecracy, security restrictions and resulting corruption is in no samll way to blame, I and countless others cross borders everyday to do business and this ease of movement drives our economies. In russia you can’t even cross the street without somebody looking for your papers, and he has no interest in protecting anybody, just hoping for an excuse to issue a “fine” .
@Matty Reese: listen to Gregory – he’s more than just done business there, he’s lived there…….you’re just going to have to accede to him on that one…
Bit like here, so.
Yes, let’s all be more like Russia and Israel. Great idea
Hopefully nothing will come from it except her being arrested for being a stupid co
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s enough information in the article to say one way or another. The fact that they’re also questioning her suggests to me that they’re seeing whether they can do her for wasting police time. People being vigilant and noticing a wire coming from a guy’s shoe stopped him from detonating a bomb on that flight to/from (?) Detroit. On the other hand, fear and over-zealousness led to a Muslim guy being asked to leave the Tube when someone considered it ‘shifty’ that he had turned off his iPad when a stranger leaned over to see what it was showing.
How annoying this is and disrupts people’s lives but she was vigilant and yes if you were sitting next to a Muslim on a flight you would be apprehensive after all the crazy stuff that’s going on at the moment.
What business did this nosy bint have, to be spying on someone else’s texts?
Exactly. Plus, it’s common knowledge that ISIS only communicate in Arabic. If she could read his texts, they were safe, if not she made an assumption.
Peter, I’d say there could be quite a few ISIS members (converts) who don’t have a full grasp of Arabic.
And how would you know they were Muslim?
Vigilant and wrong are the same thing now?
She won’t do that again, now will she??!!
Couple of million squids and he’ll be feeling a lot better.
wont get any money. They acted on a legitimate fear from a passenger, to do otherwise would have let them open to claims of negligence.
Racist paranoid biatch! She delayed everyone on that flight and wrongly accused an innocent person. I hope the airline black list her and she gets a psychiatric assessment!!
http://youtu.be/BfilaKrnAhQ
I wonder is this what she saw!
Ahahahahahahaha I’d say your spot on with that!!
Flight was probably still quicker than Ryanair.
One wonders did this civic minded lady assume the chap was a Muslim with a mobile phone and put two & five together. Paranoia is the best weapon these terrorists have & it seems to be working. Vigilance is important but I fear the world has gone truly mad, take some time to view American news networks, astonishing stuff.
Errrrm… Who reads what the people next to them are texting ?
Guys, I read the above article but haven’t seen any mentioning of the woman’s nationality or skin color. According to Grundboeck, “The man is an Iraqi citizen, but added that “It was unclear what the woman’s nationality is.” Does anyone have the answer?. What is the evidence to suggest that her action was racial motivated in alarming the airline crew? Maybe the woman understood the Arabic text and hence believed that what she was reading warranted for her to act. No one knows what the heck was going through her mind at that particular moment. “Paranoia or assumption is often the mother of all F…ups.”
It really depends on what she saw or thought she saw. If he wrote, ‘Death to the infidels’, then I can imagine that ‘might’ warrant some further investigation. If it was because he used the word ‘is’ in a sentence, then not so much.
Guys, I read the above article but haven’t seen any mentioning of the woman’s nationality or skin color. According to Grundboeck, “The man is an Iraqi citizen, but added that “It was unclear what the woman’s nationality is.” Does anyone have the answer?. What is the evidence to suggest that her action was indeed racially motivated in alarming the airline crew? Maybe the woman understood the Arabic text and hence believed that what she saw at that moment warranted for her to act. No one knows what the heck was going through her mind.
have your say