Home / WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY? Home / WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY? 12345 Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases, without exception, and we’re campaigning every day to ensure that it is abolished. See if you’re up to speed on the realities behind the death penalty. Knowledge is power: Email Address How many countries around the world have abolished the death penalty? 25 89 112 184 When we began our global campaign to abolish the death penalty in 1977, only 16 countries had totally abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has risen to 112 – nearly two-thirds of the world’s countries – and Amnesty is campaigning to add more countries to this list, including the United States. In 2022, the total number of executions in the world rose by what percentage? 13% 26% 53% 87% According to Amnesty's latest global report on the death penalty, we’ve recorded a major spike in the number of people known to have been executed. The number increased from 579 in 2021 to at least 883 executions in 2022 – and that doesn’t include the thousands of executions we believe to have taken place in China. This is the highest number of judicial executions recorded globally since 2017. Which of these countries is one of the most notorious users of the death penalty in the world? Brazil Iran Kazakhstan Nigeria Iranian authorities are ruthlessly carrying out an execution spree. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to at least 576 in 2022. Since the start of this year, authorities have imposed hundreds of death sentences. The Iranian government is using the death penalty as a tool of political repression to silence and terrorize people for expressing their rights and who they are. Combined with Texas and Alabama, which states have carried out more than half of all the executions in the United States since 1977? Arkansas, Georgia Missouri, Oklahoma Kansas, Virginia Arkansas, Oklahoma Together, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas account for 55% of executions in the U.S. since 1977 and 81% of the executions conducted since President Biden took office in January 2021. Since 1973, how many people have been exonerated and released from death row in the United States? 9 19 92 192 Over the last 50 years, 192 people have been freed from the cruel and inhuman grasp of death row. Many of these people were sentenced in cases mired by false accusations, perjury, and official misconduct – some of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Δ
