ARCHIVE · DOCUMENT
JULY 26, 2013EXECUTIONS IN 2012
At least 3,967 executions were carried out in 22 Countries and territories in 2012.
China: about 3,000
Iran: at least 580
Iraq: at least 129
Saudi Arabia: at least 84
United States: 43
Yemen: at least 28
North Korea: at least 20
Sudan: at least 19
Afghanistan: 14
Gambia: 9
Somalia: at least 8
Japan: 7
Palestine (Gaza Strip)*: 6
Taiwan*: 6
South Sudan: at least 5
Belarus: at least 3
Botswana: at least 1
Syria: at least 1
Bangladesh: 1
India: 1
Pakistan: 1
United Arab Emirates: 1
In 2012 and the first six months of 2013, no executions were reported in 3 Countries – Egypt, Singapore and Vietnam – that carried out executions in 2011.
On the other hand, 8 Countries resumed executions: Botswana (at least 1), Gambia (9), Japan (7), India (1) and Pakistan (1) in 2012; Indonesia (1), Kuwait (5) and Nigeria (4) in 2013.
Source: Hands Off Cain
In bold: liberal democracies1 (5) that carried out executions (58) in 2012
In italics: changes in 2012 (5) with regard to 2011
* Non-UN member States
1 The classification “liberal democracy” is based on the rigorous analytic standards employed by Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2013 report on the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world (www.freedomhouse.org).