China, Middle East dominate 2020 list of top executioners: Report

Amnesty International’s annual review shows general decrease in number of global executions in 2020, but 18 countries continued the practice.

While the year 2020 witnessed an overall decline in the number of global death penalties, some countries increased the number of executions they carried out. In its annual global review of the death penalty (PDF), Amnesty International said that the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus pandemic contributed to a trend of decline in global executions between January and December 2020. But authorities in 18 countries continued executing last year. Amnesty relied on official figures, judgements, media reports and information from families, individuals and civil societies to collate data for its report titled Death Sentences and Executions in 2020.