Global executions fall by 37%: Amnesty International

The number of executions recorded worldwide in 2016 fell by 37% on the previous year, human rights group Amnesty International says. At least 1,032 people were executed last year, down from 1,634 in 2015, Amnesty said.

The fall was largely driven by fewer deaths recorded in Iran and Pakistan.

China is believed to have executed more than all countries combined but has not been included in the figures given the lack of reliable data, the group adds, reports BBC.

The US was removed from the top five for the first time since 2006, according to Amnesty.

Despite fewer executions, Iran and Pakistan remain in Amnesty’s top five list, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Pakistan’s execution rate dropped from 326 recorded deaths in 2015 to at least 87 the following year.

The high number reported in 2015 followed the lifting of a seven-year moratorium on executions in December 2014 in response to a deadly Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar.

The country then created military courts to try civilians suspected of terrorism-related offences.

In 2016, at least four of those executed in the country were convicted by the military courts.