Decapitation, hanging, lethal injection, stoning, shooting and the electric chair are still methods of execution in 58 countries. While in places like the US a person can be sentenced to death for aggravated homicide and acts of terrorism, in others it doesn’t take much to receive the sentence. In Iran, for example, adultery and homosexuality are punishable by death. In China, crimes of tax fraud, embezzlement and drug trafficking with weapons also. These and other crimes led to 682 people being executed in 2012, according to the most recent report by Amnesty International – an organization that fights for human rights and against the death penalty. The number does not include deaths in China (3,000 convicted, according to unofficial estimates).
lethal states
Countries that execute the most per year*
CHINA – 3 thousand**
IRAN – 369
IRAQ – 169
SAUDI ARABIA – 79
USA – 39
SOMALIA – 34
*Amnesty International (2013)
**The Dui Hua Foundation (2012)
Faces of Death
Since the creation of the UN in 1945, 132 countries have abolished capital punishment.
DECAPITATION
COUNTRIES – Saudi Arabia and Iran
PUNISHABLE CRIMES – Murder, rape, false prophecy, witchcraft, armed robbery, homosexuality and adultery
In Saudi Arabia, it is the most commonly used form of execution. In Iran, it hasn’t been rolled since 2001. It’s usually done with a sword. Between 2007 and 2010, 345 convicts had their heads cut off in a public square. In one specific case, the head was sewn back to the body, which was then hung from a pole.
STONING
COUNTRIES – Iran, Somalia and Pakistan
PUNISHABLE CRIME – Adultery
In Islamic law, whoever cheats on his husband or wife must be killed like this. Victims are placed in a hole and buried – women up to their necks and men up to their hips. Confessed culprits can have their sentence overturned if they manage to escape – which puts women at a disadvantage. Who throws the first stone is the witness or the judge, if the crime has been confessed
LETHAL INJECTION
COUNTRIES – China, Guatemala, Thailand, Taiwan, USA and Vietnam
PUNISHABLE CRIMES – Murder, terrorism, rape and treason in the event of war
It is the most common execution in the 32 states with the death penalty in the US. Most injections are pentobarbital, imported. European manufacturers, however, would be refusing to sell the substance for executions. In Ohio in 2013, an experimental formula would have left a man in agony for 25 minutes before he died.
shooting
COUNTRIES – Belarus, China, North Korea, Somalia, Taiwan, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
PUNISHABLE CRIMES – Murder, treason to the country in case of war, terrorism causing death, adultery, rape, homosexuality and military offenses
In Belarus, a shot is fired in the back of the head of the kneeling prisoner. In Vietnam, the convict is tied to a post and a squad of five shooters executes him – a policeman still shoots him in the ear.
HANGING
COUNTRIES – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Botswana, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Pakistan and Sudan
PUNISHABLE CRIMES – Murder, terrorism, adultery and kidnapping
In Afghanistan, in November 2012, 14 prisoners were hanged. It is one of the most popular methods, along with stoning. In India, it is the official way of carrying out death penalty sentences. Minors under 18 at the time of the crime and pregnant women must be pardoned
ELETRIC CHAIR
COUNTRIES – USA (some states)
PUNISHABLE CRIMES – Murder, terrorism causing death, espionage, genocide and attempted murder of a juror or witness in criminal cases
Since January 2001, only 10 of the 683 US executions have gone like this. The method is no longer widely used in the country, as lethal injection is considered a more “humane” way of applying the death penalty. The shock was last used in January 2013
In 2013, the Afghan government tried in vain to pass stoning as a penalty. Even so, there are many illegal cases of this type of execution in the country.
In Taiwan, death comes with a point-blank shot from behind, in the heart or in the head – if the prisoner wants to donate the organs.
Sources Death Penalties and Executions Report (2012) by Amnesty International and The Dui Hua Foundation
Consultancy Chiara Sangiorgio, death penalty expert at Amnesty International