Amnesty records 37% decline in number of executions globallyApril 11, 2017 - 12:08 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Amnesty International in a report released on Tuesday, April 11 said it recorded 1,032 executions worldwide last year -- a 37-percent decline from 2015. In 2015, Amnesty said worldwide executions had reached 1,634 -- the highest recorded since 1989. The statistics exclude China which Amnesty said executes more people than the rest of the world combined but keeps the precise numbers secret. US death penalty sentences fell to a historic low last year and executions also dropped sharply, contributing to a global slump of over a third from 2015, AFP reports. The number of death sentences handed down in the US, 32, was the lowest since 1973 and the number of executions, 20, meant the country is now no longer among the world's five biggest executioners. Salil Shetty, secretary general of the London-based international human rights watchdog, said the US decline was "a sign of hope for activists who have long campaigned for an end to capital punishment". "The debate is clearly shifting," he said in the group's annual global review of the death penalty, which showed a 37 percent decline overall. Amnesty said it was "a clear sign that judges, prosecutors and juries are turning their back on the death penalty as a means of administering justice". The report also noted sharp drops in the number of executions in Iran -- down 42 percent to at least 567 -- and Pakistan -- down 73 percent to 87. There were also fewer executions in sub-Saharan Africa, although the number of death sentences handed down more than doubled to 1,086, largely due to a rise in Nigeria to 527 from 171. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | 17 bridges collapse as a result of floods in Armenia As a result of floods in Armenia’s northern Lori and Tavush provinces, 17 bridges, including five large ones, have collapsed. Armenia: Top cleric to retain title as he bids to become interim PM Galstanyan said earlier that the interim government would be tasked with stopping the “destruction of our homeland”. Ex-mayor of Karabakh capital arrested in Yerevan Ex-mayor of the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Stepanakert David Sargsyan has been arrested for 20 days. 269 people evacuated amid severe floods in Armenia’s north According to the Interior Ministry, 269 people have been evacuated from their homes in Lori and Tavush provinces. |