By DPA,
London : At least 470 people were executed in China last year, making it the highest overall figure for any single country, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US, according to Amnesty International.
The report, titled Death Sentences and Executions in 2007. published in London, brands China as the “world’s top executioner,” and says that the true figure for executions in China “is undoubtedly much higher.”
“As the world and Olympic guests are left guessing, only the Chinese authorities know exactly how many people have been killed with state authorization,” the Amnesty report said.
The human rights organization called on China to lift the “veil of secrecy surrounding the death penalty.
According to the report, at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries and at least 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 states.
In addition, up to 27,500 people were estimated to be on death row across the world.
Among countries where the number of executions had gone up in 2007 were Iran, where at least 317 people executed, followed by Saudi Arabia with 143 as compared with 177 and 39 executions respectively in 2006.
According to Amnesty, 88 per cent of all known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA, where 42 executions took place last year.
Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions per capita, followed by Iran and Libya.
Amnesty said at least 33 executions were reported from Iraq, followed by at least 25 in Vietnam and 15 in Yemen.