SW News: A report by human rights group Amnesty International reveals that 883 persons were known to have been executed across 20 countries in 2022, an increase of 53% from 2021. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt alone are known to have carried out 90% of the 883 executions.
The data excludes those nations where executions are allegedly carried out but where figures are unavailable because information on the death penalty is classified.
The rights organization was also able to confirm that executions had taken place in Afghanistan, Syria, North Korea, and Vietnam, but claimed that there was insufficient data to offer reliable minimum numbers.
However, China, which is thought to execute thousands per year, is not included in these statistics.
Iran and Saudi Arabia were mostly to blame for the dramatic rise in documented executions globally last year, according to a report by Amnesty International. Iran is accused of killing 576 persons, an increase from 314 in 2021. Of them, 279 were found guilty of murder, 255 of drug-related charges, 21 of rape, and 18 of the "enmity against God" national security accusation. Two men who were detained in connection with the anti-government rallies that broke out in the Islamic Republic in September were included in the last category.
Executions increased in Saudi Arabia from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022. Of them, 85 persons were killed after being found guilty of terrorist acts, and 57 after being found guilty of drug offenses. As many as 24 people were executed elsewhere in Egypt last year. However, compared to 2021, when 83 were carried out, that represented a 71% drop.
 Along with these executions, Amnesty also noted 11 in Iraq, 7 in Kuwait, 5 in the Palestinian Territories, 4 in Yemen, and an undetermined number in Syria. In the US, 18 people were put to death, up from 11 in 2022, while 11 people were executed in Singapore when drug-related executions were resumed following a two-year suspension due to the Covid epidemic.
The Church advocates vehemently for the elimination of the death penalty throughout the world. The death penalty is inadmissible as it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person in light of the Gospel.