In his much-discussed 1957 Thoughts on the Death Penalty, Albert Camus argued forcefully against executions. Because according to the French writer and philosopher, the death penalty is not a means of delivering justice, but of revenge. Taking this reasoning into account and reading the recent numbers published by Amnesty International one realizes that things are not going well at all when it comes to international justice.

According to the human rights group’s annual report on the implementation of the death penalty worldwide, at least 1,153 people were executed last year, a 31% increase compared to 2022. This is the highest number of executions “on record” Amnesty International for about a decade,” the organization says. In 2015 alone, the death penalty was imposed more times, when 1,634 people were executed.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg”

Of the 16 countries that imposed the death penalty, only a few were responsible for the extreme increase in executions: Iran accounted for about three-quarters of executions (at least 853), Saudi Arabia for 15% (172). Executions also increased in Somalia (at least 38) and the US (24). Globally there were a total of 20% more new death sentences (2,428 in 52 countries).

Amnesty International estimates that most of the people being executed are in China. As relevant Chinese state records are not made public, the organization’s report contains no information on those executed. The situation is similar in North Korea and Vietnam, states for which there are also suspicions that they carry out very frequent executions.

“The dramatic increase in executions worldwide is shocking. And the Amnesty International figures are just the tip of the iceberg,” says Renata Alt, FDP politician and chair of the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.

Amnesty International sees as a success that the number of states where executions are carried out has decreased, from 20 in 2022 to 16 in 2023. No executions were recorded in Belarus, Japan, Myanmar and South Sudan. To date 144 countries have decided to abolish the death penalty.

But this does not equate to an increase in the number of executions, as in other states “there are not one or two but double and triple digit numbers of executions,” as Max Meischauer, an expert on the death penalty at Amnesty International in Germany, observes. He also points out to DW that executions are also taking place which “in a few countries are taking on bloody proportions”.

Another reason for the increase in executions is the end of the coronavirus pandemic. “During the pandemic the number of executions had decreased worldwide due to sanitary measures in prisons,” Meischauer explains. “Furthermore, there were fewer resources for executions, which were not a priority for the authorities.”

The death penalty as a means of oppression

Countries that carry out executions also use the death penalty as a political tool. “Public executions have always been a means of political repression and intimidation of society,” Meischauer states. This is especially true in the case of Iran, where the authorities use the death penalty as a means of terrorizing the people and consolidating their power, as found in the Amnesty International report.

Renata Alt calls on the EU to put more pressure on the Iranian regime. However, “EU member states do not always agree, otherwise the EU would have listed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization a long time ago,” the politician tells DW.

On the other side of the Persian Gulf, in Saudi Arabia, the country with the third most executions in the world, the situation appears at first sight to have improved somewhat: death sentences showed a slight decrease of 12%. However, as Amnesty International’s report points out, the country’s authorities carry out torture in order to force the victims to “confess”, while the death sentences are imposed in violation of international law and without a fair trial. A typical example is the execution of Mohammad al-Ghamdi, a teacher who was sentenced to death for criticizing the government on social media. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is the only country that executes people by beheading them with a sword. In addition, in both Iran and Saudi Arabia, the death penalty is also threatened for some very vague crimes, such as “hostile behavior towards God”.

The evidence from Singapore was also problematic, where the extreme imposition of death sentences was considered by the government as an appropriate response to the drug trade.

Concern over the US and sub-Saharan Africa

At the same time, there is cause for concern in the US, where executions have increased from 18 to 24. The states of Idaho and Tennessee have introduced bills to allow the death of condemned prisoners by firing squad, while Montana is considering expanding the list of substances that are used for executions using injection.

“In January, Kenneth Smith was executed in Alabama by the untried method of asphyxiation by nitrogen inhalation, 14 months after he survived a failed execution attempt,” Amnesty International’s report said.

Somalia ranked fifth in the death penalty, where a “dramatic increase in executions” was recorded – from 6 in 2022 to 38 in 2023. A 66% increase was also seen in recorded death sentences in the sub-Saharan African region, where 494 people were executed.

Diplomacy in the battle against the death penalty

Mainly in the context of bilateral talks, with official statements of protest and by raising the issue of the death penalty during official visits and international meetings, Germany tries to exert pressure on countries that still apply the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, however, this is not enough. “We would like the federal government to throw even more weight into the fight against the death penalty, as well as take clear diplomatic action against countries that set a bad example,” Meischauer says.

The human rights expert fully agrees with Albert Camus. “Some are trying to give the death penalty a character of justice. But in reality it is simply about satisfying the wildest instincts in society. And this has nothing to do with justice. It is and will remain just revenge.”

Edited by: Giorgos Passas