2015 saw the highest number of recorded executions in more than 25 years, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported [press release] Wednesday. AI records show that at least 1,634 people were executed last year in 25 countries. However, the report also shows that there was a sharp decline in the number of death sentences between 2014 and 2015, falling to 1,998 from 2,466 recorded sentences. Yet at the end of 2015, 20,292 individuals were still waiting to face execution. Most executions take place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US. However, some countries such as Fiji, Madagascar, the Republic of Congo and Suriname have begun to abolish the death penalty for all crimes while more than 100 limit the practice.

Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and around the world. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed [official website], expressed continued concern in March regarding Iran’s alarming rate of juvenile executions [JURIST report] and other flaws in the justice system [press release]. Mississippi lawmakers last month reintroduced a billh that would allow for execution by firing squad [JURIST report] as an alternative to lethal injection. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in March halted the execution [JURIST report] of a Texas man who was convicted of killing his children.