AI document: death sentences and executions in 2007

Amnistía Internacional publicou esta semana varios documentos sobre a pena de morte no mundo, entre eles un reconto por países das condenas impostas e das execucións. Debemos considerar que estas cifras son as feitas públicas por cada Goberno e soen ser inferiores ás reais.

Estes son os primeiros da lista en cifras absolutas:

• China (470+)
• Irán (317+)
• Arabia Saudí (143+)
• Pakistán (135+)
• Estados Unidos (42)
• Iraq (33+)
• Vietnam (25+)
• Iemen (15+)
• Afganistán (15)

O documento está disponible en HTML ou PDF, con versións en inglés, español, árabe e francés en “Death sentences and executions in 2007″. Copio un extracto do seu contido:

During 2007, at least 1252 people were executed in 24 countries. At least 3347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.

Many countries carry out executions in secret and refuse to divulge any information on the use of the death penalty. Such countries include China, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia. The United Nations has repeatedly called for the death penalty only to be used in an open and transparent manner. [...]

As in previous years, the vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a small handful of countries. In 2007, 88 per cent of all known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA. Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions per capita, followed by Iran and Libya.

In 2007 the Chinese authorities again refused to publish statistics on the government’s use of the death penalty leaving the world in the dark about the number of executions carried out. Amnesty International believes there is likely to have been a significant drop in executions during 2007 after Supreme People’s Court (SPC) review for all death sentences was restored on 1 January. In 2007 470 executions were recorded by AI, but this number is based on public reports available and serves as an absolute minimum. The US-based organization “Dui Hua Foundation” estimates that 6,000 people were executed last year based on figures obtained from local officials. In a country as vast as China with tight government controls on information and the media only the authorities know the reality behind the use of the death penalty. [...]

Outro documento publicado esta semana por AI so ten versión en inglés: é “The death penalty worldwide developments in 2007″. Copio un extracto da súa introducción:

[...] In 2007 the world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of the capital punishment. Historical landmark towards the worldwide abolition of death penalty is the resolution on moratorium on executions endorsed by the United Nations 62nd General Assembly on 18 December 2007.

104 UN member states voted in favour of the ground-breaking resolution. 54 countries voted against, while 29 abstained. The resolution was supported by 87 governments from all regions of the world, as well as by NGOs including the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, the Community of Sant’Egidio, Hands Off Cain and Amnesty International.

More than two thirds of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. By the end of the 2007, 91 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. During the year, three countries (Albania, Cook Islands and Rwanda) abolished the death penalty for all crimes and one country (Kyrgyzstan) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

One state of the USA (New Jersey) joined the global trend towards ending the capital punishment. New Jersey was the first US state to abolish the capital punishment by law since the death penalty was reintroduced in the US in 1972. [...]