An Amnesty International activist demonstrates against death penalty in Rome (Photo: AP)
An Amnesty International report released on Wednesday said that global commitment to abolishing the death penalty still exists, despite an increase in incidents in 2012.
The Middle East was a particular concern, according to the human rights organisation. The top five countries in terms of numbers of executions carried out in 2012 were China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the US.
At least 682 executions were carried out in 2012, two more than in 2011, according to the organization's annual report on death sentences and executions – the numbers exclude China, from which precise figures are hard to obtain.
India, Japan, Pakistan and the Gambia all resumed death sentences after they had previously suspended them.
In April of this year, the UN decried the sudden escalation in use of death penalties in Kuwait and several countries in Asia including India, Indonesia and Japan.
In Iraq, at least 129 people were put to death in 2012 – almost double the 2011 figure of 68.
Kuwait carried out its first executions after a six-year hiatus, hanging a Saudi, a Pakistani and a stateless Arab who had been convicted of manslaughter, according to the Associated Press.
Amnesty International reports a few positive developments, however.
Only one in ten countries, the reports stated, implements the death penalty - 21 in 2012, a drop from 28 countries in 2003.
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