"The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state. This cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice" (Cit. Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org).Amnesty International has published its 2008 report on the Death Penalty, including reliable data and statistics on sentences and executions (the report can be downloaded from the website www.amnesty.org).According to the official statistics, executions across the world increased a 90 per cent in the last year. In 2007 at least 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries and at least 1,252 people were known to be executed in 24 countries. During 2008 at least 8,864 sentenced to death in 52 states and at least 2,390 people were executed in 25 countries around the world. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States were the major users of the death penalty, with China carrying out over 70 per cent of all executions (at least 1,718 executions).However, there is a general trend closer to the abolition of the death penalty, since only 25 out of the 59 countries that retain the death penalty reported to have put it into practice in 2008. The UN resolution "moratorium on the use of the death penalty" signed in 2008 shows a general willingness to moving away from the death penalty. Most of the executions in 2008 were carried out in Asia (at least 1,838), followed by the Middle East and North Africa (at least 508 executions), Americas (at least 38 executions, 37 in the USA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (only 2 reported executions). Europe is the only death penalty-free region of the world, except from Belarus, where at least 4 people were executed in 2008.
ACHRS opposes and campaigns against the death penalty in all cases and wherever it is used. It considers the death penalty a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of inhuman, cruel and degrading punishment.
