02 January 2013 :
At least 5,837 executions were carried out in 22 countries and territories in 2010.
China: approximately 5,000
Iran: at least 546
North Korea: at least 60
Yemen: at least 53
United States: 46
Saudi Arabia: at least 27
Libya: at least 18
Iraq: at least 17
Syria: at least 17
Bangladesh: at least 9
Somalia: at least 8
Sudan: at least 8
Palestinian National Authority (Gaza Strip)*: 5
Vietnam: at least 4
Egypt: 4
Equatorial Guinea: 4
Taiwan*: 4
Belarus: 2
Japan: 2
Malaysia: at least 1
Bahrain: 1
Botswana: 1
In 2010 and the first six months of 2011, it would appear that no executions were carried out in Oman, Singapore and Thailand that carried out executions in 2009.
On the other hand, 8 countries took up the practice of capital punishment once again in 2010 and 2011: Palestinian National Authority*, Bahrain, Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and Taiwan* in 2010; Afghanistan (2) and United Arab Emirates (1) in 2011.
Source: Hands Off Cain
In bold: liberal democracies1 (4) that carried out executions (53) in 2010
In italics: changes in 2010 (6) with regard to 2009
* Non-UN member States
1 The classification “liberal democracy” is based on the rigorous analytic standards employed by Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2011 report on the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world (www.freedomhouse.org).
