The year 2019 saw the lowest executions globally in a decade, Amnesty International reported.
In its report, published Tuesday, Amnesty International noted an overall drop from 2,531 death sentences and 690 executions in 2018 to 2,307 death sentences and 657 executions in 2019.
However, Saudi Arabia executed 184 people - a record for the moderate Muslim country - during 2019. In addition, the number of executions in Iraq doubled, while China and Iran retained their top places as the countries which carry out the most executions in the world. China does not publicize the number of people it executes, and Iran, Vietnam, and North Korea are also not transparent regarding the number of death sentences they give.
The countries with the highest numbers of executions were: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, USA, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. However, the number of executions decreased significantly in Egypt, Japan, and Singapore.
Countries which saw an uptick in the number of executions included South Sudan and Yemen.
In California, the US state with the highest number of people sentenced to death, the governor froze the executions, claiming them to "discriminate" against disadvantaged groups and "waste billions of taxpayer dollars."