Global executions down; sub-Saharan Africa ‘beacon of hope’
JOHANNESBURG — A new annual report on the death penalty calls sub-Saharan Africa a “beacon of hope” amid a decline in executions worldwide.
Twenty countries across sub-Saharan Africa have now abolished the death penalty for all crimes, Amnesty International says in the report released early Thursday. Just two countries in the region, Somalia and South Sudan, carried out executions last year.
Executions worldwide dropped again in 2017, with at least 993 recorded in 23 countries. That’s down 4 per cent from the year before and down 39 per cent from 2015.
At least 2,591 death sentences were recorded in 53 countries last year, down from a record high of 3,117 the year before, the London-based human rights organization said.