The Death Penalty Worldwide: Estimated Death Row Populations
Data
compiled by:
Mark Warren
Human Rights Research
Almonte, Ontario
Canada
Overview
Although the United Nations and numerous non-governmental organizations
monitor and research the use of the death penalty worldwide, one basic question
remains unanswered: how many people are under sentence of death around the
world? This chart is the first known attempt to provide a tentative
answer to that difficult question. It is based on data from many sources,
including official statistics, research by human rights organizations and media
reports. However, it represents no more than a rough estimate: accurate
data for those countries that apply the death penalty with the greatest frequency
is often incomplete or simply non-existent. In all likelihood, the actual
figure for the global death row population is significantly higher than the
highest estimate in the chart.
In many parts of the world, the use of the death penalty is shrouded in
secrecy. Some of the most active executing nations release no official
statistics on executions, death sentencing or death row populations (e.g.,
China, Saudi Arabia, Iran). In other retentionist
countries, any information on the use of the death penalty is treated as a
state secret (e.g., Viet Nam).
For example, it is highly likely that China carries out more executions than the rest of the world combined; unofficial estimates place the figure at anywhere between 1,700 and 8,000 executions annually. Many executions in China are reportedly carried out shortly after the sentence is pronounced, or following a single stage of appeal. Chinese courts can also impose a suspended death sentence, in which the execution is deferred for several years and may later be commuted altogether. Until very recently, most death sentences in China were reviewed only by regional courts and it is unclear whether there is a centralized registry of death sentences and dispositions. Very possibly, not even the Chinese government knows with any certainty how many prisoners are awaiting execution nationwide. Ongoing judicial reforms may ultimately result in a more accurate picture of the death penalty in China, but for the time being, any estimates of the death row population in that country can be little better than guesswork.
Where no figures are available for nations believed to have significant death row populations, I have used very conservative estimates based on the total death sentences reportedly imposed or carried out in a recent year.
Although a number of nations with large death row populations have recently abolished the death penalty entirely (notably Rwanda and Kyrgyzstan), several other countries are in a transitional stage in which the number of death sentences imposed annually greatly exceeds the number of executions or commutations. As a consequence, condemned prisoner populations in those nations are growing rapidly and inmates remain under sentence of death for many years—exacerbating the effects of the “death row phenomenon” (the cruel and degrading consequences of prolonged incarceration under sentence of death).
In a number of other countries (such as Algeria), many death sentences are still imposed each year even though a de facto moritorium on executions remains in effect. This legal logjam helps to explain the paradox of a global death row population explosion, at a time when the actual use of the death penalty worldwide is in sharp decline.
Methodology:
The initial data set was
compiled between September of 2004 and March of 2006. Totals reflect the
most current estimates available and are updated regularly.
Figures in column 1 represent
the most reliable and comprehensive data available, typically recent reports
from Amnesty International or other human rights NGOs that have conducted
original research.
Figures in column 2 are the
lowest reported total from any reasonably credible source, including incomplete
estimates.
Figures in column 3 are the
highest reported total from any recorded source.
Figures in column 4 represent
either the annual death sentencing or execution rate, where estimates of the
total death row population are not available.
Column 1 entries as ???
indicate nations believed to have large numbers of death row inmates, but for
which no data on the total death row population is available.
Legend:
AI Amnesty International
HRW Human Rights Watch
HOC Hands Off Cain
LDF
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, "Death Row USA"
DPIC
Death Penalty Information Center
KR data by human rights researcher Karen Hooper, derived mostly from AI reports
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
IANS Indo-Asian News Service
AFP Agence France-Presse
IPS
Inter Press Service
|
COUNTRY |
MOST COMPLETE AVAILABLE ESTIMATE |
OTHER
ESTIMATE (BASE) |
OTHER
ESTIMATE (HIGH) |
ANNUAL SENTENCES OR EXECUTIONS |
|
Afghanistan |
approx. 100 (HRW, IPS 05/08) |
|
+20 (about 120 in
total; Reuters 11/08) |
|
|
Algeria |
|
271 death
sentences imposed in 2007; no executions (AI 2008) |
+290 (nearly 300 death
sentences imposed in 2008, many in absentia (IPS
10/08)) |
|
|
Antigua |
|
7 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Bahamas |
17 (Bahama Journal, 08/09) |
|
|
|
|
Bahrain |
|
3 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Bangladesh |
860, as of Oct. 2006
(Inspector General of Prisons (AFP)) |
|
|
|
|
Barbados |
|
17 (Caribbean Justice) |
|
|
|
Belarus |
|
104 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Belize |
6 (AI 2004) |
|
|
|
|
Botswana |
|
4 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Brunei |
2 (AI Annual Reports
2002-05) |
|
|
|
|
Burundi |
533 (AI 2005) |
|
|
|
|
Cameroon |
|
|
|
27 clemency petitions
under review (AI) |
|
Central African
Republic |
|
|
|
|
|
Chad |
20 (AI 2005) |
|
|
|
|
China |
??? |
|
|
At least 2600 more
sentences than recorded executions (2004) (AI) |
|
Comoros |
|
|
|
|
|
Congo (DRC) |
around 200 (AI 2005) |
|
|
|
|
Congo (Republic) |
|
4 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Cuba |
3 (Reuters 04/08) |
|
|
|
|
Dominica |
|
3 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Egypt |
??? |
|
|
40 death sentences in
2007 (AI 2008) |
|
Equatorial Guinea |
at least 22 (AI 2003) |
|
|
|
|
Eritrea |
|
|
|
|
|
Ethiopia |
at least 6 (AI 2004) |
|
+94
(KH) |
|
|
Gambia |
15 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
Ghana |
0, as of 01/09/09(mass
commutation) |
|
|
|
|
Guatemala |
15 (AI 2009) |
|
|
|
|
Guinea |
at least 26 (AI 2009) |
|
|
|
|
Guyana |
31 (Government
Information Agency 01/08) |
|
|
+2 (new sentences in
2006: AI 03/07) |
|
India |
|
160 (HOC) |
+980 (1,140: IANS 2005) |
|
|
Indonesia |
109 (Attorney
General's Office 02/09) |
|
|
|
|
Iran |
??? |
|
|
83 executions (2005)
(AI) |
|
Iraq |
at least 1,000 (AI
09/09) |
|
+43 (93: Deutsche Presse-Agentur 05/06) |
+ 1,106 (more than
1,200 recent death sentences: Reuters 03/07) |
|
Jamaica |
|
about 50 (Caribbean
Justice) |
+10 (more than 60:
Caribbean Net News 2004) |
|
|
Japan |
102 (AI 09/09) |
|
|
|
|
Jordan |
at least 16 (AI 2005) |
|
+6 (3 executions, 9
new sentences: 03/06 (Reuters, AFP) |
+20 (at least 42 new
death sentences in 2006: AI 04/07) |
|
Kazakhstan |
|
27 (HOC) |
|
|
|
Kenya |
0 (as of 03/08/2009; mass
commutation) |
|
|
|
|
Korea (North) |
??? |
|
|
|
|
Korea (South) |
58 (Ministry of
Justice 12/07) |
|
|
|
|
Kuwait |
At least 12 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
Laos |
|
37 death sentences,
2003-05 (AI Annual Reports) |
|
|
|
Lebanon |
|
40 (Beirut Daily Star,
11/07) |
|
27 sentences (AI 2003) |
|
Libya |
at least 8 (AI
2005) |
|
+178 (approx. 180: HRW 2005 prisoner interview) |
|
|
Madagascar |
|
at least 12 (LegalBrief Africa, 11/07) |
+3 (15: HOC) |
|
|
Malawi |
23 (AI 2007) |
Around 30 (IPS, 06/07) |
|
|
|
Malaysia |
|
Up to 300 (Malaysians
against the Death Penalty, 01/08) |
|
|
|
Maldives |
|
|
|
|
|
Mauritania |
|
|
|
|
|
Mongolia |
At least 9 (AI 2009) |
|
|
|
|
Morocco |
|
About 150 (IPS, 09/08) |
|
|
|
Myanmar |
??? |
|
|
24 recent sentences
(AI 2006) |
|
Niger |
|
|
|
|
|
Nigeria |
at least 731 (AI 2009) |
|
|
|
|
Oman |
??? |
|
|
At least 15 executions
(AI 2002) |
|
Palestinian Authority |
at least 21( AI 2005) |
|
+36 (BBC 2005: 70 sentences,
13 executions) |
|
|
Pakistan |
7,436 (National Human
Rights Comm. 2006) |
|
|
|
|
Papua New Guinea |
7 (AI 2004) |
|
|
|
|
Qatar |
at least 20 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
St. Kitts |
8 (AI 2009) |
|
|
|
|
St. Lucia |
|
3 (Caribbean Media Corporation,
2006) |
|
|
|
St. Vincent |
|
3 (Caribbean 360.com,
09/09) |
|
|
|
Saudi Arabia |
??? |
at least 126 juveniles
(HRW 2006) |
|
73 executions
Jan-Sept. 2005 (AI) |
|
Sierra Leone |
|
13 (IPS, 12/08) |
|
|
|
Singapore |
??? |
|
|
Up to 80 executed 2003
(AI) |
|
Somalia |
??? |
|
|
At least 13 sentences
(AI 2005) |
|
Sri Lanka |
Approx. 167 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
Sudan |
300 (HRW 2005) |
|
|
|
|
Suriname |
|
|
|
|
|
Swaziland |
2 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
Syria |
??? |
|
|
16 executed (AI 2002) |
|
Taiwan |
at least 70 (AI 2008) |
|
+30 (up to 100 in
total; AI 2008) |
|
|
Tajikistan |
??? |
|
|
at least 74 sentences
(2001) (AI) |
|
Tanzania |
286 (Home Affairs
figures, 10/08) |
|
|
|
|
Thailand |
857 (Death Penalty Thailand,
06/09) |
|
+283 (1,140: (National
Crime Records Bureau, 2007) |
|
|
Togo |
|
2 death sentences in
2006 (AI, 03/07) |
|
|
|
Tonga |
|
|
|
|
|
Trinidad |
At least 10 (AI 2008) |
|
|
|
|
Tunisia |
more than 100 (AI
2008) |
|
|
|
|
Uganda |
417 (Constitutional
Court: all subject to reversal, after 2005 decision) |
|
+ 483 (over 900: Foundation
for Human Rights Initiative, 09/08) |
|
|
U.A.E. |
|
|
|
at least 13 sentences
(2003) (AI) |
|
USA |
3,297 (DPIC 2009) |
|
|
|
|
Viet Nam |
|
|
|
103 executed (2003)
(AI) |
|
Yemen |
|
400? (AI 2008:
“hundreds”) |
+600 (1,000: (HOC) |
|
|
Zambia |
|
246 (All Africa News;
HOC) |
+44 (290: IPS News, 06/07) |
|
|
Zimbabwe |
26 (UK Home Office
Report 2004) |
|
+21 (47: IPS News, 03/07) |
|
|
TOTALS |
16,960 |
1988 |
3,121 |
4,316 |
|
ESTIMATE
#1 (columns
1+2) |
18,948 |
|
|
|
|
ESTIMATE
#2 (all
columns) |
26,385 |
|
|
|
Executive Clemency: Mass Commutations
of Death Sentences
|
COUNTRY |
DATE |
NUMBER |
|
Nigeria (Lagos State) |
August 2009 |
40 |
|
Kenya |
August 2009 |
Over 4,000 (all) |
|
Ghana |
January 2009 |
approx. 105 |
|
Zambia |
January, 2009 |
53 |
|
Cuba |
April 2008 |
approx. 50 |
|
Zambia |
August 2007 |
97 |
|
Morocco |
March 2007 |
14 |
|
Nigeria |
October 2006 |
107 |
|
Philippines |
April 2006 |
approx. 1,237-1,280 (all) |
|
Malawi |
April 2004 |
79 |
|
Zambia |
Feb.-May 2004 |
59 |
|
Ghana |
June 2003 |
179 |
|
Kenya |
February 2003 |
223 |
|
USA (Illinois) |
January 2003 |
167 (all) |
|
Pakistan |
July 2002 |
74 juveniles |
|
Philippines |
December 2002 |
105 |
|
Russia |
June 1999 |
716 (all) |
Page last updated:
September 21, 2009