Death Penalty Keeps U.S. in Bad Company

Here’s a list of countries where you don’t want to find yourself when it comes to human rights: Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Iraq, Pakistan and the good ol’ U.S. of A. Those six states execute more of their citizens than any others, according to Amnesty International’s latest tally. The U.S. is the fourth-worst offender.

The numbers of both executions and death sentences were way up in 2008, but Amnesty is quick to point out that fewer states overall now practice capital punishment.

BBC:

The report said China used lethal injection and shooting to execute at least 1,718 people.

[...] Of the top-six countries in Amnesty’s list, only the US (37) publishes statistics on the penalty’s use.

[...] The other worst-offending nations on the list are Iran (346), Saudi Arabia (102), Pakistan (36) and Iraq (34).

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Flickr / danesparza