Significant progress to end the death penalty has been made over the past 10 years. Global momentum continues to build toward complete abolition, but work remains to be done to end capital punishment.
The last decade has seen a large increase in the number of countries that have officially abolished the death penalty or eliminated the use of the death penalty in practice:
• 141 countries are abolitionist in law or in practice;
• 97 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes;
• 36 countries have abolished the death penalty in practice;
• 8 countries have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
According to Amnesty International, 21 countries recorded executions in 2011, compared to 31 countries 10 years ago. Even the USA, one of the worst offenders in the use of the death penalty, has shown progress as individual states have abolished or limited the death penalty.
Many other countries have also abolished the death penalty in the past decade, including: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Bhutan, Burundi, Cook Islands, Gabon, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Togo, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
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