Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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January 19, 2026 Human rights
Overall, the global trend toward universal abolition of the death penalty continues, but in 2025, the UN Human Rights Office recorded a sharp increase in the number of executions. This overall statistic reflects the fact that a number of countries that retain the death penalty have begun to use capital punishment "significantly more frequently."
Alarming statistics
"My Office has recorded an alarming increase in the use of the death penalty in 2025, particularly for crimes that fall below the 'most serious crimes' threshold established by international law. Executions of individuals convicted of acts committed as children also continue, and secrecy surrounding executions persists," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
The global increase is largely due to the rise in executions for drug-related crimes that do not involve intentional killing. "This is not only inconsistent with international law, but also ineffective as a crime deterrent," Türk noted.
Drug-related crimes
In Iran, at least 1,500 people were reportedly executed in 2025, with at least 47 percent of the executions related to drug-related crimes. "The scale and pace of these executions demonstrate the systematic use of the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation, with a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants," the High Commissioner said.
In Saudi Arabia, at least 356 people were reportedly executed in 2025, surpassing the previous record set in 2024. Seventy-eight percent of those executed were for drug-related offenses after such executions resumed in late 2022. "At least two of those executed in Saudi Arabia were convicted of crimes committed when they were children, which raises serious questions, particularly from a child rights perspective," Türk noted.
47 people have been executed in the United States.
In the United States, 47 executions were carried out in 2025—the highest number in 16 years. The expansion of the use of gas asphyxiation, first introduced in the US in 2024, has raised serious concerns about the possibility of torture or cruel treatment.
Other countries
Public executions continued in Afghanistan, in violation of international human rights law. On April 11, 2025, four people convicted of murder were executed by relatives of the victims at sports stadiums in Badghis, Nimroz, and Farah provinces. Since August 2021, de facto authorities have carried out several public executions.
The death penalty is not an effective tool to combat crime and can lead to the execution of innocent people.
At least 24 people were executed in Somalia and 17 in Singapore. In China and North Korea, the use of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to obtain accurate data. Belarus recently expanded the list of crimes punishable by death under its national security and counter-terrorism legislation.
Israel is currently considering several legislative initiatives aimed at expanding the use of the death penalty by introducing mandatory death sentences that would apply exclusively to Palestinians. This raises serious concerns regarding the violation of their due process rights, as well as other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Executions carried out by Hamas in Gaza also constitute gross human rights violations.
Positive steps
At the same time, a number of states took encouraging steps in 2025, according to a press release from the UN Human Rights Office. Vietnam reduced the number of crimes for which the death penalty is prescribed. Pakistan also removed two non-violent crimes from the list of crimes punishable by death, while retaining 29 such crimes. Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty for non-violent crimes on December 31, 2024, and Kenya initiated a legislative review of its death penalty provisions. In Malaysia, a sentencing review process reduced the number of people facing execution by more than 1,000. In Kyrgyzstan, the Constitutional Court upheld the ban on the death penalty, declaring a bill to reinstate it unconstitutional.
Call for the abolition of the death penalty
"The death penalty is not an effective tool for combating crime and can lead to the execution of innocent people," Türk said. "In practice, the death penalty is also often applied arbitrarily and discriminatorily, in violation of the fundamental principles of equality before the law."
The High Commissioner reiterated his call on all retentionist States to immediately establish a moratorium on executions, commute all existing death sentences and move towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.
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