Global Executions in 2015 up by 50%; Pak among top 3 countries:Amnesty International

Worldwide executions marked a dramatic 54 %  rise in 2015, with Pakistan figuring among the top three countries which together carried out 90 per cent of the capital punishment, according to Amnesty International

It said that at least 1,998 death sentences were recorded in 61 countries in 2015. 

Most of the executions in 2015 took place in China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US – in that order, according to Amnesty International.

The trend of executions represents over 50 per cent increase in the number recorded in 2014, when 1,061 executions were carried out in 22 countries, it said

Pakistan - which lifted a ban on execution after Peshawar school terror attack of December 16, 2014 - hanged 326 people out of at least 1,634 executed in 25 countries in 2015.

India, with one execution in 2015, is also included in the list of 25 countries