American execution rate soars

The death penalty has already been used in the United States more times this year than in any year since 1954.

Seventy-eight death row inmates have so far been executed, and Amnesty International, which is leading the campaign to abolish capital punishment in the US, believes that the number could exceed 100 by the end of the year.

In 1977 only one person was executed; in 1988, the number was still only 11; in 1991, 14. When 74 prisoners were executed in 1997 opponents of the death penalty believed that a highwatermark had been reached. The number fell to 68 last year.

But now the trend seems to be firmly in favour of execution. There are currently 3,565 people on death row.

"There are a number of reasons," said Sam Jordan, director of Amnesty's programme to abolish the death penalty.

"There is an atmosphere driven by the legislators and some of the bench. Many of the judges are elected, and this [capital punishment] is a soft sell for them."

He said many of those executed were not adequately defended because they were unable to afford proper legal representation. "Some of them meet their attorney only 15 minutes before the trial starts."

Changes in the law limiting payment for public defenders had exacerbated the problem.

Texas executes more people than any other state. Its 189 executions since 1976 compare with Virginia (70), Florida (44), Missouri (41), Louisiana (25), Georgia (23), South Carolina (22) and Arkansas (21).

Harris county, Texas, whose prosecutor is a strong advocate of the death penalty, is responsible for more executions than many states.

Lethal injection has become the most common method, accounting for 418 executions since 1976, compared with 142 electrocuted, 11 sent to the gas chamber, three hanged and two shot by firing squad.

Since 1990 the US has executed more people who were children at the time of their offence than any other country. More than 70 of those awaiting sentence on death row were under 18 when they committed their crimes.

Four states, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine and Wisconsin, have fought off attempts to bring back the penalty, and 10 states have introduced a moratorium on capital punishment.

Mr Jordan said that the increased publicity given to wrongful convictions had alerted people to the dangers of the penalty. Since 1976, 82 people have been released from death row after having their convictions quashed.

Race is also an important issue in the debate, since a disproportionate number of those executed are black. The most publicised man on death row is Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black journalist protesting his innocence of murdering a policeman.

In Maryland 82% of the death row inmates are black, and of the last 229 executions in the US, only one has been of a white man for killing a black person.

Number of confirmed executions carried out in 1998:

China 1,067+

Iraq 100s

Democratic Republic of Congo 100+

US 68 (78 so far in 1999)

Iran 66+

Egypt 44+

Belarus 33

Taiwan 32+

Saudi Arabia 29 (87+ so far in 1999)

Singapore 28+

Sierra Leone 24

Rwanda 24+

Vietnam 18+

Yemen 17+

Afghanistan 10+

Jordan 9+

Kuwait 6

Japan 6

Nigeria 6+

Oman 6+

Total sentenced to death: 3,899 in 78 countries

Total executed: 1,625 in 37 countries

Number of juvenile executions:

18 since 1990 in six countries - Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Yemen.

Most juvenile executions:

Nine were carried out in the USA, the only country known to have executed juvenile offenders in 1998

Death penalty status:

By the end of 1998, 67 countries had abolished the death penalty for all offences and 14 for all but exceptional offences, such as war crimes. At least 24 countries which retained the death penalty had not executed anyone for at least 10 years or had made an international commitment not to carry out executions

Source: Amnesty International Report 1999