Amnesty International, the organization fighting to promote human rights worldwide, has announced that last year, a dramatic increase in the number of executions across the globe was recorded, DPA reports.
The figure obtained by the international institution shows the number of executions in 2015 is by 54% higher in comparison with the year before.
At least 1,643 people were executed last year, while in 2014, that number stood at 1,061. However, these figures do not include the executions performed in China where the information on death penalty is a state secret.
Amnesty International's Secretary General, Salil Shettty said at a press conference in New York on Tuesday that according to the body's estimates, the number of people executed in China is the same as all the execution committed in the rest of the world.
He added Chinese authorities are re-examining the crimes penalized by capital punishment, voicing little hope the number of executions in the country could be significantly decreased.
Also, the number of executions performed in Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia has risen.
Those countries conduct death penalties on unseen grounds, often in conditions of utterly unjust processes, Salil pointed, presenting the information on executions that had been performed in 25 countries in total.
Last year in Iran, the total of 977 persons were put to death, the bulk of whom were sentenced for drugs-related crimes.
In December 2015, Pakistan lifted a seven year moratorium on the death penalty to allow executions for terrorism-related offenses, CNN reads.
Saudi authorities have executed 158 individuals in 2015, while in the United States, the number of people subjected to death penalty stood at 28, which is the lowest number in the past 25 years.
More than 20,000 people across the world are waiting to face the death penalty.