” “Over 1200 death penalties were carried out in 2007, not to mention "secret executions" in such countries as China, Mongolia and Vietnam. This was written in the new report published today by Amnesty International, showing that in 2007 at least 1252 people were executed in 24 countries and at least 3347 death sentences were issued in 51 countries; in addition, the "death rows" of the world host about 27,500 prisoners, waiting to be executed. In 2007, according to Amnesty, there has been "an increase in the number of executions in several countries": Iran (317), Saudi Arabia (143) and Pakistan (135). 88% of known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA. China, the world’s first country by number of executions (470), considers death penalty a "state secret": visitors to Beijing 2008 can barely imagine how many people have been killed by the State, such number being exactly known only to the Chinese authorities. "The secret use of death penalty must stop", reports Amnesty, highlighting that "many governments state that their executions are supported by public opinion". 2007 was also the year in which the UN Assembly passed, by a vast majority, "a resolution to put an end to the use of death penalty: evidence, according to Amnesty, that "the global abolition of death penalty is possible".
