In 2010 the capital executions in the world were 5,837. With an increase if compared to 2009 when they were 5,741. A raise which is almost entirely due to the escalation of this practice in Iran (from 402 to 546), which occupies the second place, after China and before North Korea, in the ranking of the countries that have completed the greatest number of death sentences. To be noted that as many as 98% of the sentences of death occurred in Asia. Up to today, the states that have decided, by law or in fact, to abolish the death penalty are 155. Conversely, the maintainer countries, although on the decrease, are still 42. Europe seems to have almost totally abandoned this practice, with the exception of Belarus and, only with respect to crimes committed in time of war, of Latvia. Russia, even if it is still formally a maintainer country, since 1996, respects a legal moratorium on executions. These are the findings of the report 2011 of “Hands off Cain” against death penalty in the world.
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