Alarming trends in executions in 2025 – not an effective tool for fighting crime

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement issued on Monday that his office monitored a worrying increase in the use of the death penalty in 2025, especially for crimes that do not rise to the level of the most serious crimes required under international law, and the continued execution of people convicted of crimes they committed as children, as well as the continued secrecy around executions.

The High Commissioner said that this global rise was due in particular to the increasing number of executions for drug-related crimes that do not involve murder. Turk stressed that this not only contradicts international law, but is also ineffective in deterring crime.

⬅️In Iran, At least 1,500 people are reported to be executed in 2025, at least 47% of them for drug-related crimes. Regarding this, the High Commissioner said: “The scale and pace of executions indicate a systematic use of the death penalty as an instrument of state intimidation, with a disproportionate impact on minorities and immigrants.”

⬅️In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, At least 356 people were reported to have been executed in 2025, surpassing the previous record set in 2024. 78% of them were for drug-related crimes, after such executions resumed in late 2022.

Turk said: “At least two of those executed in Saudi Arabia were convicted of crimes they committed as children, raising serious questions regarding children’s rights in particular.”

⬅️In the United States, 47 executions were carried out in 2025, the highest number in 16 years. The use of gassing, first applied in the United States in 2024, has expanded, raising serious concerns about torture or cruel punishment.

⬅️Public executions continued In Afghanistanin violation of international law. On 11 April 2025, four people convicted of murder were executed by relatives of the victims at sports stadiums in Badghis, Nimroz and Farah provinces. Since August 2021, de facto authorities have carried out several public executions.

⬅️At least 24 people were executed In Somalia And 17 In Singapore. In China and North Korea, the use of the death penalty remains shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to obtain accurate figures. In Belarus, the scope of crimes punishable by death under national security and anti-terrorism legislation has recently been expanded.

⬅️And in IsraelCurrently, there are a series of legislative proposals that seek to expand the use of the death penalty by introducing mandatory death penalty provisions that apply exclusively to Palestinians. The High Commissioner warned that this raises serious concerns about violations of their rights to a fair trial, as well as other violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. It also counts the executions it carried out agitation There are flagrant human rights violations in Gaza.

Encouraging steps

Volker Türk reported that several countries have taken encouraging steps in 2025. Vietnam has reduced the number of crimes punishable by death. Pakistan also abolished two non-lethal crimes punishable by death, while retaining 29 other crimes.

On 31 December 2024, Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, while Kenya began a legislative review of the death penalty.

Malaysia’s re-sentencing process reduced the number of people at risk of execution by more than 1,000. In Kyrgyzstan, the Constitutional Court reaffirmed the ban on the death penalty, ruling that the draft law to reintroduce the death penalty was unconstitutional.

Turk said: “The death penalty is not an effective tool to combat crime, and can lead to the execution of innocent people. In fact, the death penalty is often applied arbitrarily and discriminately, in violation of basic principles of equality before the law.”

The High Commissioner renewed his call on all countries that still apply the death penalty to immediately halt executions, commute all existing death sentences, and move towards their complete abolition.