Amnesty claims success in campaign

Press, 21 April 1986, Page 20

Amnesty claims success in campaign

NZPA-Reuter London Amnesty International has claimed its campaign against the death penalty is gaining ground, but said there were 1125 known executions last year with the true number probably much higher. “Many Governments fail to announce or deliberately hide executions of prisoners,” said Amnesty.

The London-based human rights organisation said it had documented 1125 executions in 1985 in 44 States.

This was substantially less than the 1984 figure of 1513, but Amnesty said it was impossible to judge whether this reflected a real downward trend.

Amnesty said it saw encouraging developments in 1985 in the movement to abolish the death penalty.

Australia joined 27 other countries which have banned capital punishment.

Eighteen countries abolished the death penalty for all but extraordinary

offences, such as those committed during a war.

About 50 countries had not carried out any executions since 1980, though their legislation retained capital punishment, it said.

The organisation said it had documentary evidence of 470 executions in Iran, 135 in China, 137 in South Africa, 45 in Saudi Arabia and 57 in Pakistan last year. In the United States, where the number of people awaiting execution reached 1600 by the end of the year, 18 people were put to death in 1985, according to the statement

Amnesty said it received reports of hundreds of executions in Iraq, although the Government in Bagdad had announced only 19 executions.

It said people were executed in a number of countries for political or non-violent offences or after trials that failed to meet the most basic inter-

national standards. Iran put people to death after summary trials without defence counsel or the right of appeal, Amnesty said.

In China, people were executed for forming "reactionary secret societies” and “exploiting feudal superstitions.” Three persons, were shot after being convicted of holding “dance and sex parties,” the organisation said.