The Kingdom of Bahrain has not carried out any capital punishment for the second consecutive year, according to a report published by Amnesty International.
Iraq and Iran were ranked second and third in the world, reporting respectively 314 and 129 death executions. The updated capital punishment statistics were compiled in a report recently issued by the Amnesty International for 2012.
“For the second year running, no executions were carried out in Bahrain”, Amnesty International said in its Death Sentences and Executions in 2012 Report.
The international watchdog cited the death sentence which was imposed in March on a Bahraini national convicted of killing his wife.
On January 9, the Court of Cassation quashed two death sentences imposed by the National Safety Court and its Appeals Court in 2011 on two civilians who had been found guilty of killing two policemen during the unrest.
The two cases have since been referred to the High Criminal Court of Appeal for retrial in line with the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.
The Amnesty International Report covers the use of the death penalty for the period from January to December 2012. According to the report, capital punishment is still enforced for regular crimes in 58 countries all over the world, including Bahrain, the US, Japan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, and the UAE.
The death penalty has been abolished for all crimes in 97 countries, and cancelled for regular crimes in eight countries. Capital punishment has been abolished in practice in 35 countries all over the world.
A total 682 executions were carried out in 21 countries in 2012 in the world. Amnesty International reported at least 557 death executions in six countries in the Middle East and North Africa, 34 executions in the United States and 6 executions in North Korea.