Capital punishment down as 527 people are executed across the world

The use of capital punishment around the world declined last year, according to Amnesty International.

Some 527 executions were carried out in 23 countries in 2010, down from at least 714 in 2009, according to official figures collated by the human rights charity.

But the data does not take full account of China, where thousands are believed to be executed every year against a backdrop of secrecy, Amnesty warned.

After China, Iran was thought to have carried out the most executions (at least 252), followed by North Korea (at least 60), Yemen (at least 53), the USA (46), and Saudi Arabia (at least 27). Methods of execution were beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and various kinds of shooting.

No stonings were recorded in 2010, but at least 10 women and four men await this fate, and at least 2,024 new death sentences were imposed during 2010 in 67 countries, including 365 in Pakistan alone, meaning that some 8,000 people are currently on death row in the country.