Amnesty slams China for silence on execution toll

And as usual , China takes the lead .

Funny though , When they talk about all the other countries here they just say Executions but when they talk about America ...

In the Americas, the United States was the only country to carry out executions last year, but the 52 killings were about half the number recorded a decade earlier in 1999.

It is strangely changed to Killings !

I would say China , Iran , Iraq and other countries like them are actually killing people just because , Way before you could ever say this about the United States !

(Reuters) - Amnesty International criticized China on Tuesday for failing to reveal the number of people it executed last year, which the rights group estimates is more than the rest of the world combined.

Iran had the second highest number of executions in 2009, Amnesty said in a new report, adding that about a third of the country's 388 executions took place in eight weeks of turmoil following Iran's disputed presidential election in June.

"The past year saw capital punishment applied extensively to send political messages, to silence opponents or to promote political agendas," Amnesty interim secretary general Claudio Cordone said in a statement.

"Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place. If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?" he said, releasing Amnesty's 2009 death sentences and executions report.

China is already under the spotlight due to a row over censorship with internet search giant Google Inc.

Eighteen countries executed a total of at least 714 people last year, and more than 2,000 people were sentenced to death in 56 countries. Amnesty said its figures were conservative and did not include a death count from China, which the rights group believes is in the thousands.

Discounting China, Iraq passed the most death sentences last year, and carried out 120 executions, putting it in third place.

Execution methods recorded included hanging, shooting, beheading, stoning, electrocution and lethal injection.

Iran and Saudi Arabia were singled out for executing juveniles, which Amnesty says violates international law.