The countries that continue to carry out executions are increasingly isolated
En 2023, el mundo ejecutó a 1.153 personas, la cifra más alta en casi una década, impulsada en gran medida por Irán, que fue responsable de casi tres cuartas partes de esas muertes. Detrás de los números se esconde una paradoja reveladora: aunque se ejecutó a más personas que en años anteriores, menos países recurrieron a la pena capital, y varios avanzaron hacia su abolición. Este momento refleja una tensión antigua en la historia humana —entre el poder del Estado para quitar la vida y la conciencia colectiva que, lentamente, se resiste a ello.
- Las ejecuciones globales aumentaron un 31% en un solo año, alcanzando su nivel más alto desde 2015, con Irán ejecutando a 853 personas, muchas de ellas por delitos de drogas en comunidades marginadas.
- China, Corea del Norte y Vietnam mantienen sus cifras en secreto, lo que convierte la pena de muerte en un instrumento opaco de control estatal cuya verdadera escala permanece desconocida.
- Los tribunales de todo el mundo dictaron 2.428 nuevas condenas a muerte en 2023, un 20% más que el año anterior, lo que sugiere que la maquinaria del castigo capital se acelera, no se detiene.
- Sin embargo, solo 16 países llevaron a cabo ejecuciones en 2023, frente a 20 en 2022, y Ghana, Kenia, Liberia y Zimbabue avanzaron legislativamente hacia la abolición.
- Amnistía Internacional advierte que los países que persisten en las ejecuciones están cada vez más aislados en el escenario global, mientras la presión abolicionista gana terreno de forma sostenida.
En 2023, el mundo ejecutó a 1.153 personas, la cifra más alta en casi una década y un 31% más que el año anterior, según un informe de Amnistía Internacional publicado en mayo de 2024. El aumento fue impulsado casi en su totalidad por Irán, que llevó a cabo 853 ejecuciones —cerca del 74% del total mundial—, un incremento del 48% respecto a 2022. Muchos de los condenados habían sido declarados culpables de delitos relacionados con las drogas. La secretaria general de Amnistía Internacional, Agnès Callamard, denunció que el gobierno iraní aplicaba la pena de muerte con un "total desprecio por la vida humana", afectando de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades más pobres y vulnerables del país.
El panorama global de la pena capital sigue envuelto en opacidad. China, considerada la mayor ejecutora del mundo, no publica sus cifras, y Amnistía Internacional estima que miles de personas fueron ejecutadas allí en 2023. Corea del Norte y Vietnam también llevan a cabo ejecuciones en secreto. Más allá de estos casos, Arabia Saudí ejecutó a 172 personas, Somalia a 38, y Estados Unidos a 24. Paralelamente, los tribunales de todo el mundo emitieron 2.428 nuevas condenas a muerte, un 20% más que en 2022, lo que indica que la maquinaria del castigo capital no da señales de frenarse.
Sin embargo, el informe revela una tendencia contraintuitiva: en 2023, solo 16 países llevaron a cabo ejecuciones, frente a 20 en 2022. Cuatro parlamentos africanos —Ghana, Kenia, Liberia y Zimbabue— avanzaron hacia la abolición. Pakistán eliminó la pena de muerte para delitos de drogas, y Malasia suprimió las condenas obligatorias a muerte para ciertos crímenes. Callamard expresó un optimismo cauteloso: "Los países que siguen ejecutando están cada vez más aislados", afirmó, subrayando que el movimiento abolicionista, aunque lento, avanza de forma sostenida.
The world executed 1,153 people in 2023, the highest number in nearly a decade. That figure represents a 31 percent jump from the previous year, according to a report released by Amnesty International in May 2024. The surge was driven almost entirely by one country: Iran, which carried out 853 of those executions—nearly three-quarters of the global total.
Iran's execution rate climbed 48 percent in a single year, jumping from 576 in 2022 to 853 in 2023. Many of those condemned to death had been convicted of drug-related offenses. Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described the Iranian government's actions as showing "total disregard for human life," noting that the death penalty was being applied in ways that disproportionately harmed the country's poorest and most marginalized communities.
The full picture of global capital punishment remains obscured by secrecy. China, which Amnesty International identifies as the world's leading executioner, does not publish its figures. The organization estimates that thousands of people were executed there, but the actual number remains unknown. North Korea and Vietnam also conduct executions in secret, and Amnesty International believes both countries carry out death sentences on a widespread scale. This opacity, the organization argues, reveals how capital punishment functions as a tool of state control—a mechanism for exercising power and instilling fear.
Beyond China and Iran, the numbers drop sharply. Saudi Arabia executed 172 people in 2023. Somalia carried out 38 executions, though Amnesty International suspects the true figure is higher. The United States executed 24 people. Together, these three countries accounted for a fraction of the global total, yet each represents a significant commitment to capital punishment among nations that do make their figures public.
The number of death sentences handed down also climbed. Courts worldwide issued 2,428 new death sentences in 2023, a 20 percent increase from 2,016 the year before. This suggests the machinery of capital punishment is accelerating, not slowing.
Yet the report contains a counterintuitive finding: fewer countries are executing people. In 2023, only 16 nations carried out death sentences, down from 20 in 2022. Four countries—Byelorussia, Japan, Myanmar, and South Sudan—did not execute anyone that year, marking a shift from 2022. More significantly, four African parliaments moved toward abolition. Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, and Zimbabwe all took legislative steps to eliminate capital punishment. Pakistan removed the death penalty for drug-related crimes, and Malaysia abolished mandatory death sentences for certain offenses.
Callamard expressed cautious optimism about these developments. "The countries that continue to carry out executions are increasingly isolated," she said. "Our campaign against this abominable punishment is working, and we will continue until we have ended capital punishment." The trend suggests a slow but steady global movement away from state killing, even as the countries that remain committed to it are executing more people than they did before.
Citas Notables
The Iranian authorities showed total disregard for human life and increased executions for drug offenses, further highlighting the discriminatory impact of capital punishment on Iran's most marginalized and impoverished communities.— Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general
The countries that continue to carry out executions are increasingly isolated; our campaign against this abominable punishment is working, and we will continue until we have ended capital punishment.— Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Iran's executions jump so dramatically in a single year?
The report doesn't explain the political or judicial reasoning behind the surge, but it notes that many of those executed were convicted of drug offenses. That's significant because it shows the death penalty is being weaponized against people in desperate circumstances—people with addiction, people in poverty—rather than reserved for the most serious crimes.
If China executes thousands, why isn't that the headline?
Because we don't know the number. Amnesty International can only estimate. The secrecy itself is the story—it's how authoritarian systems use capital punishment as an invisible tool of control. You can't fight what you can't measure.
The report says fewer countries are executing people, but more people are being executed. How do you square that?
It means the countries that haven't abolished capital punishment are doubling down. They're becoming more extreme, not less. The world is polarizing: some nations are moving toward abolition, and others are accelerating their use of the death penalty.
What does Amnesty International think is actually working?
The legislative wins in Africa—Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Zimbabwe—suggest that sustained advocacy and international pressure can shift policy. But it's slow. Very slow. And it's happening in countries with smaller populations, not in the major executioners.
Is there any reason to think Iran will change course?
The report doesn't suggest one. If anything, the trend is moving in the opposite direction. That's why Callamard's optimism feels almost defiant—she's betting on the long game, on the idea that isolation and moral pressure eventually work.