Global executions saw the highest number recorded in more than 25 years, in 2015, Amnesty International urged.

According to London-based Amnesty International, at least 1,634 people were executed in 2015 and the toll more than doubled comparing to the previous year.

The report revealed that three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, were responsible for almost 90 percent of the executions.

This global record was the highest number Amnesty International has recorded since 1989, according to the report released on April 6. This total did not include China where thousands more were likely executed, while death penalty data is treated as a state secret.

People put to death after “grossly unfair trials”

“The rise in executions last year is profoundly disturbing. Not for the last 25 years have so many people been put to death by states around the world. In 2015 governments continued relentlessly to deprive people of their lives on the false premise that the death penalty would make us safer” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have all put people to death at unprecedented levels, often after grossly unfair trials. This slaughter must end” Shetty added.

Four countries abolished death penalty

However, the majority of the world was “abolitionist for all crimes”, while Fiji, Madagascar, Republic of Congo and Suriname have completely abolished the death penalty from their laws in 2015. Also, Mongolia passed a new criminal code abolishing the death penalty, which will take effect later in 2016.

State-sanctioned killing continued in Pakistan, as more than 320 people were sent to the gallows in 2015. This was the highest number Amnesty International has ever recorded for Pakistan.

In Iran, at least 977 people to death were put to death in the same period, while this number was 743 the year before. Vast majority of these executions were for drug-related crimes. Iran is also one of the world’s last executioners of juvenile offenders, in flagrant breach of international law.

In Saudi Arabia, at least 158 people were put to death last year. Most were beheaded, but authorities also used firing squads and sometimes displayed executed bodies in public.

The top five executioners in the world in 2015 were China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

Meanwhile, the USA carried out 28 executions, the lowest number since 1991. The US state of Pennsylvania imposed a moratorium on executions – all in all, 18 US states have fully abolished the death penalty.