China carries out the most executions, with 3,000 of the 3,682 worldwide in 2012. Only 21 countries use capital punishment, with the US being the only one in the Americas. Execution rates vary significantly between US states. The first documented execution was in Egypt in the 16th century BC. Over half of the world’s countries voted to abolish executions in 2012.
China is the country that carries out the largest number of executions: about 3,000 of the total 3,682 executions worldwide were carried out in China, according to 2012 statistics. Only 21 countries, or about 10 percent of the world’s countries, use capital punishment. The United States is the only country in the Americas to have carried out executions in 2012. It is also the only Western country in the top five countries with the highest execution rates, after China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. However, capital punishment is only legal in 32 states, and execution rates vary significantly from state to state. For example, in 2012, Texas executed 15 people, followed by Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arizona with six executions each.
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The first historical documented execution dates back to the 16th century BC in Egypt, when a member of the nobility was accused of the crime of performing magic and sentenced to take his own life as punishment.
Up until the 1700s in Britain, over 222 different crimes were punishable by execution, including felling trees and forging stamps.
111 countries, more than half of the world’s countries, voted in favor of a 2012 United Nations resolution to abolish the use of executions.
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