July 24, 2008- During the ceremony for the “Abolitionist of the Year 2008” Award, Hands off Cain presented its 2008 Report on the Death Penalty Worldwide. The report covers the most important facts of 2007 and the first six months of 2008, and was edited by Elisabetta Zamparutti and published by Reality Book. The data confirms the worldwide trend towards abolition that has been underway for more than a decade.
The main point that emerges from the report is the declining number of countries that apply the death penalty, down from 51 in 2006,s already mentioned, to 49. Executions, however, increased from at least 5,635 in 2006, to at least 5,851 in 2007. This increase, Elisabetta Zamparutti explained, is mainly due to the escalation of executions in Iran, with an increase of 30% to 355 in 2007, and in Saudi Arabia, where the number quadrupled from 39 in 2006 to 166 in 2007.
