WASHINGTON -- April 5 -- During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 were sentenced to death in 64 countries, according to an Amnesty International report released today. The United States' contribution to the worldwide total dropped from 65 the previous year to 59 in 2004. The United States remained one of the top executing countries, along with China, Iran and Viet Nam.

"Our report indicates that governments and citizens around the world have realized what the United States government refuses to admit?that the death penalty is an inhumane, antiquated form of punishment," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "Thomas Jefferson once wrote that 'laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind;' it is past time for our government to live up to this Jeffersonian ideal and let go of the brutal practices of the past."

Five countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2004: Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey. At year's end, 120 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Releasing its annual worldwide statistics on the use of capital punishment, Amnesty International called on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, currently meeting in Geneva, to condemn the death penalty as a violation of fundamental human rights. It also urged the United States to join the myriad countries taking steps to abolish the death penalty, and applauded the March 1st Supreme Court decision removing the United States from the list of nations that execute juvenile offenders.

"It's alarming that the United States was the last country in the world to formally reject the application of the death penalty to minors," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, AIUSA's Director of the Program to Abolish the Death Penalty. "The United States should now join the international community in condemning the practice everywhere and use its international clout to urge countries like China and Iran to conform to international treaties that forbid them from executing minors."

Amnesty International also called particular attention to instances in which U.S. citizens were sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit.

"The cases of Derrick Jamison and the other 118 individuals released from death row since 1973 demonstrate that no judicial system is infallible. However sophisticated the system, the death penalty will always carry with it the risk of lethal error," Amnesty International USA said. In February 2005, Derrick Jamison became the 119th wrongfully convicted person to be released from death row on the grounds of innocence.

The higher number of executions in 2004 and the higher concentration of executions in the "top executing" countries reflect a change in the method Amnesty International uses to calculate the number of executions in China. Amnesty International believes that our current, estimated figure for China still represents only the tip of the iceberg. For example, in March 2004 a delegate at the National People's Congress said that "nearly 10,000" people are executed per year in China.

For a full copy of "The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2004," please see: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGACT050012005

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