Report: Global Executions on Rise

ABC news article:

More people were put to death last year 5,628 than in either of the previous two years, with China alone accounting for 5,000 executions, an anti-death penalty group reported Thursday.

The Rome-based Hands Off Cain said that while countries are increasingly renouncing the death penalty, the overall number of executions rose because more nations that have capital punishment on their books actually used it in 2006.

[...]The report said China remained the top executioner, with unconfirmed reports that as many as 8,000 people are put to death annually. The report cited Chinese officials and academics as saying executions had decreased, however in part because of a new amendment requiring the Supreme Court to confirm all death sentences and for public hearings for appeals.

Iran came in second in the group's top execution rankings. Hands Off Cain said Tehran doubled the number of people it put to death in 2006, executing at least 215 people compared to 113 in 2005, though it said the real number may be even higher.