The death penalty continues unabated globally

Abstract

Vietnam also maintains secrecy around its use of capital punishment. 87% of the recorded death sentences imposed in 2020 in the country were related to drug offences. Chad abolished the death penalty altogether and Kazakhstan moved towards doing so. 144 countries have now discontinued capital punishment, either in law or in practice. Lethal injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison, California Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Last year, the US Federal Government executed a man who showed signs of Alzheimer's disease and whose previous diagnoses included post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic illness, bipolar disorder, and depression. According to a 2019 study by Reprieve and the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, 78% of death penalty convictions were overturned by the Pakistani Supreme Court in 2010–18.