Dying for business: UK softening stance on death penalty for post-Brexit deals – Amnesty

‘Britain has been accused of “damping down” its criticism of regimes that practice the death penalty because it is desperate to secure trade deals after it leaves the European Union, Amnesty International claims.
A new Amnesty report reveals death sentences around the world are at a record high, despite the number of executions falling by more than a third.
The human rights organization reported “the highest number of death sentences ever recorded in a single year” at 3,117 in 55 countries in 2016, a considerable rise on the year before (1,998 in 61 countries).
The figures are likely to be substantially higher, as many countries fail to disclose information because of censorship or armed conflict.
“During 2016 little or no information was available on some countries – in particular Laos, North Korea, Syria and Yemen – due to restrictive state practice and/or armed conflict,” researchers said. By contrast, the number of executions is down to 1,032 across 23 countries, against 1,634 in 2015 across 25 countries. China was named the top executioner.’
Read more: Dying for business: UK softening stance on death penalty for post-Brexit deals – Amnesty