Tightening the noose: capital punishment in numbers

A six-year moratorium on the death penalty in Pakistan was lifted in December 2014. Hangings were resumed only for terrorism cases initially but in March 2015, the government widened the scope of the initial order to include all executions.

Amnesty International reports that in 2015 Pakistan ranked third in the executions race. Here, the Herald looks at the state of capital punishment in Pakistan since December 2014.

1,634 people were executed in 25 countries in 2015

326 people were executed in Pakistan in 2015

176 people were executed in Pakistan between December 2014 and July 2015

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Provincial breakdown of prisoners on death row*

6,770 Punjab

458 Sindh

334 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

156 Balochistan

25 Gilgit Baltistan

*Rough estimates as of December 2014

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The death row cell

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Number of crimes punishable by death: 27

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Breakdown of executions based on nature of crime*

Unknown 6

Rape 9(7 rapes lead to murders)

Terrorism 18

Murder 136

*Between January 2015 and May 2015

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140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice as of June 2015

117 states voted in favour of an international moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 2014

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— Compiled from Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Amnesty International, Justice Project Pakistan and media reports

This is an updated version of an infographic that originally appeared in the Herald's July 2015 issue.