„Governments across the Middle East executed at least 1,196 people in 2015, according to a new report released by Amnesty International, with Iran leading the region. ‚The rise in executions last year is profoundly disturbing,‘ said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary-general. ‚In 2015 governments continued relentlessly to deprive people of their lives on the false premise that the death penalty would make us safer.‘ Executions in Iran made up 82 percent of that figure, with 977 death sentences carried out. It makes the Islamic Republic the largest executioner of people in the world apart from China. …
Saudi Arabia is ranked fourth in the world in terms of executions, after Pakistan, which put 326 people to death this year following a six-year moratorium on capital punishment. The kingdom put 158 people to death in 2015, or 13 percent of the regional total. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia increased executions last year by 31 and 76 percent respectively, compared with 2014.“ (Ein Bericht der Journalistin Philippa H. Stewart auf dem Online-Nachrichtenportal Middle East Eye: „Iran leads ‚alarming surge‘ in Middle East executions“)