There are some 87 countries in the world which retain the death penalty. Nevertheless, the number of countries which actually implement the sentence every year is much smaller. During 1999, at least 1,813 prisoners were executed in 31 countries and 3,857 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. The countries that employed the death penalty the most in 1999 were China (over 1,100 executions), Saudi Arabia (103), the Democratic Republic of Congo (about 100), USA (98) and Iran (over 165), according to reports to the Amnesty International organisation. In 2000, 85 executions were carried out in the United States.
In the United States of America, there are currently 38 states with the death penalty. Seven of these states (New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Kansas and Connecticut) and the US army and have not carried out capital punishments since 1976. The 31 states with death penalty still in operation are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Neveda, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. With the execution of the Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh in June 2001, the US government executed its first convict in 38 years.
The US states without the death penalty are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Some methods of execution in the countries which employ the death penalty most include decapitation (Saudi Arabia), hanging (Iran) and a firing squad (the Democratic Republic of Congo).
In most USA states, the method of execution is lethal injection. Alabama, Georgia and Nebraska electrocute the convicts. The states of Idaho and Utah also employ a firing squad in certain circumstances. Washington and Delaware have the method of hanging in addition to the lethal injection. Gas is also used in executions in for instance California, Arizona, Missouri and Wyoming.
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