World abolishing death penalty, but executions on rise in India, Pakistan

Fewer countries are carrying out executions than a decade ago, but India along with nations like Gambia, Pakistan and Japan bucked the trend to resume handing out death penalties, Indian media reported on Thursday.

An Amnesty International report had said that 21 countries executed convicts last year as compared to 28 in 2003.

But there is greater concern that Indian courts had meted out at least 78 death sentences with more than 400 estimated to be on death row at the end of this year.

The new death sentences given by India (78) are second only to Pakistan (242) in the Asia-Pacific region. At least 679 new death sentences are known to have been imposed in 19 countries in the region last year.