“Hundreds of people were executed for drug-related crimes last year, and hundreds more were put on the death row. Under International law capital punishment is allowed for the most serious crimes, such as murder, but sentencing someone to death for possession or selling of narcotics represents breaching of the law of nations. Still, a few countries do not even want to consider abolishment of capital punishment for drug trafficking, insisting that such harsh punishment is an effective way of deterring people from criminal, even though there is no solid evidence which could support it”, Insider Monkey writes in its ranking of Top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs.
Relying on international organizations’ reports about capital punishment for drug offenders Insider Monkey presents information about leading executors in the world. Globally, 33 countries have death punishment for drug offenders in their legislation. Of these seven execute prisoners convicted for drug crimes almost every year and all of them are located in Asia. It is estimated that countries which carry out executions regularly killed hundreds of drug offenders only last year while hundreds more were put on the death row. One of the leading executors Iran has carried out more than 10,000 death sentences since 1988. However, the number of capital punishments for drug offenders might decrease soon in Iran since the country plans to reform its drug laws raising drug penalty bar, so now people caught with small amounts of drugs won’t face death sentence. Insider Monkey’s article presents countries which have executed or send to the death row the greatest number of drug offenders in last few years. If you want to find out more about this topic, click on the link provided above.
Top 12 Countries that Have the Death Penalty or Use Capital Punishment for Drugs
By Milica R.