Amnesty: 20,000 People Facing Execution

Amnesty: 20,000 People Facing Execution
By Associated Press

April 20, 2006, 5:25 AM EDT

LONDON -- Executions around the world fell by more than 1,500 last year, as a growing number of nations continued to turn against the death penalty, Amnesty International said Thursday.

There were 2,148 known executions in 22 countries last year, down from 3,797 in 2004, said the London-based group, which opposes the death penalty in all cases.
"There is a global tide against the death penalty which has left us with just the hardened countries still using it," said Amnesty researcher Piers Bannister, who helped compile the organization's latest report on the subject.

"Governments have listened to the arguments of the abolitionists, and there is also an acknowledgment that it is an abuse of human rights," he said.
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