PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DEATH PENALTY REPORT (10 April 2016)

That this House notes the publishing of Amnesty International's annual review on the death penalty; celebrates the decline in death sentences recorded in 2015, which dropped from at least 2,466 in 2014 to at least 1,998 in 2015; is however deeply concerned that at least 1,634 people were executed in 2015, a rise of 54 per cent from 2014 and the highest number Amnesty International has recorded in 25 years; further notes the report states the actual number is likely to be much higher, as it does not include China, where the extent of the use of the death penalty is a state secret; notes that Belarus, the only European country to use the death penalty, and Vietnam, also provide no data and that little or no information was available in countries such as Syria and Yemen; recognises that excluding China, almost 90 per cent of all executions took place in only three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia; further recognises that at least nine people who were executed in 2015 were under the age of 18 when sentenced to death; notes that during 2015 25 countries, around one in 10 of all countries are known to have carried out execution, and this is an increase from 22 in 2014; and calls on the Government to act decisively to end the death penalty globally, working with international organisations like Amnesty International and our partner nations to end this barbaric practice.

Sponsored by:
Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat)