According to Amnesty International, more people were executed by governments worldwide in 2004 than in any time in the last 25 years. In addition, more people were sentenced to death in 2004 than in any time in the last 10 years.

China was the worst offender according to the human rights group. The government executed 3,400 people and Amnesty International suspects that many more undocumented cases exist as well.
The 3,400 was described as 'only minimum figures; the true figures are certainly higher.' The report continued by saying, 'In March 2004 a delegate at the National People's Congress said that 'nearly 10,000' people are executed per year in China.'

The United States did not fair so well in this report. It remains one of the few western nations to enforce the death penalty. 59 people were executed in the United States which placed the U.S. in fourth place in the world behind China, Iran (159 people executed) and Vietnam (64).

'As in previous years, the vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a tiny handful of countries. In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Vietnam and the USA,' Amnesty said.

Only 25 counties worldwide executed their citizens according to the report and 7,395 new people were sentenced to death during 2004.