World Prisons

Reform / Organisations

Amnesty International

global · founded 1961 · HQ United Kingdom

Verified 21 May 2026 · Data dated 21 May 2026
Fresh · 8d ago

Global human-rights movement campaigning against torture, the death penalty, and unjust imprisonment.

Amnesty's death-penalty research (its annual 'Death Sentences and Executions' report) is the most-cited single source on global capital-punishment trends. Amnesty also runs prisoner-of-conscience campaigns and tracks conditions of detention.

Focus areas

death penalty abolitiontorture preventionprisoners of conscience

Reports published by Amnesty International

  • Amnesty's annual census of recorded executions and death sentences worldwide. 2024 was the deadliest year on record in decades, driven primarily by Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, with drug-related offences accounting for a large share. China remains the world's biggest executioner but figures remain a state secret.

Initiatives involving Amnesty International