article_snippet.sent: In Pakistan, Pakistan lifted a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians in the wake of the horrific Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in December.
article_snippet.sent: Jordan ended an eight-year moratorium in December, putting 11 murder convicts to death, with Pakistan saying it was a move to end a surge in violent crime.  
article_snippet.sent: In 1945 when the United Nations was founded, only eight countries had abolished the death penalty.
article_snippet.sent: Today, 140 states are abolitionist in law or practice.
article_snippet.sent: Last year, we recorded executions in 22 countries, down by almost a half from 20 years ago.
article_snippet.sent: The number of executions recorded around the world dropped significantly in 2014 compared with the previous year, from 778 to 607.
article_snippet.sent: The number of executions recorded around the world does not include China, where more people are put to death than the rest of the world put together, but with death penalty statistics treated as a state secret, the true figure is impossible to determine.
article_snippet.sent: Executions were recorded in only three countries in sub-Saharan Africa -- Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and Sudan -- and the number of people put to death went down by more than a quarter.
article_snippet.sent: The Americas continued to be execution-free, apart from the United States.