article_snippet.sent: (CNN)Governments around the world are using the threat of terrorism -- real or perceived -- to advance executions, Amnesty International alleges in Amnesty International annual report on the death penalty.
article_snippet.sent: The dark trend of governments using the death penalty in a futile attempt to tackle real or imaginary threats to state security and public safety was stark last year," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's Secretary General in a release.
article_snippet.sent: It is shameful that so many states around the world are essentially playing with people's lives -- putting people to death for 'terrorism' or to quell internal instability on the ill-conceived premise of deterrence.
article_snippet.sent: The report, "Death Sentences and Executions 2014," cites the example of Pakistan lifting a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians following the horrific attack on a school in Peshawar in December.
article_snippet.sent: China is also mentioned, as having used the death penalty as a tool in China "Strike Hard" campaign against terrorism in the restive far-western province of Xinjiang.
article_snippet.sent: its annual report on the death penalty catalogs the use of state-sanctioned killing as a punitive measure across the globe, and this year's edition contains some mixed findings.
article_snippet.sent: The United States has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the Americas to conduct executions, but the number of convicts put to death here fell slightly, from 39 in 2013 to 35 in 2014.
article_snippet.sent: The United States also imposed a moratorium on executions last year.
article_snippet.sent: The United States remains one of the worst offenders for imposing capital punishment, with only Iran (289+), Iraq (61+), and Saudi Arabia (90+) executing more people in 2014.
article_snippet.sent: The report also highlights the imperfections in the judiciary processes that lead to many sentenced to death.
article_snippet.sent: In the majority of countries where people were sentenced to death or executed, the death penalty was imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards," The report stated.
article_snippet.sent: The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, last year stressed the need to move toward abolition of capital punishment.
article_snippet.sent: The taking of life is too irreversible for one human being to inflict it on another," he said, in marking World Day against Death Penalty in October.
article_snippet.sent: We must continue to argue strongly that the death penalty is unjust and incompatible with fundamental human rights.
highlights_snippet.sent: Organization claims that governments around the world are using the threat of terrorism to advance executions .
  