Recorded executions worldwide surged by more than 50 percent last year to the highest level in a quarter-century, a human rights group said Wednesday.
Amnesty International cited the three executions that Japan carried out in 2015 as contributing to a total of 1,634 worldwide. The tally does not include China, where the figure is considered a state secret.
"The rise in executions last year is profoundly disturbing," Amnesty Secretary-General Salil Shetty said. "In 2015 governments continued relentlessly to deprive people of their lives on the false premise that the death penalty would make us safer."