Ninety-seven percent of the executions in 2004 took place in China, Iran, Vietnam and the United States. At least 3,400 people were executed in China, more than in all the other countries combined. Iran was second, with 159 known executions, and Vietnam was third, with at least 64. Fifty-nine people were executed in the U.S. last year.

Death sentences were handed out to 7,395 people in 64 countries in 2004. The New York Times said 144 death sentences were handed down in the U.S. last year, the lowest number since 1997.

Nineteen of the 50 American states currently have laws allowing the execution of 16- and 17-year-old offenders.

According to Amnesty International, five countries – China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.A. – are known to have executed juvenile offenders since the year 2000. There are also currently juvenile offenders on death row in the Philippines and Sudan.

Of the 18 executions of juveniles known to have taken place since 2000, nine were in the U.S., five were in Iran, and two were in China. Pakistan and the Congo executed one juvenile offender each.