Top 12 Countries That Have the Death Penalty or Use Capital Punishment for Drugs

These top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs have strictest drug laws in the world.

Globally, 33 countries have legislation which allows the death sentence for drug trafficking. According to Harm Reduction International, among places which have the death penalty for drug offenders, seven carry out executions almost every year, while others rarely or never execute prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes. For instance death penalty for drug trafficking in the United States exists on the paper, but in practice, no dealer has been executed.

According to Amnesty International, hundreds of people were executed for drug-related crimes last year, and hundreds more were put on the death row. Under International law capital punishment is allowed for the most serious crimes, such as murder, but sentencing someone to death for possession or selling of narcotics represents breaching of the law of nations. Still, a few countries do not even want to consider abolishment of capital punishment for drug trafficking, insisting that such harsh punishment is an effective way of deterring people from criminal, even though there is no solid evidence which could support it.  The whole death penalty for drug trafficking debate, i.e., the dilemma should drug dealers get the death penalty has been reduced to one simple question – does execution of drug offenders significantly reduce drug crimes, and the answer is no. Even Iran, which has executed hundreds of prisoners for drugs, admits that death penalty did not help country’s drug problems. In reality, capital punishment has little effect on the crime rates – our previous article 10 States with Highest Murder Rates Despite Death Penalty shows that there is no difference in murder rates between states with the death penalty and non-death penalty states.

So, when it comes to the death penalty for drug trafficking the United States, isn’t listed. All countries that are listed in our article are located in Asia. The continent is a home to top executors in the world which together carried out more than 2,000 executions last year, including the killing of hundreds of drug offenders. Some of them are places torn up with conflicts and poverty but the majority are highly developed economies, and you might be surprised to discover that few are listed in our ranking of Top 25 Safest, Most Peaceful Countries in the World.

In creating the list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs we relied on the last available report of Harm Reduction International (HRI), non-governmental organization focused on reducing harm of drug use and drug policy, and the Amnesty International’s report about death sentences and executions in 2016. Using these two documents we identified countries which have executed or have put on the death row drug offenders in recent years. We also relied on HRI’s and AI’s reports for the information about drug trafficking penalties by country. Note though that for some countries there are no sufficient data. For instance, HRI couldn’t determine whether there has been any execution for drug-related crimes in North Korea, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Moreover, in some places, information about execution are classified as state secrete, so the international organization can only assume how many executions have been carried out in recent years. We ranked countries by the number of people who were executed over the last few years for drug crimes. The last five countries on this ranking did not carry out executions of drug offender, and they are ranked by the number of imposed death sentences.

12. Laos

We start today’s list with Laos. According to HRI, the country has never carried out execution for drug-related crimes. Laos’s law allows capital punishment for drug-related offenses and in 2013 three drug offenders were put on the death row. Last year three capital punishments were imposed in Laos, but there is no information about crimes for which these people were sentenced to death.

11. Sri Lanka

No execution was carried out in Sri Lanka while 79 prisoners were put on the death row last year. Among them, there was one foreigner who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking. HRI notes that 12 people received capital punishment for drug-related crimes between 2012 and 2014, but none of them was executed.

10. India

There were no executions in India last year. However, the country imposed 136 new death sentences. It was also estimated that there were more than 400 prisoners on the death row at the end of 2016. Amnesty International reports that among those convicted to the capital punishment were drug offenders while HRI notes that India imposes death sentences for drug-related crimes but does not carry out executions.

9. Thailand

There were no executions in Thailand last year. However, 216 people were convicted to capital punishment in 2016, and there was total of 427 prisoners on the death row at the end of the year. Of these, 213 were convicted of drug-related crimes. According to HRI, last known execution for the drug crime in Thailand was carried out in 2009.

8. Singapore

In May this year media reported that a 31 old man was executed because he was found with 72.5 grams of heroin.  The country reformed its drug laws four years ago so offenders who cooperate with state-prosecutor could avoid capital punishment, but international organizations warn that these reforms have not given desired results and that death penalty for all drug offenders must be abolished as soon as possible. Last year four people were executed in Singapore – two were killed because of murder and two because of drug trafficking. At the same time, 38 people were sentenced to death in 2016, including seven persons convicted of drug offenses.

7. Malaysia

We are continuing our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs with Malaysia, which introduced capital punishment for drug-related crimes in 1952, is expected to abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug offenders in the near future. In 2016, the country executed nine people while 36 people were convicted to the death penalty, including 17 drug offenders. The announced changes to the drug laws have been welcomed by international organizations who also called the government to abolish capital punishment for all crimes.

6. Pakistan

Last year the number of executions in Pakistan, the next one on our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs, dropped by 73%. Despite the decrease, the country remains one of the leading executors in the world since 87 prisoners were killed in 2016. Moreover, 360 death sentences were imposed last year, and it is believed that there are thousands of people on the death row in the country. Although Pakistan’s laws impose the death sentence for possession of more than a kilo of narcotics, HRI notes that Pakistan hasn’t executed prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes in recent years.

5. Indonesia

Last year Indonesia, which ranks 5th on our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs, executed four prisoners who were convicted for drug trafficking. The execution, which took place on the July 29^th, attracted global attention especially because two prisoners had their clemency requests pending at the time of execution. Moreover, Indonesia put 60 people on the death row last year. Of these 46 were convicted of drug-related crimes and 14 for murder.

4. Vietnam

In Vietnam,  the country which imposes a death penalty for trafficking 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other drugs, information about executions are the state secret, so there are no reliable data about a number of prisoners who were killed in last few years. However, the state’s officials said earlier this year that 429 death penalties were carried out between 8 August 2013 and 30 June 2016, which makes Vietnam one of the top executors in the world. It is also a reason why Vietnam occupies 4th place on the list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs. In 2016, there were 63 death sentences and of those 54 were imposed because of drug crimes.

3. Saudi Arabia

During first six months of this year, 44 people were executed in Arabia, which ranks 3rd on our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs. According to human rights organization Reprieve, 41% of those convicted to the death penalty were nonviolent drug offenders, and among them 23% were Pakistanis. The organization warns that Pakistan nationals who received death sentences “may have been victims of human trafficking, forced into smuggling drugs in their intestines.” Reprieve also reports that since 2014, 438 people were executed in the Kingdom, including 145 persons convicted of drug smuggling.

2. Iran

According to Amnesty International, there were 567 executions in Iran in 2016, which is a 42% drop compared to 2015. It is possible to expect that the number of death sentences in the country will continue to decrease in the future since some parts of the country’s drug laws are going through change. Human Rights Watch reported that in August this year the country’s parliament approved the amendment to the drug law, raising drug penalty bar so now people caught with small amounts of drugs won’t face capital punishment. However “production, distribution, trafficking, and selling” of larger amounts of drugs still can lead to death penalty. Amnesty International notes that 328 people were executed last year because of drug-related crimes in Iran, and that majority of people who were put on the death row came from the poorest and the most vulnerable parts of the society. AI also reports that since 1988 Iran has carried out 10,000 executions for drug-related crimes. And now, let’s see the number one on our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs.

1. China

Speaking of China drug laws punishments, in June this year 13 drug dealers were sentenced to death, which is why this country occupies the first place on our list of top 12 countries that have the death penalty or use capital punishment for drugs. Media around the world reported that eight convicts were executed right after the trial which was conducted in front of 10,000 people. It should be said that there is no exact data on the number of people who were executed in China in recent years since executions are the state secret. Amnesty International estimates that thousands of prisoners were killed in 2016 alone while HRI reports that at least 600 people were executed with hundreds more on the death row because of drug trafficking in 2014.