French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against a global rise in the number of executions on Tuesday during a speech at the ninth World Congress against the death penalty.
"The death penalty still remains, in many regions of the world, a reality", Macron told an audience at the Maison de la Radio in Paris. "The number of executions carried out last year reached its highest level since 1981, with 2,707 people executed by authorities in just 17 countries".
Among the countries that still apply the death penalty, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq carried out the most executions in 2024, according to figures from the NGO Together Against the Death Penalty, which is organising the congress.
Last year, at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran, per the Iran Human Rights NGO - the highest number of executions in the country since 1989.
Macron also used his speech to stress his "concern" over "moves being made in the Sahel and in Israel by certain parties" to push through legislation aimed at authorising the death penalty.
