報告：美國較少的州處決囚犯
A group that tracks death penalty data says nine states in the U.S. carried out executions this year, the fewest number in two decades.
The findings were released Tuesday in an annual report by the Death Penalty Information Center(( based in Washington)).
The group says more than three-quarters of the 2012 executions were clustered in four states -- Texas, which executed 15 inmates, and six each in Arizona, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
The group says a total of 43 inmates were executed in the U.S. this year, the same as in 2011.
Capital punishment has remained a highly contentious issue in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The Death Penalty Information Center says more than half of the 50 states in the U.S. now have no death penalty or have not carried out an execution in five years.
However, Amnesty International said the U.S. was among five countries with the highest reported number of executions in 2011. In a March report, the rights group said China carried out the most executions, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the U.S.一個跟蹤統計死刑數據的組織表示，美國9個州今年執行過死刑，是20年來最少的。
總部設在華盛頓的死刑信息中心星期二在年度報告中公佈了這個數據。
這個組織說，2012年，超過三分之二的執行死刑案集中在4個州，得克薩斯州執行了15起死刑，亞利桑那州、俄克拉荷馬州和密西西比州分別執行的6起死刑。
該組織說，美國今年共有43位犯人被執行死刑，與2011年相同。
自1976年美國恢復死刑後，處以極刑一直是爭議很大的議題。該組織說，美國50個州中超過半數的州目前沒有死刑處罰，或者在過去5年內沒有執行過死刑。
不過，特赦國際說，美國是2011年據報執行死刑最多的5個國家之一。在今年3月的一個報告中，這個人權組織說，中國執行的死刑最多，依次是伊朗、沙特阿拉伯、伊拉克和美國。
