Egypt
Recorded executions in Egypt increased from 35 in 2017 to 43 in 2018, while the recorded number of death sentences imposed increased to 717, the highest ever recorded by Amnesty International in the country. Hundreds of people were on death row at the end of the year and at least 289 commutations were granted, while one person was exonerated by a court. Since 2014, under the administration of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egyptian ordinary and military courts have handed down at least 2,000 death sentences. According to the London-based rights group, most of these death sentences were related to incidents of political violence, after “unfair trials often based on “confessions” obtained under torture and flawed police investigations.”
