MOSCOW, December 20 (RAPSI, Ingrid Burke) - Although America is stumbling far behind the majority of its counterparts in the international community as far as the death penalty is concerned, matters improved slightly in 2013 as executions fell nearly 10% when compared with 2012, according to a year-end report published by US advocacy group Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) Thursday.

According to the report, executions fell in 2013 to 39 from 43 in 2012, making this year one of only two in the past 19 years when fewer than 40 executions took place.

Executions took place during the year in nine states, including: Texas (16 executions in 2013), Florida (7), Oklahoma (6), Ohio (3), Arizona (2), Missouri (2), Alabama (1), Georgia (1), and Virginia (1). Executions increased compared to the previous year in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia; held steady in Oklahoma and Ohio; and decreased in Arizona.

In 2012 there were executions in Mississippi (6), South Dakota (2), Delaware (1), and Idaho (1) as well, however none of these states carried out executions in 2013. 
According to international advocacy group Amnesty International’s most recent annual report on death sentences and executions, released in April, the US was the fifth deadliest country in 2012 in terms of executions. China led the pack with at least 1,000 executions during the course of 2012, followed by Iran (at least 300), Iraq (at least 120), Saudi Arabia (at least 79), and the US (43).

According to Amnesty’s ranking, the US carried out more executions than any of the executing countries falling outside of that top-five list, including among others: Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and North Korea.

The Amnesty report noted that China carried out more executions in 2012 than the rest of the world combined. Afghanistan was called out for its alleged tendency to impose the death penalty after “confessions” extracted under torture. Yemen executed two people for crimes committed when they were less than 18 years old, according to the report.

Amnesty explained that of the at least 79 executions carried out in Saudi Arabia  - 29 were for non-lethal crimes including – according to the report – “witchcraft” and “sorcery.” The report adds that executions are generally carried out by beheading with a sword, often in public spaces.

In the US, the primary method of execution is by lethal injection, according to an information sheet on the DPIC website. In 35 states, as well as under US government and US military jurisdictions, lethal injection is the only approved method of execution.

According to the DPIC report, the execution decline in 2013 owes at least partially to legal controversies surrounding lethal injection. Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, but prior to that it had refrained from administering executions for upwards of seven years by virtue of the controversy, as had California, North Carolina, Arkansas, and the federal jurisdiction, as explained by the report.

Lethal injection faces various other obstacles as well. Among other things, according to the report: “Many drugs used in lethal injections are manufactured in Europe, where opposition to the death penalty has resulted in a ban on exporting drugs for executions.”

The New York Times reported in November that Florida had run out of its primary lethal-injection drug in October, thus leaving the state reliant on a drug that had never been used by any state previously for an execution. As supplies continue to dry up, executing states face legal uncertainty over concerns such as the possibility that convicts would be inadequately anesthetized prior to execution, according to the report.

Eight states allow death by electrocution as well, though lethal injection is the preferred method. Notably – one of these eight states is Oklahoma, which – according to the DPIC – would only allow electrocution if lethal injection were ever held to be unconstitutional.

The other seven states include: Alabama (where lethal injection is the default method), Arkansas (lethal injection is the authorized method except when a convict committed a capital crime before July 4, 1983 – in which case he or she may choose between electrocution and lethal injection), Florida (convict’s choice), Kentucky (lethal injection is the authorized method except when a convict committed a capital crime before March 31, 1998 – in which case he or she may choose between electrocution and lethal injection), South Carolina (convict’s choice), Tennessee (lethal injection is the authorized method except when a convict committed a capital crime before December 31, 1998 – in which case he or she may choose between electrocution and lethal injection), and Virginia (convict’s choice).

The gas chamber is an authorized means of execution in three states – though lethal injection is preferred.

These states include Arizona (lethal injection is the authorized method except when a convict committed a capital crime before November 15, 1992 – in which case he or she may choose between the gas chamber and lethal injection), Missouri (lethal injection and lethal gas are both authorized, though the DPIC says that the statutory language is unclear in terms of whether the convict or the Director of the Missouri Department of Corrections should make the choice), and Wyoming. Wyoming would only allow for death by gas chamber, however, in case lethal injection is held to be unconstitutional, according to the DPIC.

Executions can be carried out by hanging in two states, though lethal injection is the preferred method. These states include New Hampshire (which only authorizes hanging in case lethal injection cannot be administered) and Washington (where lethal injection is the default method).

According to the DPIC, Delaware was formerly among these states. Previously hanging was an option for capital crimes carried out prior to June 13, 1986 – but “as of July 2003 no inmates on death row were [eligible] to choose this alternative and Delaware dismantled its gallows,” the DPIC notes.

Two states – Utah and Oklahoma – allow death by firing squad, though not in ordinary circumstances. Oklahoma – according to the DPIC – would only allow death by firing squad in case both lethal injection and electrocution were established to be unconstitutional. Utah no longer offers death by firing squad as an option to capital convicts, but will grant the requests of those who chose this method of execution prior to its repeal. According to the DPIC, however, execution by firing squad can be authorized if lethal injection is held to be unconstitutional.

As recently as 2010, a Utah murder convict exercised his right to choose death by firing squad. According to the BBC, Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad after having spent 25 years on death row in June of that year. After having been convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting a lawyer while attempting to escape from court where he had faced separate murder charges, Gardner chose the firing squad. According to the report, a group of five volunteer police officers fired from a range of 25 feet, shooting at two in a countdown from five to one.