The United States is reporting a sharp jump in the number of executions. 26 people were executed in the first half of the year alone, reports “Agence France-Presse“. This is the highest number since 2015, and the trend is causing serious concern among human rights defenders, reports News.bg.
On July 15, 54-year-old Michael Bell was executed in the state of Florida, sentenced to death in 1993 for the murders of two young men in Jacksonville, 23-year-old Jimmy West and 18-year-old Tameka Smith. The investigation concluded that Bell mistakenly believed one of them was responsible for his brother's death. Bell spent more than three decades awaiting his execution, which was carried out by lethal injection at Raiford State Prison.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than half of all executions were carried out in just three states: Florida, Texas, and South Carolina. The center notes that the increase in their number is largely the result of decisions by individual officials in a limited number of states.
Of the 26 executions:
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21 were carried out by lethal injection,
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3 by nitrogen hypoxia, a new method used for the first time in Alabama in 2024,
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2 by firing squad in South Carolina, which is its first use in the United States since 2010. Nine more executions to be carried out in the US.
However, the death penalty is not applied equally in all states. In states such as California, Oregon and Pennsylvania, a moratorium on executions is in force, imposed by their governors. Currently, 23 of the 50 states have completely abolished the death penalty.