The World - News from April 25, 1989

Amnesty International appealed to 100 countries, including the United States and Iran, to abolish the death penalty, calling it an arbitrary “judicial lottery” that does not deter crime. The London-based human rights organization, in a study of capital punishment worldwide, says the death penalty is slanted against the poor, ethnic minorities and political opponents. The organization recorded 15,320 executions in 90 countries in the last decade but said they often are done in secret. It said that other estimates put the number as high as 40,000. Victims ranged in age from 14 to 76, with the United States among six countries that have executed juveniles under age 18, the study said.