Executions around the world rose to their highest number in five years in 2022, with Iran driving the spike, according to Amnesty International.

In its annual report on the death penalty released on May 16, the rights group said that “disturbingly,” 90 percent of the world’s 883 confirmed executions outside China were carried out by just three countries, all three in the Middle East. For example, only in Iran the number of executions soared to 576 in 2022 from 314 the previous year, on the backdrop of nationwide protests in the country.

In second place is Saudi Arabia, where executions tripled from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 and in third is Egypt which executed 24 individuals.

Amnesty said that given the opaque data from several countries that have the death penalty, figures on the use of capital punishment are minimum figures and the true overall numbers may be higher.”

As in previous years, Amnesty did not include executions in China in its figures, even though Beijing implements capital punishment more than any other country. Amnesty says that the usage of the death penalty there is unclear because the data is considered a state secret. “Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.

“The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” she added.

The Amnesty report noted that executions resumed in five countries last year, including Afghanistan, while the recorded number of people executed for drug-related offenses more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021.

“In a cruel twist, close to 40 percent of all known executions were for drug-related offenses. Importantly, it’s often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.

“It’s time for governments and the UN to up the pressure on those responsible for these blatant human rights violations and ensure international safeguards are put in place,” she added.