China accounted for the majority of executions reported worldwide last year, but the true frequency of the death penalty is impossible to count because many death sentences are carried out secretly, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

During 2004, more than 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries, including at least 3,400 in China, the rights group said. More than 7,000 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries, it said.

Iran reportedly executed at least 159 people, Vietnam 64 and the United States 59, the report said.

“The figures released today are sadly only the tip of the iceberg. The true picture is hard to uncover as many countries continue to execute people secretly — contravening United Nations standards calling for disclosure of information on capital punishment,” the organization said.

[Link added. - Ed]

Information on the Amnesty International website makes it clear that the total for China could be much higher -- perhaps as high as 10,000 people a year.

The report also does something really annoying. It says that "In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA," but that's a deceptive statement, a misuse of statistics, really, because China contributes so many executions to the total number. In fact, China accounts for 89.5% of the total, and American executions are only 1.55% -- which really is quite bad enough. To make it appear to be worse is the kind of thing the right will jump on to try to discredit the entire report.

The unvarnished and unspun facts are a terrible report card for a country that is supposed to be both advanced and enlightened:

The death penalty in the USA

• 59 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2004, bringing the year-end total to 944 executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977.
• Over 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of 1 January 2005.
• 38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law. The death penalty is also provided under US federal military and civilian law.

It's truly an awful thing for us to be on the list of the world's execution leaders, and even 1.55% is 59 executions too many, but such a transparent attempt to make it seem even worse are counter-productive.