报告：美国较少的州处决囚犯

A group that tracks death penalty data says nine states in the U.S. carried out executions this year, the fewest number in two decades.

The findings were released Tuesday in an annual report by the Death Penalty Information Center(( based in Washington)).

The group says more than three-quarters of the 2012 executions were clustered in four states -- Texas, which executed 15 inmates, and six each in Arizona, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

The group says a total of 43 inmates were executed in the U.S. this year, the same as in 2011.

Capital punishment has remained a highly contentious issue in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The Death Penalty Information Center says more than half of the 50 states in the U.S. now have no death penalty or have not carried out an execution in five years.

However, Amnesty International said the U.S. was among five countries with the highest reported number of executions in 2011. In a March report, the rights group said China carried out the most executions, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the U.S.

总部设在华盛顿的死刑信息中心星期二在年度报告中公布了这个数据。

这个组织说，2012年，超过三分之二的执行死刑案集中在4个州，得克萨斯州执行了15起死刑，亚利桑那州、俄克拉荷马州和密西西比州分别执行的6起死刑。

该组织说，美国今年共有43位犯人被执行死刑，与2011年相同。

自1976年美国恢复死刑后，处以极刑一直是争议很大的议题。该组织说，美国50个州中超过半数的州目前没有死刑处罚，或者在过去5年内没有执行过死刑。

不过，特赦国际说，美国是2011年据报执行死刑最多的5个国家之一。在今年3月的一个报告中，这个人权组织说，中国执行的死刑最多，依次是伊朗、沙特阿拉伯、伊拉克和美国。