A/HRC/15/19 16. In Jamaica, the Prime Minister announced, in July 2009, that the Government would implement the decision made by Parliament in 2008 to retain the death penalty by resuming executions as soon as the appeal avenues available to death row prisoners had been exhausted. 17. In the United Arab Emirates, in October 2009, the President issued a decree relating to national security, including a provision that introduced the death penalty for offences related to the disclosure of information that “harmed the State”. Although there were no reported cases of executions during the reporting period, according to the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, in recent months, the number of death sentences has increased.. III. Enforcement of the death penalty 18. As noted by the Secretary-General in previous reports, up-to-date and accurate global figures on the application of the death penalty are difficult to obtain. This difficulty arises from a lack of transparency on the part of many Governments in relation to the number and characteristics of individuals executed. In some countries, this information is treated as a State secret. According to non-governmental organizations the number of executions carried out around the world in 2009 is 714, although they state that the real figure is very likely to be significantly higher.5 The exact number of executions carried out in a number of countries, including China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Mongolia and Viet Nam, was not available. 19. In Egypt, at least five people were executed in 2009; in March 2010, two people were executed. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least 388 people were executed in 2009, including 1 man who was stoned to death and at least 5 juvenile offenders sentenced for crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age. In Iraq, at least 366 people were sentenced to death in 2009, bringing the total under sentence of death to at least 1,100. At least 120 executions were carried out in 2009. In the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, in September 2009, the Government introduced an amnesty marking the fortieth anniversary of the Fateh revolution, and commuted all death sentences of those convicted in criminal cases before 1 September to life imprisonment; however, at least 4 men were reported to have been executed in 2009, and reportedly 18 people, many of them foreign nationals, were executed by firing squad in June 2010.6 In Saudi Arabia, the use of the death penalty continued to be widespread, with at least 69 people executed in 2009, including 2 women, 2 juveniles and 19 foreign nationals.5 In the Syrian Arab Republic, at least seven men were sentenced to death after being convicted of murder and at least eight prisoners were executed in 2009. The same year, in Yemen, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 prisoners were executed. 20. In Bangladesh, at least 64 people were sentenced to death in 2009 and 3 executed.5 The death sentences for five men found guilty of killing former President Sheikh Mujibar Rahman in 1975 were upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2009, and all five men were executed by hanging on 28 January 2010. In China, executions continued in large numbers, although exact figures are unknown as they are considered to be a State secret. In Japan, 7 men were executed in 2009 and another 106 prisoners were at risk of execution, including several mentally ill prisoners. In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Government continued to carry out executions by hanging or firing squad, including at least 5 6 6 Amnesty International, The death penalty in 2009; World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Facts and figures about the death penalty 2010, Hands off Cain, 2009 Report on the Death Penalty Worldwide. Amnesty International. GE.10-15029