Mideast nations top 2020 global executioners list VIRUS EFFECT: Executions plummeted to their lowest level in more than a decade as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed criminal trials and upset execution schedules AP, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Apart from China and despite a worldwide drop in death sentences, countries in the Middle East remained among the world’s leading executioners last year, Amnesty International said yesterday. The number of executions worldwide plummeted to its lowest level in more than a decade, with at least 483 people executed last year, compared with 657 in 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed criminal trials and disrupted scheduled executions.