The figures for China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US accounted for 90% of all known executions in 2001

Amnesty International

The group attributed the surge in numbers to a crackdown on crime in China, which saw the country execute nearly 1,800 people in one four-month period.

China's total use of the death penalty in 2,468 cases was more than all the other countries combined.

"The figures for China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US accounted for 90% of all known executions in 2001," Amnesty said in a statement.

Uncertain totals

But the group also said there had been "significant progress" towards the abolition of the death penalty.

Chile had outlawed the death penalty for peacetime offences, while Bosnia and Yugoslavia had abolished it completely.

It is impossible to give a complete total because many countries deliberately keep the true numbers of those executed secret

Amnesty International

Amnesty stressed that the figures only included those executions reported by governments, and the actual number could be much higher.

Even so, it was the highest annual total since 1996 and the second highest in 20 years.

"It is impossible to give a complete total because many countries deliberately keep the true numbers of those executed secret, belying the supposed deterrent value of the death penalty," the organisation said in a statement.

The Amnesty statement called on the Geneva-based United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to reiterate its call for a worldwide moratorium on state executions.

Amnesty recorded 139 executions in Iran last year, up from 75 in 2000, while the US total had decreased by 19 to 66.