During the past 15 years, the number of African nations abandoning capital punishment has risen from one to 10, and another 10 nations have abolished the death penalty in practice according to a recent tally by Amnesty International. As this trend toward abolishing the death penalty continues, fewer Africans than ever are being executed by their governments. The anti-capital punishment movement has been especially powerful in West Africa, where the number of countries in the Economic Community of West African States that have either banned executions or halted them has risen to 10. Southern Africa, where the death penalty is now outlawed in five countries and at least two additional nations have abandoned it in practice, has also shifted towards ending capital punishment. Among the issues shaping Africa’s attitude toward capital punishments are innocence, the impact this punishment has on those who carry out executions, and doubts about deterrence. (New York Times, October 20, 2004). See International Death Penalty.