Amnesty International in London has reported that more than 700 people were executed in 18 countries in 2009 and 2,000 people were sentenced to die in 56 countries.

Amnesty International officials on Monday also challenged China to reveal how many people they sentence to death and execute, in its report, "Death Sentences and Executions in 2009."

Amnesty International also said that the figures reported in the annual study don't include information from China, where information on the death penalty is a state secret.

Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International's interim secretary-general, said, "The death penalty is cruel and degrading, and an affront to human dignity. The Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place. If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?"

It was indicated by the Amnesty International's research that countries still carrying out executions are the exception rather than the rule. Besides China, the worst offenders were Iran with at least 388 executions; Iraq at least 120; Saudi Arabia at least 69 and the United States with 52.

The report also addressed the inequitable way the death penalty was applied in 2009, often after unfair trials, and used against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities.

The number of countries removing capital punishment from their laws rose to 95 as Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes, Amnesty International said.

Cordone further said, "Fewer countries than ever before are carrying out executions. As it did with slavery and apartheid, the world is rejecting this embarrassment to humanity. We are moving closer to a death penalty-free world, but until that day every execution must be opposed." (With Inputs from Agencies)