Of the total, 81 have abolished the death penalty completely, 14 have abolished it for ordinary crimes, one -- Russia -- has pledged to abolish it, and six are observing moratoriums, the Rome-based organisation Hands Off Cain said.

Another 32 countries allow capital punishment but have in effect abolished it by not carrying out an execution for at least the past 10 years, the group said.

Since the start of 2003, Benin, Ghana, Malawi and Morocco had in effect abolished the practice by not executing anyone for at least 10 years while Kazakhstan and Tajikistan had put in place a legal moratorium on the practice, it said.