From restrictions to abolition

Protocol

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 August 2012

On the occasion of the publication of the report “The Death Penalty in the Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition”, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the OAS Member States that still have the death penalty to abolish it or, at least, to impose a moratorium to its application and to ratify the Protocol to the American Convention to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The report takes into account the standards developed within the Inter-American human rights system to restrict the application of the death penalty over the last 15 year and urges the OAS Member States that still have the death penalty to abolish it, impose a moratorium, ratify the American Protocol, respect the standards, and comply with decisions of the Inter-American Commission and Court.

Of the 35 the OAS Member States, 16 countries retain the death penalty: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America and 19 have abolished it in law http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries : Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, of which, 13 have ratified the American Protocol.

The IACHR also welcomed the global tendency towards the abolition of the death penalty and the recent developments at the United Nations and regional systems for the protection of human rights and in international criminal law.
A month earlier, on 3 July 2012, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Member States which use the death penalty to abolish it, stressing that the right to life lies at the heart of international human rights law during an event in New York.

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Antigua and Barbuda

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Argentina

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Bahamas

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Barbados

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Belize

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Brazil

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes onlyDeath penalty legal status

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Canada

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Chile

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes onlyDeath penalty legal status

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Colombia

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Costa Rica

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Cuba

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Dominica

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Dominican Republic

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Ecuador

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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El Salvador

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes onlyDeath penalty legal status

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Grenada

Abolitionist in practiceDeath penalty legal status

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Guatemala

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes onlyDeath penalty legal status

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Guyana

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Haiti

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Honduras

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Jamaica

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Mexico

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Nicaragua

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Panama

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Paraguay

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Peru

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes onlyDeath penalty legal status

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Saint Kitts and Nevis

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Saint Lucia

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Trinidad and Tobago

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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United States

RetentionistDeath penalty legal status

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Uruguay

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Abolitionist for all crimesDeath penalty legal status

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