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2135 Document(s) 1112 Member(s) 416 Article(s) 12 Page(s)

Document(s)

Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, The Role of Prosecutors, Police and Other Law Enforcement

on 20 July 2022


2022


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This is a report about the role of official misconduct in the conviction of innocent people. We
discuss cases that are listed in the National Registry of Exonerations, an ongoing online archive
that includes all known exonerations in the United States since 1989, 2,663 as of this writing.
This Report describes official misconduct in the first 2,400 exonerations in the Registry, those
posted by February 27, 2019

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Document(s)

Lethal injection in the modern era: cruel, unusual and racist

on 24 April 2024


2024


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Published on April 2024.

Researchers at Reprieve conducted an in-depth comparative study of botched lethal injection executions in the modern era of the U.S. death penalty, cross-referenced against the 1,407 lethal injection executions carried out or attempted during that period.

This report examines the phenomenon of botched executions by lethal injection, exploring the trends and contributing factors leading to botched executions through an analysis of 73 botched executions in the 1,407 lethal injection executions since 1977 (known as the modern era of the death penalty in the U.S.). This analysis used a process called multi-variable logistic regression, a type of analysis that assesses the odds of something happening considering multiple variables, to assess how identifiable characteristics (gender, age, and race) were associated with botched executions.

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Document(s)

“Don’t let them kill us”: Iran’s relentless execution crisis since the 2022 uprising

on 4 April 2024


2024


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Published in 2024.

This research briefing documents the horrifying surge in executions in Iran in 2023, the highest in eight years. More than half of the executions were for drug-related offences amid a distressing return to a lethal antinarcotics policy since Ebrahim Raisi’s rise to presidency in 2021. With systemic impunity in Iran, the briefing reiterates the need for states to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction into crimes under international law committed by Iranian officials, irrespective of the absence or presence of the accused in their territory. Since the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of September-December 2022, the Iranian authorities have weaponized the death penalty to create a pervasive climate of fear across the country, exert control over the population, and suppress dissent and any challenge to their iron grip on power. As a result, 2023 saw an exponential increase in the number of recorded executions. The authorities executed at least 853 people in 2023, a 48% increase from 2022 when 576 people were executed and a 172% increase from 2021 when 314 people were executed. Amnesty International believes that the real number of executions is higher, but the Iranian authorities are not transparent about the number of people executed each year and do not make data on executions publicly available.

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Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2010

on 10 October 2010


2010


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Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give the global abolition claim
an international boost.
This Day is aimed at both political leaders and public
opinion in countries where the death penalty has or
has not yet been abolished: people have to remember
the meaning of abolition and pass it down through the
generations.
They must be aware that justice without the death
penalty is possible

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Document(s)

The Myth of Autonomy Rights

on 20 July 2022


2022


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Supreme Court rhetoric, scholarly discussion, blackletter law, and ethical rules have perpetuated a myth that individual rights protect the autonomy of defendants within the criminal legal system. To expose this myth, I examine six rights that the Court has enshrined as essential decision points for criminal defendants due to the rights’ purported expressive and consequential functions: (1) the right to self-representation; (2) the right to plead guilty; (3) the right to waive a jury; (4) the right to testify; (5) the right to waive appeals; and (6) the right to maintain innocence at a capital trial. I conclude that each of these rights fails to protect defendant autonomy.

I then argue that genuine displays of autonomy under the criminal legal system take the form of resistance to the law, legal advocates, and the legal system. Thus, the autonomy of criminal defendants occurs not because of law but in spite of it. As such, scholarly discussions of the personal autonomy of criminal defendants should focus not on rights and rules but on acts of resistance. The current autonomy rights discourse is harmful because it obscures the system’s defects by framing discussions around individual rights instead of structural limitations. This lends itself to solutions involving procedural tinkering to better actualize individual rights instead of radical structural reform or abolition. By obscuring these structural defects and stressing the system’s protective qualities, the autonomy rights discourse presents the system not only as legitimate, but as functional, and potentially even successful. As such, a new scholarly frame is warranted: autonomy as resistance to law and the legal system. By illuminating the ways in which autonomy in the criminal legal system resembles autonomy under the American institution of slavery, the autonomy as resistance frame exposes the need for radical structural change and facilitates a reimagining of the criminal legal system.

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Document(s)

A/HRC/51/7 – Advance Edited Version – Question of the death penalty

on 26 July 2022


2022


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Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. In the report, the Secretary-General reaffirms the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty and highlights initiatives limiting its use and implementing the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing this severe penalty. A minority of States continued to use the death penalty. Pursuant to Council resolution 22/11, the report also includes information on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.

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Document(s)

Zimbabwe – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021

on 15 July 2021


2021


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This report addresses Zimbabwe’s compliance with its human rights obligations with respect to its use of the death penalty. The United Nations considers Zimbabwe a de facto abolitionist country. It has not carried out any executions since 2005. Courts, however, continue to sentence individuals to death, with 88 people currently on death row as of December 2020, after 8 sentences were commuted in April 2020. The new Zimbabwean Constitution (the “2013 Constitution”) has replaced the mandatory death penalty with a discretionary sentence for the crime of murder committed under aggravating circumstances. The 2013 Constitution further outlaws the imposition of the death penalty on women, men over the age of 70, and men under the age of 21 at the time the offence was committed. In its 2016 Universal Periodic Review, Zimbabwe noted all recommendations related to the death penalty, partly on the ground that Zimbabwean public opinion did not support abolition of death penalty. Since 2016, developments demonstrate a more positive attitude among the public and opinion leaders toward further reform and the abolition of death penalty.

This report focuses on various issues concerning the death penalty and related international human rights instruments, and on conditions of detention and acts of torture and ill treatment of people in detention. Specifically, this report recommends that Zimbabwe abolish the death penalty, improve detention conditions, ratify relevant human rights treaties, and increase resources dedicated to improving the justice system.

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Document(s)

From Advocacy To Abolition: How The Universal Periodic Review Can Shape The Trajectory Of The Abolition Of The Death Penalty

on 1 February 2024


2024


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Published in 2023.

This article assesses whether there is evidence to suggest that the UPR can influence the timing of a country’s decision to abolish the death penalty. The evidence arises out of the examination of thirty case studies of countries that abolished the death penalty, or ratifiedthe leading treaty calling for abolition. This article concludes that in some circumstances the UPR does appear to influence that timing. These conclusions can assist civil society organizations as they refine their advocacy to encourage more countries to abolish the death penalty.

Part I of this article offers an introduction to the global abolitionist movement and two of its advocacy targets: the U.N. Human Rights Council and the UPR. Part II makes the case for focusing on the UPR to assess the efficacy of U.N. advocacy. Part III describes the process of abolition and offers several theories as to how the UPR might influence a country’s trajectory toward abolition. Part IV sets out the study’s methodology and encompasses the analysis of the case studies, focusing first on countries that have abolished the death penalty early in a UPR cycle, then on countries that have abolished at mid-cycle, and finally on countries that have abolished during the tail end of the cycle. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for civil society organizations working toward abolition of the death penalty.

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Document(s)

Guess Who’s Coming to Jury Duty? How the Failure to Collect Juror Demographic Data Contributes to Whithewashing the Jury Box

on 30 April 2024


2024


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Published on February 2024.

Founded in 2001, the Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic seeks justice for individuals facing capital punishment by providing high-quality representation and offers students a rich opportunity for meaningful, hands-on experience in high stakes, complex litigation. The clinic also tackles problems endemic to the administration of the death penalty and the criminal legal system.

The report continues the clinic’s racial justice research and advocacy by cataloging the states that gather prospective jurors’ self-identified race and ethnicity and those that do not. It examines what courts do with the information, including whether it is provided to the court and counsel for use during jury selection, and the consequences of these choices in furthering or obstructing jury representativeness and diversity. In particular, the report shows why the collection of prospective jurors’ self-identified race and ethnicity is vital to meeting state and federal fair cross-section guarantees and eliminating the discriminatory exercise of peremptory challenges.

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Document(s)

Amnesty International Global Report : Death Sentences and Executions 2021

on 25 May 2022


2022


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2021 saw a worrying rise in executions and death sentences as some of the world’s most prolific executioners returned to business as usual and courts were unshackled from Covid-19 restrictions, Amnesty International said today in its annual review of the death penalty.

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Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2008

on 10 October 2008


2008


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Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give to the global abolition
claim an international boost.
This Day is intended for both political leaders and
public opinion of countries where the death penalty
has or not been abolished yet: people have to
remember the meaning of abolition and pass it down
through generations.
They must be aware that a justice without death
penalty is possible.

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Document(s)

Annual Report On the Death Penalty in Iran 2023

on 14 March 2024


2024


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Published on March 5, 2024

This report has been drafted by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) with the support of ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty). Since 2012, Iran Human Rights and ECPM have been working together for the publication, international release and distribution of annual reports on the death penalty in Iran.

The 16th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights and ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) provides an assessment and analysis of the 2023 death penalty trends in 2023 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It sets out the number of executions in 2023, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative framework and procedures, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions. Lists of the female and juvenile offenders executed in 2023 are also included in the tables. The report also looks into the abolitionist movement within Iran, including the forgiveness movement and its contribution to reducing the use of the death penalty, and provides analysis on how the international community can contribute to limiting the scope of the death penalty in Iran. The 2023 report is the result of hard work from Iran Human Rights members and supporters who took part in reporting, documenting, collecting, analysing and writing of its contents. We are especially grateful to Iran Human Rights sources inside Iran who incur a significant risk by reporting on unannounced and secret executions in prisons of 30 different provinces. Due to the very difficult context, the lack of transparency and the obvious risks and limitations that human rights defenders face in the Islamic Republic of Iran, this report does not give a complete picture of the use of the death penalty in Iran by any means. There are 46 reported executions which are not included in this report due to a lack of sufficient details or an inability to confirm cases through two different sources. However, it aims to provide the most complete and realistic figures possible in the present circumstances. The current report does not include suspicious deaths in custody, death row prisoners who died in prison before the executions or those killed under torture. ECPM supports the elaboration, editing process, publishing and distribution of this report in the framework of its international advocacy work against the death penalty. The problems of transparency on the data and information about the death penalty in Iran should be overcome by a strong strategy of distribution and dissemination. The overall objectives of this report for Iran Human Rights and ECPM are to call attention to and publicise the facts, in order to change national and international views on the situation of the death penalty in Iran, first executioner country in the world.

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Document(s)

Gender Matters: Women on Death Row in the United States

on 24 April 2024


2024


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This article presents a comprehensive study of 48 persons sentenced to death between 1990 and 2023 who presented as women at the time of their trials. This research is the first of its kind to conduct a holistic and intersectional analysis of the factors driving women’s death sentences. It reveals commonalities across women’s cases, delving into their experiences of motherhood, gender-based violence and prior involvement with the criminal legal system. This report also explore the nature of the women’s crimes of conviction, including the role of male co-defendants and the State’s use of aggravating factors. Finally, it reveals for the first time the extent to which capital prosecutions are dominated by men—including judges, elected District Attorneys, defense attorneys, and juror forepersons—and explain why gender matters in determining who lives and who dies

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Document(s)

Annual Report on The Death Penalty In Iran 2021

on 28 April 2022


2022


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The 120-page report assesses and analyses trends in death penalty practices in order to propose recommendations, tailored to the national context, and to engage in a constructive dialogue on capital punishment in the country.

The death penalty situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran remains alarming with a significant increase in executions in 2021 (+25%) and an increasing number of Iranian women being executed. The number of executions has doubled after the election of Ebrahim Raeisi as President, and as the Islamic Republic and Western governments negotiate to revive the nuclear deal, also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). These are some of the main findings of the 14th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM) released today.

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Document(s)

Felony Murder: An On-Ramp for Extreme Sentencing

on 23 March 2022


2022


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Although other countries have largely rejected the felony murder doctrine, 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government still use these laws. Felony murder laws compel harsh decades-long – or even life – sentences even when the individual charged did not directly cause or intend the loss of life.

This report evaluates the legal and empirical foundation, and failings, of the felony murder rule, profiles impacted individuals, and highlights recent reform efforts in 10 jurisdictions. Key findings include:

1. Felony murder laws widen the net of extreme sentencing and are counterproductive to public safety.
2. Felony murder laws have particularly adverse impacts on people of color, young people, and women.
3. Existing reforms must be expanded to achieve justice.

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Document(s)

Uganda – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021

on 21 July 2021


2021


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This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses the current state of the death penalty in Uganda, including (1) the broad scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; (2) the lack of effective access to counsel in capital cases; (3) the occurrence of extrajudicial killings.

This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key steps to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s international human rights obligations. These steps include the following: establishing an official, de jure moratorium on the death penalty; reducing the number and scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and in compliance with international human rights standards; and other measures

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Document(s)

A/HRC/54/53: Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem – Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

on 15 August 2023


2023


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The present report outlines human rights challenges in addressing and countering key
aspects of the world drug problem. It also offers an overview of recent positive developments
to shift towards more human rights-centred drug policies, and provides recommendations on
the way forward in view of the upcoming midterm review of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration
and to contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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Document(s)

The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Members States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

on 27 November 2020


2020


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As the 47th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is being held on 27-28 November 2020 in Niamey, Niger, ECPM and Nael Georges release this study, “The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation”.

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Document(s)

Arbitrary and Capricious: Examining Racial Disparities in Harris County’s Pursuit of Death Sentences

on 24 April 2024


2024


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Published on February 2024.

Texas has executed more people than any other state. However, out of the 254 counties in Texas, 136 have never sent an individual to death row. Harris County—Texas’s largest county and home to the city of Houston—stands out as the “death penalty capital of the world.” Harris County has executed more people than any state in the United States except Texas3 and is responsible for a quarter of the 1,124 people who have been sent to Texas’s death row since 1973.

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Document(s)

The Illusion of Heightened Standards in Capital Cases

on 25 January 2024


2024


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Published on April 3, 2023.

The death penalty has gained its legitimacy from the belief that capital prosecutions are more procedurally rigorous than noncapi-tal prosecutions. This Article reveals how a project of heightened capital standards, set in motion when the Supreme Court ended and then revived the death penalty, was set up to fail.

In establishing what a constitutional death penalty would look like, the Court in 1976 called for heightened standards of reliability in capital cases. In the late 1970s and early 80s, the Supreme Court laid out specific constitutional procedures that must be applied in capital cases, and left the door open for the Eighth Amendment to do even more. In the decades that followed, state and federal courts have fueled a perception of heightened procedural rigor in capital cases by referring repeatedly to the heightened standards applica-ble in capital cases.

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Document(s)

Educational guide: teaching abolition

on 10 October 2011


2011


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In 2009, the World Day Against the Death Penalty was
dedicated to the theme “Teaching Abolition”. The World
Coalition developed a teaching guide to be used in
schools throughout the world

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Document(s)

The Physician in the Execution Chamber: No Such Thing as the Normal Pain of Dying

on 1 February 2024


2024


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Published in October 2023.

For capital punishment to be lawful in the United States of America, it must occur without cruelty, a requirement of the traditional reading of the Eighth Amendment. There has never been a consensus on what form of execution is cruel, although some historic practices are shockingly barbaric to modern sensibilities— I think of the “draw and quarter” technique. The family of the murdered victim may fairly argue that the murderous behavior should be the minimum degree of cruelty meted out. But western countries eschew that standard and seek moderate forms, partly to deter by punishment and partly as a forfeit of the murderer’s life for the victim’s life when execution is allowed in that state. Certainly, there is substantial support for continuation of execution in states that allow it. The judges must be respectful of that, but still, they must respect the 8th amendment. At present, the prevalent method of execution in the United States is “lethal injection” using injectable medicines in very high doses that are repurposed to kill the prisoner. Because it is impossible to ask an executed individual about the cruelty experienced during their own death, the state instead relies on the empathy of witnesses to gauge the cruelty of a prisoner’s execution. Lethal injection was expected to be a bloodless execution and aimed to eliminate the visible appearance of cruelty, sometimes through the use of a paralytic.

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Document(s)

Educational guide 2009

on 10 October 2009


2009


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With this Educational Guide, the World Coalition
Against the Death Penalty is launching a collaborative
initiative which aims to improve the contributions of all.
This guide will be regularly supplemented by new infor-
mation and themes. It will also be frequently updated
on the Coalition’s website (www.worldcoalition.org).
On behalf of the members of the World Coalition in
more than thirty countries across the world, we thank
you for your support.

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Document(s)

Death Row in the USA: Death Penalty Cases and Statistics by State

on 13 May 2024


2024


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LDF issues a quarterly report entitled Death Row USA that contains death penalty information, death row populations by state, and other capital punishment statistics in the United States.

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Document(s)

A Deadly Distraction, Why the Death Penalty is not the Answer to Rape in South Asia

on 25 May 2022


2022


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Since 2010, persons convicted of rape offences were executed in at least 9 countries, including India and Pakistan. Moreover, public protests against the rape epidemic, which led governments to introduce capital rape laws, illustrates the need to shine a spotlight in South Asia.

The report examines the use of the death penalty for rape in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and explores ways that anti-death penalty activists can challenge this concerning trend.

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Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2006

on 10 October 2006


2006


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The World Coalition was created in Rome on 13 May
2002, following the commitment undertaken by the
organizations who signed the Final Declaration of
the First World Congress against the death penalty
in June 2001 in Strasbourg. It comprises 52 non-
governmental organizations, as well as bar asso-
ciations, trade unions and local communities.
The Coalition aims to reinforce the international
movement to abolish the death penalty, to reduce
the scope of capital punishment and put an end
to executions wherever they take place. To this
end, the Coalition facilitates the creation and devel-
opment of national and regional coalitions against
the death penalty. The Coalition also spearheads
lobbying efforts directed towards states and inter-
national institutions.

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Article(s)

Highlights: Discussion on torture and the death penalty with UN experts and exonerees

on 6 November 2023

For the 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty dedicated to the reflection on the relationship between the use of the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment started in 2022, the World Coalition hosted an online discussion with United Nations experts Morris Tidball Binz (UN Special Rapporteur on […]

2023

Document(s)

Gender, Violence, and the Death Penalty

on 1 February 2024


2024


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Published in 2023.

This article is the first in a series that will systematically explore how gender has affected the criminal proceedings of women currently on death row. For this inaugural article, we have undertaken the first—and, to our knowledge, only comprehensive analysis of gender-based violence (“GBV”) in the lives of all women currently on death row, examining the prevalence of GBV and how it has shaped the lives and affected the criminal prosecutions of women facing execution. Our research reveals, for the first time, that almost every woman on death row in the United States has experienced GBV. Indeed,the great majority have experienced more than one incident of GBV in their lifetime. Our findings align with previous studies demonstrating that women’s pathways to incarceration are paved with physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Our research further shows that both in the United States and around the world, defense attorneys frequently fail to present evidence of GBV in women’s capital trials. When they do introduce such evidence, they fail to fully explain the nature of their clients’ victimization and the harm they have suffered as a result. Moreover, prosecutors frequently rely on gendered tropes to discredit women’s accounts of violence such as childhood sexual abuse, rape, and intimate partner violence. Consequently, those who sentence women to die rarely comprehend the extensive trauma that the women have endured throughout their lives, and how that trauma relates to their legal and moral culpability.

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Document(s)

Resolution 77/274 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

on 8 August 2022


2022


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The present report provides information on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 75/183. It discusses developments towards the abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of moratoriums on executions and highlights trends in the use of the death penalty, including the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The report discusses conditions of detention for persons on death row, the application of the death penalty to foreign nationals, its disproportionate and discriminatory application to women, its disproportionate impact on poor and economically vulnerable individuals, its discriminatory use relating to persons exercising their human rights, and various initiatives for advancing its abolition. The report welcomes progress made towards universal abolition in States representing different legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds. It concludes that all measures aimed towards limiting the application of the death penalty constitute progress in the protection of the right to life.

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Article(s)

Recapping and video recordings of the side events of the 2021 General Assembly

on 27 September 2021

On June 18, 2021, on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, several events were organized. These events were an opportunity for the members of the World Coalition to address many issues related to the fight for the abolition of the death penalty.

2021

Article(s)

Ways to Restrict the Use of the Death Penalty in Iran

on 8 April 2019

Iran Human Rights (IHR); March 27, 2019: A part of the 11th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, by IHR, deals with the ways to restrict the use of the death penalty in Iran.

2019

Document(s)

Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021

on 21 March 2022


2022


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Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our eleventh on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021 found that: 1) 35 countries still retain the death penalty for drug offences 2) At least 131 people were executed for drug offences in 2021 – a 336% increase from 2020. However, due to a severe lack of transparency, if not outright censorship, this is only a partial picture. This figure likely represents only a fraction of all drug-related executions carried out globally.

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Document(s)

Special issue: a decade-long review of the death penalty for drug offences

on 7 May 2024


2024


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This report builds on the pioneering work HRI has been doing since its first ‘The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview (‘Global Overview’) in 2007. It analyses how the landscape of the death penalty for drug offences has shifted in the last decade, looking at the main trends regarding people on death row, death sentences and executions for drug offences, as well as key developments at national and international level in the period between 2014 and 2023.

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Facts and Figures 2012

on 10 October 2012


2012


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On October 10, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and abolitionists worldwide will celebrate the 10th
anniversary of World Day against the Death Penalty. This year’s World Day focuses on the achievements and
progress made toward abolition. Around the world, countries have ended or restricted their use of the death
penalty. In addition, they have signified their support of ending this practice by ratifying the Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty
and by voting in favour of United Nations (UN) resolutions for a moratorium on the death penalty. The World
Coalition welcomes these steps forward as it also remains vigilant for the challenges ahead.

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Document(s)

Data Mapping: Women on Death Row

on 1 August 2023


2023


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In 2021, the 19th edition of the World Day Against the Death Penalty (“World Day” on October 10) was dedicated to the invisible reality of women on death row, paving the way for new data on the issue of women sentenced to death. Many members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (“World Coalition”), in preparation for 10 October, conducted research to document the situations of women facing the death penalty around the world. To systematize the information collected and have a global understanding of women sentenced to death, the World Coalition conducted a data systematization exercise.
This short report presents the main conclusions of this country exercise. These findings are a compilation of existing data available to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and its members organization up to December 2022.

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Article(s)

Statement on the end of the unofficial moratorium on executions in Myanmar

on 11 August 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and ACAT-France, ACAT-Germany (and their partner organization Federal Association of Vietnamese Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany), Amnesty International, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN), Avocats Sans Frontières France, Centre for Civil and Political Rights, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE International), Coalition Marocaine Contre la Peine […]

2022

Document(s)

United States – Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Death Penalty – May 2022

on 21 July 2022


2022


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1. The Committee last reviewed the United States’ compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2014. Among the 2014 Concluding Observations are two recommendations relevant to this Report. 2. The Committee stated that it “remain[ed] concerned that members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, continue to be disproportionately arrested, incarcerated and subjected to harsher sentences, including life imprisonment without parole and the death penalty.” Among other things, the Committee encouraged “[a]mending laws and policies leading to racially disparate impacts in the criminal justice system … and implementing effective national strategies or plans of action aimed at eliminating structural discrimination.” The Committee specifically encouraged “[i]mposing a moratorium on the death penalty, at the federal level, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”1 3. The Committee also commented on “the ongoing challenges faced by indigent persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities to access legal counsel in criminal proceedings in practice.” The Committee encouraged the adoption of “all necessary measures to eliminate the disproportionate impact of systemic inadequacies in criminal defence programmes on indigent defendants belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, including by improving the quality of legal representation provided to indigent defendants.”2 4. This report addresses the United States’ compliance with its human rights obligations under the Convention with regard to the death penalty, including with respect to those areas identified in the Committee’s 2014 Concluding Observations as described above.

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Document(s)

Amnesty International – Global Report : death sentences and executions 2023

on 29 May 2024


2024


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Amnesty International’s monitoring of the global use of the death penalty recorded 1,153 known executions in 2023, an increase by 31% from 883 in 2022. However, there was a significant decrease in executing countries, from 20 in 2022 to 16 in 2023.

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Document(s)

Tunisia – Committee Against Torture (LOIPR) – Death Penalty – June 2022

on 21 July 2022


2022


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Tunisia carried out its last execution in 1991, over 30 years ago. Despite this de facto moratorium on executions, Tunisian courts continue to sentence people to death. Courts sentence people to death every year for a variety of crimes, especially terrorism. The current administration is undoing many of the positive changes to the Tunisian judicial system brought about by the 2011 revolution, and public opinion is divided over whether to move forward with abolition, maintain the status quo, or even resume executions, a course of action that some politicians and officials within the government support. Tunisia continues to support the UN resolutions aiming to establish a global moratorium on executions but has refused to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This report recommends that Tunisia maintain its commitment to the UN moratorium and move to ratify the Second Optional Protocol, while also working to restore the independence of its judiciary and reducing the total number of crimes punishable by death in the short term. In the long-term Tunisia should completely and unconditionally abolish the death penalty.

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Document(s)

Abolitionnist portrait 2004

on 10 October 2004


2004


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Abolitionnist portrait 2004

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Member(s)

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

on 7 January 2022

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) fosters awareness of and support for democracy and human rights in Bahrain and Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC). ADHRB has launched an Anti-Death Penalty Campaign during the summer of 2020 which involved local, national, and international engagements to advocate and lobby for the abolition of the […]

2022

Document(s)

Yemen – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty – September 2021

on 20 September 2021


2021


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Women in conflict with the law in Yemen are at risk of experiencing gender-based discrimination within the legal system and while detained. Such discrimination is particularly acute when women are at risk of being sentenced to death. For example, in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, women are in danger of being sentenced to death for “spying,” often based primarily on the conduct of their male family members. In parts of the country controlled by the internationally recognized Government of Yemen, women accused of capital offenses are denied legal aid to mount a successful defense. And because of the mandatory nature of the death penalty for crimes such as murder, courts do not take into account an accused woman’s experiences of gender-based violence that may have motivated her actions. Women are also often financially unable to gather sufficient resources to pay “blood money” to victims’ families. Detention conditions for women, particularly in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, amount to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and in some cases prison authorities torture women detainees.

Because of continued internal conflict in Yemen, there is limited official data regarding the number of women currently sentenced to death. For the same reason, there is only limited information regarding detention conditions of women sentenced to death.

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Document(s)

World Psychiatric Association position statement mental health and the death penalty

on 30 November 2023


2023


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International law and laws of various countries prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on persons
with mental illness or developmental and intellectual disabilities due to the special barriers faced by
them in defending themselves; their limited moral culpability; and their diminished ability to
understand the nature and reason for their execution. However, due to lack of accommodations in
criminal proceedings and legal safeguards, persons with mental illness, developmental and intellectual
disabilities are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and having their fair trial rights denied.

Authors:
Maitreyi Misra, Director (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law University
Delhi.
Namrata Sinha, Research Associate (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law
University Delhi.
Neeraj Gill, Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra and Griffith University,
School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Soumitra Pathare, Consultant Psychiatrist, Director, Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, ILS
Law College, Pune.
Afzal Javed, President, World Psychiatric Association.

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Document(s)

Detailed factsheet – World Day 2024 & 2025

on 11 July 2024


2024


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Document(s)

Proven With(out) Certainty: How Judges Sentence Defendants to Death for Drug Offences in Iran

on 6 February 2024


2024


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Published in April 2023.

Despite the reduction in the number of executions for drug offences during 2018-2020, a sudden increase in executions was recorded during 2021-2023: at least 131 known executions were recorded for drug offences in 2021, 253 executions in 2022, and 82 executions during the first 3 months of 2023 (Table). However, information concerning the death penalty in Iran is notoriously difficult to obtain because of the secrecy surrounding the country’s criminal justice process. This note provides a rare glimpse into the application of capital drug laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It exposes the idiosyncratic practices of the judiciary and its decision-making, using cases concerning the death penalty for drug offences—its imposition prohibited long under international standards. These judgments repeatedly use the language of ‘certainty’ in convicting the accused. In reality, to those familiar with basic fair trial standards, they raise serious concerns about miscarriages of justice that could potentially result in the erosion of legitimacy of the criminal ‘justice’ system in Iran.

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Article(s)

Statement of international solidarity with the families of people sentenced to death in Iran

on 15 September 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty express its solidarity with the families and relatives of people who are sentenced to death in Iran and with the civil society organizations supporting them.

2022

Document(s)

How to Work with Parliamentarians for the Abolition of the Death Penalty

on 7 October 2021


2021


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This how-to guide, elaborated with Parliamentarians for Global Action with highlights coming from the African continent, is specifically designed for the use of abolitionist civil society groups who want to work with parliamentarians for the abolition of the death penalty.

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Document(s)

Amnesty International Global Report : Death Sentences and Executions 2022

on 16 May 2023


2023


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This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2022. Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation. In many countries governments do not publish information on their use of the death penalty.

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Document(s)

MOBILIZATION KIT World Day Against the Death Penalty 2024 – 2025 Security and the death penalty

on 12 June 2024


2024


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Document(s)

Gender and Death Penalty Glossary

on 1 August 2023


2023


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As part of the integration of a gender and intersectional approach into its strategy, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (World Coalition) decided to develop a glossary to identify and define the key terms of which the abolitionist movement should be aware to consider gender and other axes of intersectional discrimination at work in the capital punishment process, and more broadly to mainstream gender into their abolitionist work. This glossary was developed based on existing glossaries of World Coalition members on closely related topics, existing international definitions and standards established by international human rightsmechanisms as well as based on definitions written by international organizations specializing inwomen’s rights and LGBTQIA+ people’s rights.This glossary aims to support the abolitionist movement in recognizing the gender and intersectional biases at work in the judicial process leading to the death penalty and to contribute to the developmentof a common language around these issues, a process initiated a few years ago by members of theWorld Coalition Against such as the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide. Moreover, this glossary also aims to promote the integration of a gender approach into the internal workings o fabolitionist organizations.

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Document(s)

The Philippines – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – March 2022

on 31 March 2022


2022


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1. This report addresses the Philippines’ compliance with its international human rights
obligations with respect to the death penalty. For years, the Philippines imposed the death
penalty, particularly for so-called heinous crimes. In 2006, President Gloria MacapagalArroyo abolished the death penalty.1 Since then, however, lawmakers have introduced
numerous bills to reinstate the death penalty, with the House adopting Bill No. 7814 as
recently as March 2, 2021.2

2. The report examines the current state of the death penalty in the Philippines, including (1)
acceptance of international norms; (2) proposed legislation reintroducing the death penalty;
(3) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in enforcing drug control; (4)
conditions of detention; and (5) administration of justice and fair trial.

3. This report recommends that the Philippines continue the abolition of the death penalty,
refrain from reintroducing the death penalty, honor its international commitments, and
implement a human rights-based approach to anti-drug policy

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Article(s)

Adoption of Bill Allowing the Imposition of the Death Penalty for a New Crime.

on 30 April 2021

Philippine House Bill No. 7814 provides the death penalty for a new crime under the 2002 Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

2021

Article(s)

UPR 36th Session Debriefed on Facebook Live

on 17 November 2020

As the 36th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was being held under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council from 02 to 13 November, the Advocates for Human Rights, a member organization of the World Coalition, facilitated Facebook live debriefings to cover the review of States that have not yet abolished capital […]

2020

Article(s)

Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Iranians’ Attitudes Towards the Death Penalty

on 23 October 2020

This survey, conducted by the GAMAAN Institute between the 3rd and the 11th of September 2020, includes responses from about twenty thousand people living inside Iran.

2020

Article(s)

Plans to carry out arbitrary executions in Myanmar must halt immediately

on 23 June 2022

The undersigned organizations are gravely concerned at the recent announcement by the military authorities of Myanmar that the death sentences imposed on four people after grossly unfair proceedings have been approved for implementation.

2022

Article(s)

Malaysia and the Politics Behind the Death Penalty: A Tumultuous Relationship. 

on 24 October 2022

On 6 October 2022, the Malaysian government tabled bills abolishing the mandatory death penalty.

2022

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet – World Day 2022

on 4 July 2022


2022


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Detailed factsheet on torture and the death penalty, for the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty (2022).

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Document(s)

Mobilization Kit World Day 2023

on 12 June 2023


2023


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For the 21th year in a row, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is calling for local initiatives and world-wide actions that shine a spotlight on the abolition of the death penalty. The goal of this Mobilization Kit is to inform of this year’s objectives as well provide ideas of activities that boost the global abolitionist goal. This year’s World Day is dedicated to people who, during the process of being sentenced to death, or following the sentence of their death, have been victims of torture.

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Document(s)

Mobilization Kit World Day 2022

on 9 June 2022


2022


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For the 20th year in a row, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is calling for local initiatives and world-wide actions that shine a spotlight on the abolition of the death penalty. The goal of this Mobilization Kit is to inform of this year’s objectives as well provide ideas of activities that boost the global abolitionist goal. This year’s World Day is dedicated to people who, during the process of being sentenced to death, or following the sentence of their death, have been victims of torture.

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Document(s)

ULUSLARARASI AF ÖRGÜTÜ KÜRESEL RAPORU ÖLÜM CEZALARI VE İNFAZLAR 2022

on 16 May 2023


2023


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Bu rapor, Ocak-Aralık 2022 dönemi için ölüm cezasının adli kullanımını kapsamaktadır. Uluslararası Af Örgütü yalnızca infazlar, ölüm cezaları ve ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin diğer hususlar (cezanın hafifletilmesi ve beraat gibi) hakkında makul teyitlerin olduğu durumlarda raporlama yapmaktadır. Birçok ülkede hükümetler ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin bilgi yayınlamamaktadır.

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Document(s)

Kenya – Committee Against Torture – Death Penalty – March 2022

on 18 March 2022


2022


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Kenya has not carried out any executions since the late 1980s. Nonetheless, Kenya continues to hand down the death penalty as a sentence in criminal cases. Accordingly, this report recommends that the Committee Against Torture recommend that Kenya formally abolish the death penalty, commute the sentences of all persons on death row, and revise laws to remove capital punishment from the list of principal sentences. Kenya should further take steps to prohibit introduction of evidence obtained through torture and ill-treatment in criminal proceedings and to ensure that all persons at risk of being sentenced to death have access to well-qualified legal counsel with adequate funding for a thorough pre-trial investigation. Kenya should ensure that no person is removed to a country where they may be at risk of being sentenced to death, and should take concrete steps to ensure that conditions of detention for persons under sentence of death comply with the Nelson Mandela Rules.

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Member(s)

Act for Human Rights (ALEF)

on 30 April 2020

Act for Human Rights previously know as “Association libanaise pour l’éducation et la formation” core mandate is Monitoring and Advocacy. Its main concern are Human Rights issues, thus the organization has been advocating against death penalty. Currently our project activities are the following: Death Penalty Abolition Activities in Lebanon- ALEF – act for human rights […]

2020

Article(s)

Importance of understanding phases of abolition: the danger of ‘abolitionist in practice’ 

on 6 November 2023

In July 2023, the World Coalition hosted a seminar in Malaysia in the context of its “Countries at Risk” project. This subject of informal moratoriums solicited much interest as participants considered preventative strategies for stopping a return to the death penalty, and what environmental factors need to be considered to implement those strategies. This article […]

2023

Article(s)

The Status Quo of China’s Death Penalty and the Civil Society Abolitionist Movement

on 15 February 2022

Translation of an article on the death penalty in China for the Beijing Olympics 2022, initially published by Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty in October 2021 for World Day.

2022

Article(s)

East African Seminar on Best Practices in Kenya: A Key Gathering for the Abolitionist Movement on the Continent

on 15 August 2023

A privileged moment to exchange on the different abolitionist dynamics in Africa As part of the Africabolition project, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (World Coalition) and FIACAT (the International Federation of ACATS) organized a seminar for English-speaking African members from 19-26 June, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.

2023

Article(s)

Over 8,000 people on death row in South Asia

on 3 May 2022

With few executions but one of the biggest death rows in the world, South Asia is at a crossroad. Recent publications explore mental health on death row and social and economic background of people sentenced to death in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

2022

Article(s)

China: Judicial guidelines to curtail activism for Taiwan a further blow for human rights protections

on 1 August 2024

Taken from the declaration posted on Amnesty International’s web page found here.  “Amnesty International and four other organizations are alarmed by the recent publication by the Chinese authorities of new judicial guidelines providing directives to prosecute and harshly punish, including by the death penalty, those advocating and acting for Taiwan’s independence. The guidance effectively encourages […]

2024

Article(s)

Saudi Arabian Mass execution of 81 men

on 4 April 2022

Saudi Arabia: the largest mass execution in this country in years The kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed 81 men on March 12, 2022, all of whom had been convicted of a wide range of offences, including “terrorism”- related crimes, murder, armed robbery, and arms smuggling. Those put to death included seven Yemenis, one Syrian and […]

2022

Article(s)

Take Action for World Day 2023!

on 20 September 2023

Take action now! The 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty is an excellent opportunity to publicly oppose the use of this inhumane punishment and to support those who are fighting for its abolition all over the world.

2023

Article(s)

High-Level Remote Panel on the Moratorium Resolution

on 6 November 2020

On 5 November, a webinar gathering high-level panelists was held by Ensemble contre la peine de mort / Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) as one of their initiatives for the moratorium campaign. Usually organized in New York, USA on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the event had to be facilitated […]

2020

Article(s)

Joint Open Letter to the Minister of Justice of Malawi on the abolition of the death penalty 

on 26 July 2024

 Dear Minister of Justice, Honorable Titus Mvalo Ahead of this joint letter, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty would like to express its deepest condolences to the Government and people of Malawi for the passing of Vice President Mr. Saulos Chilima on 11 June 2024.

2024

Document(s)

Uganda – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty – January 2022

on 12 January 2022


2022


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This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses Ugandan death penalty laws and cases where women are sentenced to death row in Uganda, primarily for murder.

This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key recommendations to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s obligations to women under the Convention. These steps, among other things, include: (1) abolishing the death penalty and in the interim, limiting the death penalty to only the most serious crimes of intentional killing of another human; (2) ensuring proper gender-sensitive training in the judicial system and protecting women in conflict with the law when gender-based violence is involved; (3) developing and implementing programs to prevent gender-based violence and discrimination; and (4) ensuring fair access to counsel to women sentenced to death or at risk of being sentenced to death.

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Document(s)

REPORT WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY 2023

on 7 June 2024


2024


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Member(s)

Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)

on 30 April 2020

Since 2000, Together against the Death Penalty (Ensemble contre la peine de mort – ECPM) acts to fight against the death penalty around the world. The association promotes the universal abolition through the creation and dissemination of publications and teaching tools, as part of public campaigns and lobbies governments at both national and international levels. […]

2020

Document(s)

Migratory dependency and the death penalty: Foreign nationals facing capital punishment in the Gulf

on 30 January 2024


2024


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Published on July 2, 2023

This article focuses on the cases of 664 foreign nationals, the majority of whom are migrant workers, under sentence of death across the Gulf states (including Jordan and Lebanon) between 2016 and 2021. The features of these cases suggest that they are inextricably linked to migrant workers’ dependency under the kafala system, with examples of migrants duped into smuggling drugs across the border by their migrant broker, and once in country, accounts of violent altercations due to disputes about exit visas, and in the case of migrant domestic workers, self-defence against sexual violence. Engaging with the burgeoning literature on immigration, exploitation and criminalisation, as well as scholarship on capital punishment, this article will explore the multiple and unique layers of dependency fostered by the kafala system that place migrant workers at higher risk of the death penalty in these Gulf jurisdictions.

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Member(s)

Bahrain Human Rights Society

on 30 April 2020

The Bahrain Human Rights Society is a non-governmental organization established in May 2001 and is registered with the Ministry of Social Development in the Kingdom of Bahrain under registration No. ( /ج/ت.ث 142). The Society was the first licensed society in the Kingdom of Bahrain specializing in the field of human rights. The Society seeks […]

2020

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Kenya: A Punishment that has Died Out in Practice, Part One – A Public Ready to Accept Abolition

on 15 June 2022


2022


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In 2021, The Death Penalty Project and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with the Australian National University commissioned Prof. Carolyn Hoyle, Director of The Death Penalty Research Unit, at the University of Oxford, to undertake research in order to provide accurate data on attitudes towards the death penalty in Kenya and facilitate a constructive conversation on the future of capital punishment. The research examined the views of both the general public in Kenya and also opinion formers, those considered influential in shaping, and responding to, national views.

Key findings:

– 40% in favour of abolishing the death penalty, 10% did not know either way
– 51% in favour of retaining the death penalty, only 32% strongly in favour
– Those against the death penalty believed that criminals deserved the opportunity for rehabilitation.
– Knowledge of the death penalty appears to be limited, just 66% were aware Kenya retains the death penalty and just 21% knew no executions had take place in the past 10 years
– The public expressed concerns around the possibility that innocent people could be sentenced to death: 61% of the public – including retentionists – thought that ‘many’ or ‘some’ innocent people have been sentenced to death in Kenya; only 8% thought that ‘no innocent people have been sentenced to death’
– Public support fell from 51% to 31% when considering abolition in the region
59% of the public, who were initially in favour of retention, said that they would accept a new policy of abolition

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Document(s)

Prison Conditions in Jamaica

on 19 April 2011


2011


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In criminal justice matters, Jamaica has been rightly praised for its de-facto abolitionist
stance on the death penalty: nobody has been executed on the island since 1988.
However, the alternative to death is imprisonment. For many years, NGOs, the UN
Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and
various independent and internal reports have expressed serious concern about the
conditions in which Jamaica detains its prisoners.

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Document(s)

The Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2023

on 28 March 2024


2024


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Published in 2023.

At the end of 2023, 34 countries retained the death for drug offences. In July 2023 Pakistan took the landmark decision to remove the death penalty from the list of punishments that can be imposed for certain violations of its Control of Narcotics Substances Act. This year also saw notable progress in Malaysia, which abolished the mandatory death penalty for all offences, including drug-related ones. This reform may impact the lives of over 700 people on death row for drug offences and bring the country one step closer to total abolition of capital punishment. In stark contrast to these positive developments is the record-high number of drug-related executions in 2023 at least 467. Of those executed, at least 59 people belonged to ethnic minority groups (in Iran and in Singapore), 13 individuals were foreign nationals, and six were women. These figures confirm that these groups are uniquely vulnerable to capital punishment as a tool of drug control. Despite not accounting for the dozens, if not hundreds, of executions believed to have taken place in China, Vietnam, and North Korea, the 467 executions that took place in 2023 represent a 44% increase from 2022.

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Document(s)

The Public Opinion Myth. Why Japan retains the death penalty

on 5 August 2015


2015


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In this report, Mai Sato and Paul Bacon go beyond the simple results of opinion polls conducted
recently by the Japanese government, which show very high levels of support for the death penalty.
Using a similar methodology and sample, the authors reveal that the majority of the population form
their views on the death penalty with limited information and based on often inaccurate perceptions
– for example, believing that the crime rate is increasing. Sato and Bacon also demonstrate that
people have a relatively low level of ‘psychological ownership’ when it comes to the future of the death
penalty: the majority think that the government and experts should decide. Furthermore, discussions
about the death penalty among participants increased tolerance towards those with different views –
which, in turn, facilitated potential reform and change.

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on 8 September 2020

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2020

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Article(s)

Death penalty: Singapore’s growing abolition movement

on 5 September 2022

Article first published by the Interpreter Public support for capital punishment isn’t as overwhelmingand unshakeable as the government often portrays it to be.

2022

Article(s)

The 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty Highlights the Life-Saving Importance of Effective Legal Representation in Capital Cases

on 18 November 2020

The 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty explored the theme “Access to Counsel: A Matter of Life or Death” in light of the continued execution of individuals who struggle to have adequate support from their lawyers, who consequently also face their own challenges in the judicial system. Having access to qualified and effective representation […]

2020

Article(s)

120 UN Member States Support the Moratorium at Committee Vote

on 18 November 2020

On 17 November, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution calling upon UN Member States to observe a moratorium on executions.

Article(s)

Central African Republic Becomes 24th African State to Abolish the Death Penalty

on 26 June 2022

The President of the Central African Republic promulgated the law abolishing the death penalty on June 27 2022, one month after the National Assembly passed the law. CAR is now the 24th abolitionist state in Africa and the 111th in the world.

2022

Article(s)

Armenia ratifies international treaty for irreversible abolition of the death penalty

on 25 March 2021

Armenia ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on 18 March 2021.

2021

Article(s)

The Commonwealth of Virginia Abolishes the Death Penalty

on 25 March 2021

Virginia became the 23rd US State to formally ban capital punishment on 24 March 2021.

Article(s)

How Business May Contribute to Universal Abolition

on 29 January 2021

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have long been at the forefront of the movement for human dignity, as the main, highly-specialized – and sometimes isolated– champions for social justice. However, a new generation of advocates from the private sector, whose primary center of interest or area of expertise seems disconnected from international human rights standards, has been […]

2021

Article(s)

Calling Upon the Council of Paris to Overhaul Bahrain-Owned Paris FC’s Subsidy

on 5 February 2021

This Tuesday, on February 2, 2021, the Council of Paris will announce its position on the renewal of the yearly €500,000 subvention allocated to the Paris FC.

2021

Article(s)

Take Action for World Day 2022!

on 9 September 2022

Take action now! The 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty is an excellent opportunity to publicly oppose the use of this inhumane punishment and to support those who are fighting for its abolition all over the world. > Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: #nodeathpenalty > Find out more about the World […]

2022

Article(s)

246 People Removed from Death Rows in Zambia

on 29 January 2021

President Edgar Lungo announced, on 27 January 2021, that 246 death sentences had been commuted into life, a more than welcome decision that has brought the overall number of commutations to over 500 since 2015.

2021

Article(s)

Abolition of the death penalty at the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council

on 19 August 2022

The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 50th Regular Session from June 13 to July 8, 2022. If you missed it, here is what happened regarding the abolition of the death penalty!

2022

Article(s)

Joint Statement to condemn the public executions and the surge of executions in 2022 in Iran

on 11 August 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty strongly condemn the resumption of public executions in Iran and the surge in the executions in 2022, which goes against the international trends towards abolition of the death penalty.

2022

Article(s)

Statement on the Adoption of the 8th UN General Assembly Resolution for a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty

on 17 December 2020

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty warmly congratulates the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the adoption of Resolution A/RES/75/183 for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which was adopted by a great majority of 123 UN Member States on 16 December 2020.

2020

Article(s)

Kazakhstan Ratifies the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR

on 1 April 2022

Kazakhstan ratified the UN treaty aiming at the abolition of the death penalty on 24 March 2022.

2022

Article(s)

DPIC’s Report on the 2020 Death Penalty Usage in the US

on 6 January 2021

TheDeath Penalty Information Center’s 2020 annual report highlights the continuing trend toward abolition in the US and the resumption of federal executions in a challenging COVID-19 context.

2021