13th World Day Against the Death Penalty: Drug Trafficking
World Day
On October 10, 2015, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is drawing attention to the death penalty for drug trafficking, to reduce its use.
Going against the grain of the abolitionist movement, many countries added the death penalty for drug trafficking to their legal arsenal between 1980 and 2000. This trend is declining today, yet in some parts of the world, drug trafficking remains the leading cause of death sentences and executions.
The death penalty in practice:
– 100 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes;
– 6 countries have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes;
– 34 countries are abolitionist in practice;
– 58 countries and territories are retentionist;
– 22 countries carried out executions in 2014;
– 33 countries and territories retain the death penalty for drug trafficking;
– 13 of these 33 countries have carried out an execution for drug trafficking in the last five years;
– 12 of 33 countries retain mandatory death penalty for certain drug trafficking crimes;
– 5 of the 33 countries are abolitionist in practice.
To learn more about the death penalty…
…in the world: see facts and figures
…and drug trafficking: consult the brochure and the detailed information sheet
