24th World Day Against the Death Penalty – Stories for Life
World Day
Observed every 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty unifies the global abolitionist movement and mobilizes civil society, political leaders, lawyers, public opinion and more to support the call for the universal abolition of capital punishment. The day encourages and consolidates the political and general awareness of the worldwide movement against the death penalty.
On 10 October 2026 and 2027, the World Day will be dedicated to humanizing the people affected by the Death Penalty, focusing on the stories of the human beings affected by the death penalty whose voices are too often neglected or silenced.
The death penalty is often discussed and supported as an abstract concept that only affects “monsters” who have committed the worst crimes. In reality, it is a sentence imposed on human beings with a life, relatives, hobbies, dreams, and setbacks –not on abstractions.
This campaign highlights the necessity of taking into account the structural, social, and individual conditions that may have contributed to a person coming into conflict with the law, including factors such as poverty, discrimination, trauma, mental health issues, or experiences of gender-based or other forms of violence, which are widely documented as disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. It also underscores the severe psychological and physical suffering caused by prolonged death row incarceration, uncertainty, and conditions of detention, which may amount to torture.
Recalling the humanity of persons sentenced to death does not diminish the suffering of victims and their families or the harm caused to society. Rather, it recognizes that the death penalty affects everyone: victims’ families, persons sentenced to death and their families, lawyers, judges, prison staff, abolitionists, and entire communities. All of them have stories to tell.
Through storytelling, impacted persons can share their often-complex reality and reclaim narrative power from systems that have historically spoken about them without listening to them. As such, stories are an incomparably powerful tool for advocacy that allows us to move beyond labels and sentences to see our shared humanity, bridge the gap between individuals, and move towards a world free from the death penalty.
Scroll down and find more information about the stories behind the death penalty in our leaflet, mobilization toolkit (coming soon), and more! World Day Posters are available in Arabic, English, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Traditional Chinese, Turkish , and without text.
THE DEATH PENALTY IN PRACTICE
(Statistics from Amnesty International)
- 113 States have abolished the death penalty for all crimes
- 9 States have abolished the death penalty for common law crimes
- 23 States are abolitionists in practice
- 54 States are retentionists
- The 5 States that executed the most in the world in 2023 are, in order: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.
- At least 25,508 individuals are known to be under a sentence of death around the world at the end of 2025, of which around than 5% are women (statistic on women sentenced to death by Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide).
Call for initiatives:
Wherever you are… in Africa, America, Asia, Oceania or Europe,
Whoever you are… NGOs, teachers, lawyers, local representatives, parliamentarians, artists, reporters, religious leaders, citizens,
Whatever your plans are… debates, concerts, press conferences, demonstrations, petitions, educational and cultural activities….
Take action against the death penalty on 10 October 2026!
Join the hundreds of initiatives organized worldwide. You can read more about the 2025 World Day in our World Day Report.
Developing World Day plans? Get in touch with the World Coalition to tell us about events scheduled on 10 October 2026.
10 Things YOU can do to end the death penalty
Take action
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Organize a gathering. It can take the shape of a demonstration, a webinar, a remote workshop, a debate or a movie screening, an art exhibition or theater performance.
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Learn and engage with grassroots practices that promote healing and accountability processes in your community, like restorative and transformative justice.
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Build partnerships with minority group’s rights organizations (women, LGBTQIA+ persons, religious minorities, ethnic minorities...) to raise awareness on how discriminations are an aggravating factor of psychological and physical torture.
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Lobby politicians to abolish the death penalty and implement preventive security policies.
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Promote a culture of peace in your community and beyond. Advocate for policies and actions that foster dialogue and nonviolent conflict resolution.
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Join the events prepared for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide. Visit the World Coalition page for events near you!
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Donate to a group working to end the death penalty.
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Follow the social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram and X and launch your own using: #nodeathpenalty
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Mobilize the media to challenge the security narrative that supports the death penalty. Call for interviews with specialists, testimonies from victims, investigations on local cases and raising awareness campaigns that address the root causes of harm and violence.
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Participate in Cities Against the Death Penalty/Cities for Life on 30 November 2024 and 2025.
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