INDEX

The use of the death penalty in the U.S. declined by virtually every measure in 2015. The 28 executions this year marked the lowest number since 1991. As of December 15, fourteen states and the federal government have imposed 49 new death sentences this year, a 33% decline over last year’s total and the lowest number since the early 1970s when the death penalty was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Only six states conducted executions this year, the fewest number of states in 27 years. Eighty-six percent of executions this year were concentrated in just three states: Texas (13), Missouri (6), and Georgia (5). Executions in 2015 declined 20 percent from 2014, when there were 35. This year was the first time in 24 years that the number of executions was below 30.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

The American Medical Association is among many medical professional organizations that prohibit the participation of physicians in the physical act of execution. Despite these clear guidelines, debate remains regarding physician involvement in various aspects of death penalty cases. This article outlines different positions that physicians and specifically forensic psychiatrists have taken on this issue. Our position is that given the overwhelming secondary duty related to their physician role—specifically to do no harm—forensic psychiatrists should not use their expertise if they believe their involvement will be used for the primary purpose of obtaining a death penalty.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who have committed heinous crimes present hard cases for the American system of justice. The violence that occasionally erupts into murder can easily overcome the special respect that is afforded most veterans. However, looking away and ignoring this issue serves neither veterans nor victims. PTSD has affected an enormous number of veterans returning from combat zones. Over 800,000 Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD. At least 175,000 veterans of Operation Desert Storm were affected by “Gulf War Illness,” which has been linked to brain cancer and other mental deficits. Over 300,000 veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts have PTSD. In one study, only about half had received treatment in the prior year.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Mental Illness,

The 2014 Activity Report displays the overall situation of the death penalty in different geographical areas of the world: Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe. The report shows the developments, as well as the challenges, in the struggle against the death penalty. Finally, it presents the new strategies that the World Coalition against the Death Penalty is going to develop in the next years.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,

The Penal Reform International’s Report “Myths and Realities” provides ‘quick answers to common questions’ about the death penalty.The ‘myths’ covered include: ‘The death penalty keeps societies safer’, ‘the death penalty is applied fairly’, ‘there is nothing in international law to stop countries using the death penalty’, and ‘victims and relatives are in favour’. The booklet is a useful guide for activists and advocates of abolition, giving them the arguments they need to tackle common pre- and misconceptions.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Public opinion, Death Penalty,

The Reprieve’s report analyses data on prisoners currently on death row in Saudi Arabia. It finds that 72 per cent of those prisoners whose alleged offences Reprieve has been able to determine were sentenced to death for non-violent crimes, including attendance at political protests and drug offences. Reprieve has also established that many prisoners estimated to have been executed in Saudi Arabia, since January 2014, had been sentenced to death for non-violent offences.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Drug Offences, Country/Regional profiles,

Despite strong protests from local and international human rights organisations, the new Indonesian administration under President Joko Widodo has executed 14 people, including Indonesian and foreign nationals, in 2015. All of them had been convicted of drug trafficking. In other occasions President Widodo also stated publicly that the government would deny any application for clemency made by people sentenced to death for drug-related crimes. This report, which builds on Amnesty International’s past work over three decades documenting the use of death penalty in Indonesia, includes research carried out during a March 2015 visit to the country. The report highlights 12 individual cases of death row prisoners, out of a total of 131 people on death row, which point to systemic problems in Indonesia’s administration of justice that resulted in violations of international human rights law and standards.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Fair Trial, Drug Offences, Country/Regional profiles,
• Available languages Indonesian : Kaedilan ang Cacat. Peradilan Yang Tidak Adil Dan Hukuman Mati di IndonesiaUne justice déficiente. Procès iniques et recours à la peine de mort en Indonésie

Drug-related offences are still punishable with the death penalty in more than 30 countries despite clear restrictions set out in international law to limit use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”. The 2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October) draws attention to the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a human rights violation.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Drug Offences,

BLOODSWORTH – An Innocent Man is a documentary memoir recounting Kirk Noble Bloodsworth’s remarkable journey through the criminal justice system. An innocent man convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, Kirk became the first death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States.Set against the backdrop of his 2013 battle to repeal the death penalty in the State that sentenced him to death, BLOODSWORTH – An Innocent Man offers an intimate glimpse into what it is to wake to a living nightmare; an innocent man caught in the perfect storm of injustice.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Innocence,

When Bill Babbitt realizes his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision: should he call the police? Last Day of Freedom, a richly animated personal narrative, tells the story of Bill’s decision to stand by his brother in the face of war, crime and capital punishment. The film is a portrait of a man at the nexus of the most pressing social issues of our day – veterans’ care, mental health access and criminal justice.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Murder Victims' Families,