INDEX

The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than fifteen years, was again confirmed in 2013 and the first six months of 2014.There are currently 161 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 100 are totally abolitionist; 7 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 6 have a moratorium on executions in place and 48 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. Countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).Countries retaining the death penalty worldwide declined to 37 (as of 30 June 2014), compared to 40 in 2012. Retentionist countries have gradually declined over the last few years: there were 43 in 2011, 42 in 2010, 45 in 2009, 48 in 2008, 49 in 2007, 51 in 2006 and 54 in 2005.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Statistics,

Why yet another book on the death penalty? The answer is simple: Aslong as the death penalty exists, there is a need for advocacy against it.This book provides arguments and analysis, reviews trends and sharesperspectives on moving away from the death penalty.

• Document type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

The 2014 Background Paper covers the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June2014. It highlights changes in the status of the death penalty in the OSCE areathat have taken place since the publication of the 2013 Background Paper.8As inprevious years, the background paper provides information on two participatingStates – Belarus and the United States of America – that continue to impose thedeath penalty, and on four participating States – Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia andTajikistan – that are de facto abolitionist, but retain the death penalty in law. It alsoprovides an overview of relevant developments in some of the 51 OSCE participatingStates that have an abolitionist status.

• Document type International law - Regional body
• Themes list Statistics,

On the occasion of the International Day against the Death Penalty, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) that retain the death penalty to abolish it, or to impose a moratorium on its application as a step toward abolition, and to ensure full compliance with decisions of the IACHR concerning death penalty cases. While a majority of the member States of the OAS has abolished capital punishment, a substantial minority retains it. The United States is currently the only country in the Western hemisphere to carry out executions.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
• Available languages Infografía: la Pena de Muerte en las Américas

Covering a diverse range of transitional processes in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition offers a broad evaluation of countries whose death penalty policies have rarely been studied. The book would be useful to human rights researchers and international lawyers, in demonstrating how transition and transformation, ‘provide the catalyst for several of interrelated developments of which one is the reduction and elimination of capital punishment’.

• Document type Book
• Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition,

While the death penalty remains, persons with mental disabilities are at risk of being sentenced to death and executed in breach of international standards. This briefing paper provides concrete examples of what can be done to address this risk, including by the adoption by national medical professional bodies of codes of conduct ensuring that professionals do not act unethically or unprofessionally in capital cases.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,
• Available languages Fiche pour les professions médicales

Tant que la peine de mort continue d’exister, les personnes souffrant de déficiences mentales courent le risque d’être condamnées à mort et exécutées, en violation des normes internationales. Ce document de synthèse montre quelles mesures peuvent être prises pour supprimer ce risque, notamment en luttant contre la stigmatisation des personnes souffrant d’un handicap mental ou intellectuel, en particulier lorsque les médias entretiennent des idées reçues erronées concernant les risques que ces personnes représentent.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,
• Available languages Factsheet for Journalists

While the death penalty remains, persons with mental disabilities are at risk of being sentenced to death and executed in breach of international standards. This briefing paper provides concrete examples of what can be done to address this risk, including by working towards the reduction of stigma against persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, particularly where media reports promote inaccurate public beliefs about risks posed by such persons.

• Document type Working with...
• Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,
• Available languages Fiche pour les journalistes

This report for consideration during the85th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination addresses five main issues with regard to the United States’ use of the death penalty and how the death penalty disproportionately affects minorities in the United States.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Discrimination,

Idaho’s death penalty involves many criminal justicestakeholders at both the local and state levels and in all three branches of government. Because death penalty processes involve so many entities, legislators asked for a better understanding of the structure, workings, and costs. The following events also sparked legislative interest: (1) two offenders sentenced to death werelater released from prison in 2001 and (2) two recent executions after a 17-year pause.Legislators wanted to know whether costs of sentencingdefendants to death could be compared with costs of sentencing them to life in prison.

• Document type Government body report
• Themes list Statistics, Financial cost,