INDEX
Document(s)
High-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty
By United Nations / Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2019
2019
International law - United Nations
rufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The Report of the UN Hugh Commissioner for human Rights provides a summary of the high-level discussion on the question of the death penalty, held on 4 March 2015, at the twenty-fifth session of the Council. The aim of the panel discussion was to exchange views on the question of the death penalty, and to address regional efforts aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and the challenges faced in that regard.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Death Penalty,
- Available languages Обсуждение вопроса о смертной казни в рамках дискуссионной группы высокого уровня. Доклад Верховного комиссара Организации Объединенных Наций по правам человекаRéunion-débat de haut niveau sur la question de la peine de mort. Rapport du Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme死刑问题高级别小组讨论会. 联合国人权事务高级专员的报告Mesa redonda de alto nivel sobre la cuestión de la pena de muerte. Informe del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos
Document(s)
In Their Own Words
By Coalition mondiale contre la peine de mort, on 1 January 2019
NGO report
frMore details Download [ pdf - 1425 Ko ]
A tool with testimonies of children with a parent on death row, compiled by the World Coalition thanks to its member organizations.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Mineurs, Coalition Mondiale Contre la Peine de Mort, Peine de Mort,
- Available languages Paroles d'enfants
Document(s)
Fourteen Days in May
By Paul Hamann, on 30 November 2018
2018
Arguments against the death penalty
Multimedia content
Death Row Conditions
More details See the document
Fourteen Days in May is a documentary directed by Paul Hamann. The program recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder.
The documentary crew, given access to the prison warden, guards and chaplain and to Johnson and his family, filmed the last days of Johnson’s life in detail. The documentary argues against the death penalty and maintains that capital punishment is disproportionately applied to African-Americans convicted of crimes against whites. The programme features attorney Clive Stafford Smith, an advocate against capital punishment.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty / Multimedia content
- Themes list Death Row Conditions
Document(s)
Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 20 November 2018
2018
NGO report
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Death Row Conditions
United States
More details See the document
Report published by the Death Penalty Information Center on secrecy and the death penalty in the United States. This report documents the laws and policies that states have adopted to make information about executions inaccessible to the public, to pharmaceutical companies, and to condemned prisoners. It describes the dubious methods states have used to obtain drugs, the inadequate qualifications of members of the execution team, and the significant restrictions on witnesses’ ability to observe how executions are carried out. It summarizes the various drug combinations that have been used, with particular focus on the problems with the drug midazolam, and provides a state-by-state record of problems in recent executions. It explains how government policies that lack transparency and accountability permit states to violate the law and disregard fundamental principles of a democratic government while carrying out the harshest punishment the law allows.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions
Document(s)
Italian Poster 2018
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2018
2018
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
More details Download [ pdf - 2085 Ko ]
Italien Poster 2018
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
Document(s)
Public support for the death penalty ticks up
By Pew Research Center / J. Baxter Oliphant, on 1 January 2018
2018
Article
United States
More details See the document
Public support for the death penalty, which reached a four-decade low in 2016, has increased somewhat since then. Today, 54% of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 39% are opposed, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April and May.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public opinion,
Document(s)
Prosecutorial Discretion and Sentencing in Singapore
By Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal / Kumaralingam Amirthalingam, on 1 January 2018
Academic report
More details See the document
Singapore recently amended its laws to replace the mandatory death penalty regime for murder and drug trafficking with a discretionary sentencing regime under certain conditions. One of the conditions with respect to drug trafficking was that the convicted trafficker had to be granted a certificate by the Public Prosecutor stating that the trafficker had provided substantive assistance that led to the disruption of drug trafficking activities. That decision is not subject to judicial review except under very narrow circumstances, protected in the same way as the constitutionally protected prosecutorial discretion.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Due Process , Fair Trial, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Is Public Opinion a Justifiable Reason Not to Abolish the Death Penalty? A Comparative Analysis of Surveys of Eight Countries
By Roger Hood / Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, on 1 January 2018
Article
More details See the document
Roger Hood, “Is Public Opinion a Justifiable Reason Not to Abolish the Death Penalty? A Comparative Analysis of Surveys of Eight Countries”, 23 Berkeley J. Crim. L. 218 (2018)
- Document type Article
- Themes list Public opinion, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Moratorium on the use of death penalty
By United Nations, on 1 January 2018
United Nations report
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
Moratorium on the use of death penalty (2018)
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list Moratorium , Death Penalty,
- Available languages وقف العمح فعقوفة الإعداМораторий на применение смертной казниMoratoire sur l'application de la peine de mort暂停使用死刑Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerte
Document(s)
English-speaking Carribbean: time to make the death penalty history
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2018
NGO report
frMore details See the document
Ten years ago, on 19 December 2008, the authorities of Saint Kitts and Nevis carried out what was to become the last execution in the Americas, outside the USA. This anniversary, which follows on from the observance on 2 November of 25 years since a key judicial decision that puta brake on the implementation of death sentences in the region, offers an opportunity for reflection on the present state of the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean. Trends on the use of this punishment point to the inevitability of its abolition. On the occasion of this anniversary, Amnesty International renews its call on governments in the English-speaking Caribbean to take prompt steps towards consigning the death penalty to history once and for all.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Caraïbes anglophones. Il est temps de reléguer la peine de mort dans les livres d'Histoire

