The Death Penalty Project (DPP)

In 2020-2021, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with Community Legal Aid Institute, LBH Masyarakat, commissioned The Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU) at the University of Oxford, in association with University Centre of Excellence HIV/AIDS Research Centre-HPSI at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (AJCU), to conduct the research building empirical knowledge on who is being convicted for drug offences and uncover the factors that have influenced their motivations and decision making. Interviews were conducted on 57 prisoners from a prison in Jakrata, Indonesia, all convicted for drug offences. This is the first stage of a larger mapping project, which will interview those convicted of drug offences and sentenced to death or life in prisons across Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It also compliments our two part opinion study on attitudes on capital punishment in Indonesia.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Indonesia
• Themes list Drug Offenses

One of the most compelling forces behind the evolution of international attitudes towards capital punishment in recent decades has been the increasing recognition of the potential for error in its use – that those states that choose to retain the practice may be taking the lives of innocent individuals. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on wrongful convictions and the death penalty.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Fair Trial

When faced with calls to join the majority of states worldwide that have now abolished capital punishment, a key justification, typically relied upon by retentionist states, is that their citizens are not yet ready for abolition, and that political leaders must represent ‘the will of the people.’ The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on public opinion and the death penalty.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Public Opinion

The use of capital punishment has been an issue addressed by international human rights law since the earliest days of the United Nations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, and an instrument widely recognised as the gold standard for human rights, affirms the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on international law and the death penalty.

• Document type NGO report

In 2021, The Death Penalty Project and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with the Australian National University commissioned Prof. Carolyn Hoyle, Director of The Death Penalty Research Unit, at the University of Oxford, to undertake research in order to provide accurate data on attitudes towards the death penalty in Kenya and facilitate a constructive conversation on the future of capital punishment. The research examined the views of both the general public in Kenya and also opinion formers, those considered influential in shaping, and responding to, national views.

Key findings :

– The vast majority of opinion formers that took part in the interviews were in favour of abolishing the death penalty.
– 90% of opinion formers were in favour of abolishing the death penalty
– 82% of opinion formers were strongly in favour of of abolishing the death penalty
– Most of the opinion formers interviewed were very well informed on the administration of the death penalty in Kenya.
– Across both groups there were concerns around the possibility that innocent people could be sentenced to death.
– 88% of opinion formers believe wrongful convictions occur fairly regularly
– 93% of opinion formers thought Kenya should be influenced by high rates of abolition around the world
– Opinion formers believed that 75% of the public would accept abolition of the death penalty, despite initial reservations.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Kenya
• Themes list Public Opinion

In 2021, The Death Penalty Project and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with the Australian National University commissioned Prof. Carolyn Hoyle, Director of The Death Penalty Research Unit, at the University of Oxford, to undertake research in order to provide accurate data on attitudes towards the death penalty in Kenya and facilitate a constructive conversation on the future of capital punishment. The research examined the views of both the general public in Kenya and also opinion formers, those considered influential in shaping, and responding to, national views.

Key findings:

– 40% in favour of abolishing the death penalty, 10% did not know either way
– 51% in favour of retaining the death penalty, only 32% strongly in favour
– Those against the death penalty believed that criminals deserved the opportunity for rehabilitation.
– Knowledge of the death penalty appears to be limited, just 66% were aware Kenya retains the death penalty and just 21% knew no executions had take place in the past 10 years
– The public expressed concerns around the possibility that innocent people could be sentenced to death: 61% of the public – including retentionists – thought that ‘many’ or ‘some’ innocent people have been sentenced to death in Kenya; only 8% thought that ‘no innocent people have been sentenced to death’
– Public support fell from 51% to 31% when considering abolition in the region
59% of the public, who were initially in favour of retention, said that they would accept a new policy of abolition

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Kenya
• Themes list Public Opinion

In 2019-20, The Department of Law at the University of Dhaka, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and The Death Penalty Project, conducted a study to investigate socio-economic characteristics and experiences of death row prisoners in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh continues to retain and implement the death penalty, with several executions taking place each year. Excluding laws relating to the defence forces and international crimes, there are currently 33 crimes punishable by death. 25 of these offences are non-lethal and arguably do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ under international law.

Inspired by similar studies in other countries, a pilot study was commissioned to examine the demographics and experiences of those sentenced to death. Consistent with those studies around the world, our findings evidence that the death penalty in Bangladesh is disproportionately used against the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of society.

72% of prisoners were classified as economically vulnerable
53% of prisoners were in low-paid work or unemployed
87% of prisoners had no qualifications beyond secondary school level
15% of prisoners had no formal education.

The study also raised serious concerns around the treatment of prisoners, the length of time prisoners spent in prison under the sentence of death and the integrity of criminal investigations and trial.

33% of prisoners’ families alleged their relative had been tortured in police custody, 5% suspected this and 15% refused to comment
60% of respondents were not satisfied with the trial process, with some claiming that the courts had failed to properly appreciate the evidence
On average it took over 10 years for death row cases to be disposed by the HCD (where sentences are confirmed). Prolonged time spent in isolation on death row, has been declared inhumane and degrading in many countries.

The sample consisted of 39 individuals on death row, evidence from their case files and face-to-face interviews with their families were conducted under rigorous ethical guidelines to reveal their profiles and experiences. Despite its small size, the sample is indicative of the general prison population allowing us to draw conclusions on possible trends.

• Document type Academic report / NGO report
• Countries list Bangladesh
• Themes list Death Row Conditions

In 2021, The Death Penalty Project and the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) commissioned Professor Carolyn Hoyle at the University of Oxford and Professor Shiow-duan Hawang at Soochow University, Taipei to carry out a study exploring Taiwanese legislators’ attitudes towards capital punishment.

The study reveals that the majority of Taiwan’s legislators would like to see the death penalty abolished. The risk of wrongful convictions, the abuse of human rights and a recognition that the death penalty has no unique deterrent effect, were the primary reasons cited for supporting abolition. Additionally, a majority of legislators interviewed expressed fairly low levels of trust in the Taiwanese criminal justice system, with doubts raised over its ability to offer adequate safeguards to individuals facing capital trials.

Key findings:

– 61% of legislators interviewed are in favour of abolishing the death penalty
– 39% of legislators interviewed are in favour of retaining the death penalty, but only one legislator was strongly in favour
– 71% of retentionists and 65% of abolitionists asserted that wrongful convictions ‘sometimes’ occurred
– Only 11% of legislators interviewed thought that wrongful convictions ‘rarely’ occur
– All legislators interviewed expressed a preference for social justice measures, such as poverty reduction, over increased executions when asked to rank a range of policies aimed at reducing violent crime

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Taiwan
• Themes list Public Opinion
• Available languages 台灣立法委員對死刑 之意見調查

In 2019-20, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, commissioned Professor Carolyn Hoyle, of The Death Penalty Research Unit at the University of Oxford to conduct research investigating attitudes towards the death penalty in Indonesia. The findings have been presented in a two-part report; the first details the findings of a nuanced public survey and the second details the findings of interviews conducted with opinion formers. The public opinion research was undertaken by surveying a stratified random sample of 1,515 respondents – a sample large enough to make inferences from the data about the views of the overall population.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Indonesia
• Themes list Drug Offenses / Public Opinion

In 2019-20, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, commissioned Professor Carolyn Hoyle, of The Death Penalty Research Unit at the University of Oxford to conduct research investigating attitudes towards the death penalty in Indonesia.
The findings have been presented in a two-part report; the first details the findings of a nuanced public survey and the second details the findings of interviews conducted with opinion formers.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Indonesia
• Themes list Drug Offenses / Public Opinion

This research is a contribution towards understanding why six small, independent island nations in the
Eastern Caribbean – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St
Vincent and the Grenadines, all members of the OECS – and the neighbouring island of Barbados retain
the death penalty in their criminal statutes, and yet have not executed anyone sentenced to death for a
very long time. With the exception of St Kitts and Nevis, where an execution took place in 2008, no-one
has been judicially executed in any of the other countries for more than 20 years – and in Dominica,
Grenada, St Lucia and Barbados for more than 30 years. Furthermore, death sentences have been imposed
within the past 10 years only in St Lucia and Barbados, and in four of these seven nations no-one is under
sentence of death on ‘death row’ at the time of writing.
The questions posed by this publication are: why do these countries hang on to capital punishment
and what are the barriers and hindrances to the complete abolition of capital punishment by these
nations

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Antigua and Barbuda / Barbados / Dominica / Grenada / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

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

The Death Penalty Project publishes its 2018 annual report. It provides testimonies, figures and a look on the actions accomplished in favour of the human rights worlwide.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Right to life, Legal Representation, Death Penalty,

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Innocence, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
• Available languages 鐵證不如山－台灣死刑案件判決分析報告

This study reports the findings of a major public opinion survey of the views of a representative sample of 1,535 Malaysian citizens on this issue. A large majority said they were in favour of the death penalty, whether mandatory or discretionary: 91% for murder, 74 to 80% for drug trafficking depending on the drug concerned, and 83% for firearms offences. Concerning the mandatory death penalty, a majority of 56% said they were in favour of it for murder, but only between 25% and 44% for drug trafficking and 45% for firearms offences. When asked to say what sentences they would themselves impose on a series of ‘scenario’ cases, all of which were subject to a mandatory death sentence, a large gap was found between the level of support ‘in theory’ and the level of support when faced with the ‘reality

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Capital offences, Public opinion, Retribution, Trend Towards Abolition, Innocence, Mandatory Death Penalty,

In criminal justice matters, Jamaica has been rightly praised for its de-facto abolitionist
stance on the death penalty: nobody has been executed on the island since 1988.
However, the alternative to death is imprisonment. For many years, NGOs, the UN
Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and
various independent and internal reports have expressed serious concern about the
conditions in which Jamaica detains its prisoners.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Jamaica
• Themes list Death Row Conditions