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Document(s)

On Trial: The Implementation of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws

By International Commission of Jurists , on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Pakistan


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Pakistan
  • Themes list Legal Representation, Networks, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Annual report on the death penalty in Iran 2016

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

The 9th annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHR) on the death penalty provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2016 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report sets out the number of executions in 2016, the trend compared to previous years, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions

Document(s)

Counting executions: data analysis by justice project pakistan

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2017


Academic report


More details See the document

Facts and figures of the executions in Pakistan from december 2014 to May 2017

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Terror on Death Row: The Abuse and Overuse of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Legislation

By Reprieve / Justice Project Pakistan, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Pakistan


More details See the document

This report is a result of death row prisoner data from 38 prisons across Pakistan’s four provinces(Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (‘KPK ’),Punjab and Sindh. For most of Pakistan, the data runs to December 2012, thereby covering all those who are presently subject to execution dates. However, the report reflects further data on the province of Sindh running to October 2014

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Pakistan
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Press article: reporting the death penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

India and the Death Penalty Using the Media: How an Event Can Influence the Establishment of the Death Penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Bahrain The Death Penalty Joint Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Bahamas: Death Penalty Joint Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Barbados: Death Penalty Stakeholder Report for the Universal Periodic Review

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

How Families of Murder Victims Feel Following the Execution of Their Loved One’s Murderer: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Reports of Executions from 2006-2011

By Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, on 1 January 2013


2013

Working with...


More details See the document

By Corey Burton and Richard Tewksbury

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Public debate, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Handbook of Forensic Psychiatric Practice in Capital Cases

By Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018


2018

Working with...


More details See the document
  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Public debate, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2017

By Harm Reduction International / Gen Sander, on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document

The year 2017 marks 10 years since Harm Reduction International launched its Death Penalty for Drugs project. This report looks at the death penalty for drugs in law and practice and considers critical developments on the issue.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Factsheet – Death Penalty Abolition

By European Court of Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

United Nations report


More details See the document

Court’s case-law and pending cases on abolition of the death penalty. It deals with death-row phenomenon – the risk of being stoned to death / of being sentended to death and the death penalty as result of unfair trial.

  • Document type United Nations report
  • Themes list Death Row Phenomenon, Stoning, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Death Sentences and Executions in 2017

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2018


2018

NGO report

arfarufres
More details See the document

Amnesty International published its international global review of the death penalty on Tuesday, 12th April 2018.At least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017 were recorded, down by 4% from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39% from 2015 (when the organization reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989). China remained the world’s top executioner, but excluding China, 84% of all reported executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.

Document(s)

New opinion study shows Zimbabwean public ready to accept death penalty abolition

By Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document

Today, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with Veritas, launches “12 Years Without an Execution: Is Zimbabwe Ready for Abolition?” a national public opinion study, providing for the first time comprehensive and contextualised data on public attitudes towards the death penalty in Zimbabwe – a country that has not carried out any executions in over 12 years.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Global Prison Trends 2018

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Sentencing Alternatives, Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

How States abolish the death penalty 2nd Edition

By International Commission Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2018


International law - United Nations


More details See the document

This publication briefly describes the experiences of 26 countries and 3 USA states as they moved towards abolition of the death penalty. These Case Studies are drawn from 27 countries from all regions of the world. This publication is an updated and enlarged version of ICDP’s 2013 publication How States Abolish the Death Penalty.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Sentencing Alternatives, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

What Caused The Crime Decline?

By Brennan Center for Justice / Oliver Roeder / Lauren-Brooke Eisen / Julia Bowling, on 1 January 2015


2015

Article

United States


More details See the document

A new study by the Brennan Center for Justice examined several possible explanations for the dramatic drop in crime in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s. Among the theories studied was use of the death penalty, which the report found had no effect on the decline in crime.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

Proceedings 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


2017

Academic report

fr
More details See the document

This publication brings together the contributions of experts and discussions among participants at the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty held in Oslo, Norway, in June 2016.

Document(s)

Advancing drug policy reform: a new approach to decriminalization

By Global Commission on Drug Policy, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

The Global Commission produces technical and policy reports to ground evidence-based recommendations in human rights, health and development. Political reports focus on drug policy reform generally and provide recommendations to countries in areas such as decriminalization; health and security; alternatives to incarceration for low-level people involved in the production, transport or selling of drugs; more intelligent measures against violent organizations and policy innovations such as legal, regulated markets.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Sentencing Alternatives, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

International Affairs Forum. Capital Punishment Around the World

By Center for International Relations, on 1 January 2015


2015

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The summer issue of International Foreign Affaires focuses on the topic of capital punishment around the world. It collects articles and interviews dealing with the issues of death penalty, the path towards abolition, and the situation of capital punishment in the world.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Drugs and the Death Penalty

By Patrick Gallahue / Open Society Foundations, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

Experience has proved that for certain governments it is not easy to balance international drug laws with human rights, public health, alternatives to incarceration, and experimentation with regulation.This Report intends to provide a primer on why governments must not turn a blind eye to pressing human rights and public health impacts of current drug policies.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Justice Crucified: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

By Reprieve, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

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,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty: Myths and Realities

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

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,

Document(s)

America has abandoned the death penalty

By The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice / Harvard Law School, on 1 January 2015


Academic report


More details See the document

In 2015, America had the lowest number of executions in 25 years. Of the 28 people executed, 68% suffered from severe mental disabilities or experienced extreme childhood trauma and abuse according to a new report released by Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. A significant number of the executed individuals had multiple mental impairments. Two individuals were executed despite doubts about their guilt.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Joint Statement: The death penalty for drug-related offences

By Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2015


Multimedia content


More details See the document

Joint Statement signed by Amnesty International, Anti Death Penalty Asia Network, Harm Reduction International, International Drug Policy Consortium, Penal Reform International and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to highlight to Member States of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the preparatory Board of the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs the continued use by some countries of the death penalty for drug-related offences despite clear restrictions set out in international law.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Death Row’s Children: Pakistan’s Unlawful Executions of Juvenile Offenders

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


More details See the document

On 16 December 2014, the Government of Pakistan lifted a six-year de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Whilst the Government claims that the lifting of the moratorium is designed to curb terrorism, an analysis of the 423 executions that have taken place till February 2017 reveals that the death penalty has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable of all populations including juvenile offenders. Even though Pakistan’s international obligations and domestic laws prohibit sentencing juvenile offenders to death, at least 6 have been executed in the past two years.Through this report, the Justice Project Pakistan highlights the fundamental weaknesses under Pakistan’s juvenile justice system that lead to the unlawful and arbitrary implementation of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Fair Trial, International law, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Crime and Justice. Abolishing the Death Penalty

By IPS, on 1 January 2007


2007

Book


More details See the document

The IPS ‘Death Penalty Abolition Project’, supported bythe European Union, has recorded the voices of many of those who have played a key role in the recently fast-moving journey towards a death-penalty-free world. In doing so, IPS has been guided by the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Collected here are some 100 reports from dozens ofcountries and every continent. The voices of those who have spoken out here – many hundreds in number – include activists,academics, lawyers and, of course, those waiting for that dreaded last knock on their cell door.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Moratorium , Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The lethal injection quandary: how medicine has dismantled the death penalty

By Deborah W. Denno, on 1 January 2007


Article

United States


More details See the document

On February 20, 2006, Michael Morales was hours away from execution in California when two anesthesiologists declined to participate in his lethal injection procedure, thereby halting all state executions. The events brought to the surface the long-running schism between law and medicine, raising the question of whether any beneficial connection between the professions ever existed in the execution context. History shows it seldom did. Decades of botched executions prove it. This Article examines how states ended up with such constitutionally vulnerable lethal injection procedures, suggesting that physician participation in executions, though looked upon with disdain, is more prevalent— and perhaps more necessary —than many would like to believe. The Article also reports the results of this author’s unique nationwide study of lethal injection protocols and medical participation. The study demonstrates that states have continued to produce grossly inadequate protocols that severely restrict sufficient understanding of how executions are performed and heighten the likelihood of unconstitutionality. The analysis emphasizes in particular the utter lack of medical or scientific testing of lethal injection despite the early and continuous involvement of doctors but ongoing detachment of medical societies. Lastly, the Article discusses the legal developments that led up to the current rush of lethal injection lawsuits as well as the strong and rapid reverberations that followed, particularly with respect to medical involvement. This Article concludes with two recommendations. First, much like what occurred in this country when the first state switched to electrocution, there should be a nationwide study of proper lethal injection protocols. An independent commission consisting of a diverse group of qualified individuals, including medical personnel, should conduct a thorough assessment of lethal injection, especially the extent of physician participation. Second, this Article recommends that states take their execution procedures out of hiding. Such visibility would increase public scrutiny, thereby enhancing the likelihood of constitutional executions. By clarifying the standards used for determining what is constitutional in Baze v. Rees, the U.S. Supreme Court can then provide the kind of Eighth Amendment guidance states need to conduct humane lethal injections.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Methods of Execution, Lethal Injection,

Document(s)

The abolition of the death penalty in the United Kingdom. How it happened and why it still matters

By Death Penalty Project / Julian B. Knowles QC, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Drawing on his own extensive advocacy experience in individual death row cases, Knowles traces the history of capital punishment in the UK, and in particular, the sequence of events that led to its abolition and analyses the impact that domestic and international law would have on any attempt to reintroduce it.Many lessons can be learnt from the United Kingdom’s experience. The movement to abolition was brought about by a combination of factors, including Parliamentary campaigning; changing attitudes towards social and penal affairs; and significantly, public disquiet over three controversial executions in the 1950s and a shocking series of miscarriages of justice cases that came to light in subsequent years.

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

Document(s)

China’s death penalty: reforms on capital punishment

By Hong Lu / East Asian Institute (EAI), on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

China


More details See the document

This paper covers the death penalty situation in China, which is, according to the author, unlikely to abolish the death penalty in the near future. China topped the world in the imposition of the death penalty in 2008, while wrongful convictions and erroneous executions have been found, despite China’s official policy to prevent excessive executions.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Juveniles, Capital offences, Legal Representation, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Bangladesh: Mandatory death penalty declared void after 14-year legal battle

By Child Rights International Network, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

Sentenced to death for a crime allegedly committed when he was just 14, a Bangladeshi boy’s case became the centre of a lengthy legal battle which ultimately led to mandatory executions being declared unconstitutional.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Trend Towards Abolition, Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Advocacy Toolkit on Abolition of the Death Penalty in West Africa

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2016


Lobbying

fr
More details See the document

This toolkit is for the use of activists who are working on the abolition of the death penalty in West Africa. It is intended to equip activists with some key advocacy tools to effectively influence the institutions and individuals who can make abolition a reality.

Document(s)

Missouri’s Death Penalty in 2016: The Year in Review

By Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2016


NGO report


More details See the document

MADP’s 2016 report has compiled the death penalty data for the State of Missouri in 2016 and notices a significant decline of executions (6 in 2015, 1 in 2016). Moreover, no new death sentences were handed down in Missouri in 2016

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Discrimination, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2004


2004

International law - United Nations

arfrzh-hantesru
More details See the document

This report is submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2005/34, and should be read in conjunction with its various addenda. They provide the following: a detailed analysis of communications sent to Governments which describe alleged cases of extrajudicial executions; reports on country missions to Nigeria and Sri Lanka during 2005; a report on the principle of transparency in relation to the death penalty; and several reports aimed at following up on earlier country missions to the Sudan, Brazil, Honduras and Jamaica.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2004


International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Document(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2001


2001

United Nations report

arruesesenarrufrfrzh-hantzh-hant
More details See the document

The report shows an encouraging trend towards abolition and restriction of the use of capital punishment in most countries. It also shows that much remains to be done in the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of persons facing the death penalty in those countries that retain it.

Document(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2001


United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present, sixth quinquennial report contains a review of the trends in the application of the death penalty, including the implementation of the safeguards, during the period l994-2000. It is a revised, updated version of the report of the Secretary-General on the subject (E/2000/3) that was submitted to the Council at its substantive session of 2000, to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its ninth session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session. Sixty-three countries participated in the survey. There was again a relatively poor response from retentionist countries, especially those making the most use of capital punishment. One major conclusion to be drawn is that, since l994, the rate at which countries have embraced abolition has remained unchanged.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2003/67

By United Nations, on 1 January 2004


2004

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2003 through December 2003. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/77

By United Nations, on 1 January 2003


2003

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2001 through December 2002, in order to ensure that there are no gaps in coverage since the last version of the sixth quinquennial report which covered information up to the end of 2000. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, which is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2003


International law - United Nations

frzh-hantesarru
More details See the document

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/36

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2003


International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The report also discusses the issue of capital punishment and makes reference to death penalty cases in which the Special Rapporteur has intervened in reaction to reports that the sentences concerned had been passed in violation of international restrictions and human rights standards.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2001/45

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2002


2002

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The report also discusses the issue of capital punishment and makes reference to death penalty cases in which the Special Rapporteur has intervened in reaction to reports that the sentences concerned had been passed in violation of international restrictions and human rights standards.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the special rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/35

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 2000


2000

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

In its resolution 1999/35, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Special Rapporteur to continue monitoring the implementation of existing international standards on safeguards and restrictions relating to the imposition of capital punishment, bearing in mind the comments made by the Human Rights Committee in its interpretation of article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Second Optional Protocol thereto.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir

By United Nations / Asma Jahangir, on 1 January 1999


1999

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

This report is submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rightsresolution 1998/68 of 21 April 1998 entitled “Extrajudicial, summary orarbitrary executions”. It is the first report submitted to the Commission byMs. Asma Jahangir and the sixteenth submitted to the Commission since themandate on “summary and arbitrary executions” was established by Economic andSocial Council resolution 1982/35 of 7 May 1982.

Document(s)

The question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2006


2006

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report contains information covering the period from January 2004 to December 2005. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues; this is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of countries that are completely abolitionist and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.

Document(s)

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Bacre Waly Ndiaye

By United Nations / Bacre Waly Ndiaye, on 1 January 1997


1997

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

This report is submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rightsresolution 1997/61 of 16 April 1997 entitled “Extrajudicial, summary orarbitrary executions”. It is the sixth report submitted to the Commissionon Human Rights by Bacre Waly Ndiaye and the fifteenth submitted to theCommission since the mandate on “Summary and arbitrary executions” wasestablished by Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/35 of 7 May 1982.

Document(s)

Capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2005


2005

International law - United Nations

arruesesarruenfrfrzh-hantzh-hant
More details See the document

The present report, prepared pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolutions 1754 (LIV) of 16 May 1973 and 1995/57 of 28 July 1995, is the seventh quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on capital punishment.1 It covers the period 1999-2003 and reviews developments in the use of capital punishment worldwide, both in law and in practice. The report shows an encouraging trend towards abolition and restriction of the use of capital punishment in most countries. It also shows that much remains to be done in the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of persons facing the death penalty in those countries that retain it.

Document(s)

TRANSPARENCY AND THE IMPOSITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY, Report of the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2006


2006

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions analyses a critical area of non-compliance with legal safeguards designed to protect the right to life. It builds upon the proposition that “[c]ountries that have maintained the death penalty are not prohibited by international law from making that choice, but they have a clear obligation to disclose the details of their application of the penalty” (E/CN.4/2005/7, para. 59). The report analyses the legal basis of that transparency obligation and examines case studies that illustrate the major problems that exist in this area.

Document(s)

Report by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak – MISSION TO MONGOLIA

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Mongolia

rufrzh-hantesar
More details See the document

The Special Rapporteur is also deeply concerned about all the circumstances surrounding the death penalty in Mongolia, especially the total secrecy. Despite repeated requests to the highest authorities of the Government, as well as prosecutors and the judiciary, the Special Rapporteur was not provided with any official information. Concern was expressed that not even the families of the condemned persons are notified of the exact date or place of execution and do not receive their mortal remains for burial, which amounts to inhuman treatment of the family, contrary to article 7 of the Covenant. Moreover, prisoners on death row at the Gants Hudag and Zuunmod detention centres are held in complete isolation, handcuffed and shackled, and denied adequate food. These conditions constitute additional punishments which can only be qualified as torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention.

Document(s)

Leaflet Women and the Death Penalty

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 2 October 2023


2023

World Coalition

Gender

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1448 Ko ]

Document(s)

Leaflet LGBTQIA+ people and the Death Penalty

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 2 October 2023


World Coalition

Gender

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 861 Ko ]

Document(s)

AEDPA Repeal

By Brandon L. Garrett & Kaitlin Phillips, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report

Terrorism

United States


More details See the document

Given how pressing the problem has become, and the real interest in reforms to promote access to justice, this article takes a different tack than prior habeas reform work: to restore habeas corpus to its pre-AEDPA and pre-Rehnquist court state, in which a federal court can review claims and reach their merits. The approach would preserve flexibility at the district court level and remove the many layers of procedural complexity that the Supreme Court and then Congress have erected. We believe that deep changes are needed, and in that, we agree with judges and scholars that have for some time proposed such changes in the writ. As we describe, AEDPA was enacted as a culmination of more than two decades of complex Supreme Court law that had already limited access to federal habeas corpus. While AEDPA incorporated some of those procedural rulings, the concern would be that should AEDPA be repealed, even in part, those court-made restrictions could be interpreted to supplant AEDPA restrictions. Clear statutory language will be needed to ensure that the Court does not frustrate Congress, as it has in the past, by supplementing statutory text in order to limit constitutional remedies. We do not mean to suggest that the various proposals set out here are exhaustive. Our goal is to promote careful considerations of alternatives to the present-day set of federal habeas corpus statutes and accompanying judicial interpretation.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Terrorism

Document(s)

Moratoriums on the use of the death penalty. Report of the Secretary-General (2010)

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


2020

United Nations report

frarruzh-hantes
More details See the document

The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to General Assembly resolution 63/168. The report confirms the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty. It also recommends that Member States introduce a moratorium on the death penalty. Those States which still intend to implement the death penalty and are not willing to establish a moratorium should apply the death penalty only in the case of the most serious crimes. The protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty should be ensured, pursuant to the relevant international laws. Furthermore, in that regard, States have an obligation not to practise the death penalty in secrecy, nor to practice discrimination in its application.

Document(s)

Resolution 65/206 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020


International law - United Nations

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Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/65/456/Add.2 (Part II))] 65/206. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2010

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Albania

ru
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This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2009.It is intended to provide a concise update to highlight changes in the status of thedeath penalty in OSCE participating States since the previous publication and topromote constructive discussion of this issue. It covers the period from 1 July 2009to 30 June 2010. —– To find past OSCE papers please visit: http://www.osce.org/documents?keys=The+Death+Penalty+in+the+OSCE+Area+-+Background+Paper+

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty : Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


United Nations report

arruzh-hantesfr
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The present report contains information covering the period from June 2008 to July 2009, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition, the practice of engaging in a national debate on the death penalty, and the ongoing difficulties in gaining access to reliable information on executions.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak – MISSION TO CHINA

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

China

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The Special Rapporteur also observes positive developments at the legislative level, including the planned reform of several laws relevant to the criminal procedure, which he hopes will bring Chinese legislation into greater conformity with international norms, particularly the fair trial standards contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which China signed in 1998 and is preparing to ratify. He also welcomes the resumption by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of its authority to review all death penalty cases,59 particularly given the fact that the quality of the judiciary increases as one ascends the hierarchy. The Special Rapporteur suggests that China might use the opportunity of this important event to increase transparency regarding the number of death sentences in the country, as well as to consider legislation that would allow direct petitioning to the SPC in cases where individuals do not feel that they were provided with adequate relief by lower courts in cases involving the useof torture, access to counsel, etc.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 1 January 2009


2009

International law - United Nations

arfrzh-hantesru
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In chapter III, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the compatibility of the death penalty with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. He concludes that the historic interpretation of the right to personal integrity and human dignity in relation to the death penalty is increasingly challenged by the dynamic interpretation of this right in relation to corporal punishment and the inconsistencies deriving from the distinction between corporal and capital punishment, as well as by the universal trend towards the abolition of capital punishment.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2008


2008

International law - United Nations

frarruzh-hantes
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The present report contains information on the question of the death penalty covering the period from June 2009 to July 2010, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition and the ongoing difficulties experienced in gaining access to reliable information on executions.

Document(s)

Question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General

By United Nations, on 1 January 2008


International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantes
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The present report contains information covering the period from January 2006 to May 2008. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues; this is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of countries that are completely abolitionist and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this form of punishment.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2007


2007

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantzh-hantes
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In addition to reporting on the principal initiatives undertaken in 2006 to address the scourge of extrajudicial executions around the world, this report focuses on four issues of particular importance: (a) the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in armed conflicts; (b) “mercy killings” in armed conflict; (c) the “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed; and (d) the international law status of the mandatory death penalty.

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2006

on 10 October 2006


2006

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 191 Ko ]

Discrimination, unfair trials, judicial error, the execution of child
offenders and those suffering from mental disabilities all
amount to a failure of justice and provide more compelling rea-
sons to abolish the death penalty. 10 October 2006 is the fourth
World Day Against the Death Penalty. Join the World Coalition
Against the Death Penalty in working for an end to the use of
capital punishment and a globe free of judicial killing.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2007


2007

International law - United Nations

arrufres
More details See the document

The present report details the activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2009 and the first four months of 2010. This is the final report to the Human Rights Council by Philip Alston in his capacity as Special Rapporteur. It analyses the activities and working methods of the mandate over the past six years, and identifies important issues for future research. Detailed addenda to this report address: (a) accountability for killings by police; (b) election-related killings; and (c) targeted killings.

Document(s)

List of signatories to the Second Optional Protocol by region

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014


2014

Lobbying

fr
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List of states that have signed and/or ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Classifyied by region of the world as of 1st July 2011.

Document(s)

Bylaws 2021

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 97 Ko ]

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty As Amended by the 18 June 2021 General Assembly

  • Document type World Coalition
  • Available languages Statuts 2021

Document(s)

INSECURITY REVEALED: Voices Against the Death Penalty

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 6 August 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1313 Ko ]

Document(s)

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty 2023

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 146 Ko ]

Document(s)

Women and Death Penalty Factsheet – World Day 2023

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 15 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Gender

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 424 Ko ]

Document(s)

Does care have to be at the periphery if crime is at the centre? A conversation that unspools the various threads tying feminism with crime.

By The Third Eye, on 15 February 2024


2024

Article

Gender

Women


More details See the document

Published on January 30, 2024.

The Third Eye invited Maitreyi Misra of Project 39A to help us think through our central idea: why do we need a feminist way of looking at crime, and how does that help the larger goal of social justice?

Project 39A is inspired by Article 39-A of the Indian Constitution, a provision that furthers the intertwined values of equal justice and equal opportunity by removing economic and social barriers. Using empirical research to re-examine practices and policies in the criminal justice system, Project 39A aims to trigger new conversations on legal aid, torture, forensics, mental health in prisons, and the death penalty.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Gender / Women

Document(s)

Death Penalty in Pakistan

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 10 October 2022


2022

NGO report

Pakistan


More details See the document

The implementation of capital punishment has seen substantial shifts over the course of the past decade. During the period from the end of a moratorium on executions in December 2014 to August 2019, an estimated 1,800 death sentences were imposed across the entire court system and 520 people were executed. Various amendments to Pakistan’s criminal law over the past several decades have resulted in a list of 33 offenses, most of which are far removed from the definition of the “most serious crimes” under international law. A full list of offences is attached at the end of the report.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Pakistan

Document(s)

Capital and punishment: Resource scarcity increases endorsement of the death penalty

By Arizona State University (ASU), on 1 January 2018


2018

Academic report


More details See the document

A new study by an interdisciplinary team of Arizona State University psychology researchers has found a link between the actual and perceived scarcity of resources and support for capital punishment. The study discovered that countries with greater resource scarcity were more likely to have a death penalty, as were U.S. states with lower per capita income.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Advisory on the Increased Vulnerabilty of Women Migrant Workers on Death Row

By Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, on 3 December 2021


2021

Government body report

Drug Offenses

Legal Representation

Philippines

Women

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1457 Ko ]

The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines issues this advisory to bring the Philippines’ attention to the heightened vulnerabilities of women Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Document(s)

Addressing the Gender Dimension of the Death Penalty: Coaction Between Parliamentarians and Civil Society

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 10 September 2021


2021

Working with...

Women

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 311 Ko ]

Created on the occasion of the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty (10/10/21), this tool’s aim is to provide practical advice and concrete suggestions to civil society organizations who wish/ are already collaborating with parliamentarians to end the death penalty and bring attention to women sentenced to death.

Document(s)

Helpful Hints and Advice on Online Harassment

By World Coalition against the Death Penalty , on 10 August 2021


2021

Campaigning

Public Opinion 

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 165 Ko ]

Online advocacy efforts by human rights organizations face increasingly dangerous threats. In this short guide, we elaborate a few helpful hints and
advice, as well as list a compilation of resources that organizations can refer to handle online harassment.

Document(s)

Imposing a Cap on Capital Punishment

By Adam M. Gershowitz / Missouri Law Review 72(1), 73-124., on 1 January 2007


2007

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article argues that because prosecutors have discretion to seek the death penalty in too many cases, they lack the incentive to police themselvesand choose carefully. Put simply, because there are few legal constraints — and virtually no political constraints — on the sheer number of cases in which prosecutors can pursue the death penalty, the Government is not under sufficient pressure to limit its use of capital punishment to only the most heinous cases. As a result, two things happen. First, the death penalty is sought and meted out in some cases, which though terrible, are no worse than the thousands of other murder cases in which prosecutors pursue only life imprisonment. Second, because prosecutors file too many capital cases, the criminal justice system lacks the resources to focus sufficient attention on each one.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Arbitrariness, Most Serious Crimes,

Document(s)

International Legal Trends and the Mandatory Death Penalty in the Commonwealth Caribbean

By Saul Lehrfreund / Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article


More details See the document

Until the landmark decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in Hufhes and Spense v The Queen, the convetional wisdom was that the mandatory imposition of the death penalty could not be challenged in Commonwealth Caribbean countries as unconstitutional and that, in any event, the savings clauses contained in the constitutions would prevent any such challenge. As a consequence, the constitutional courts in the Commonwealth Caribbean are now being asked to consider a number of specific issues in relation to the mandatory death penalty: first, whether it is constitutional; and second, whether any chanllenges to the mandatory death penalty are barred by the savings clauses found to a varying degree, within each Caribbean constitution of and implications for global and regional developments are highly significant.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty,

Document(s)

EU Policy on Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2014


2014

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This page contains videos and documents on issues dealing with the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

International Law and the Moral Precipice: A Legal Policy Critique of the Death Row Phenomenon

By David A Sadoff / Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article


More details See the document

This article provides an in-depth analysis of death row phenomenon.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Death Row Phenomenon,

Document(s)

Retribution and Redemption in the Operation of Executive Clemency

By Elizabeth Rapaport / Chicago Kent Law Review, on 1 January 2000


2000

Article

United States


More details See the document

In this Article, my goal is to raise doubts about the adequacy of the neo-retributive theory of clemency and stimulate reappraisal and development of what I will call the “redemptive” perspective. To this end I will present an exposition and critique of neo-retributive theory of clemency.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Retribution, Clemency,

Document(s)

Sri Lankan expert needed to conduct study on the death penalty – Terms of reference

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 23 December 2021


2021

World Coalition


More details Download [ pdf - 83 Ko ]
  • Document type World Coalition

Document(s)

Averting Mistaken Executions by Adopting the Model Penal Code’s Exclusion of Death in the Presence of Lingering Doubts

By Margery Malkin Koosed / Northern Illinois Law Review, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article considers community views on the risk of mistaken executions and how sentencing juries respond to such risks. It explores the present state of the law surrounding risk-taking regarding lingering or residual doubt, and finds the law in a state of denial. Though the risk may be there, and jurors may see it, this is not something they are directed, or even invited, to consider. Some jurors may deny effect to the risk they see, believing it is not a proper subject of their attention. Others will consider it, yet wonder whether they should. This inconsistent treatment, and dissonance from what the public wants and justifiably expects from its legal system, is largely a product of the United States Supreme Court’s 1988 decision in Franklin v. Lynaugh. Arguably misread, and at least misguided, the Court’s decision on considering lingering or residual doubts about guilt as a mitigating factor at the penalty phase has retarded development of meaningful ways to avert mistaken executions.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution.

By Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier / Tulsa Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article examines the debate about whether or not an innocent person has been executed in the United States. The article begins by discussing several famous historical claims of wrongful execution, including Sacco & Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, and Bruno Hauptmann. Then, the article addresses some recent claims of wrongful executions, including the case of Larry Griffin and the impact of a 2006 DNA test in the Roger Coleman case. The article evaluates why some innocence claims attract more attention than others. By recognizing two obstacles in wrongful execution claims and by establishing five lessons for gaining media attention, the article uses its historical analysis to extract strategy lessons for death penalty abolitionists. Finally, the article weighs arguments regarding the pros and cons of an abolitionist strategy that focuses on proving the innocence of executed individuals. The article concludes that wrongful execution claims provide an important argument for abolitionists, but such claims should not be presented as the main or only problem with the death penalty.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Race Discrimination and the Legitimacy of Capital Punishment: Reflections on the Interaction of Fact and Perception

By George Woodworth / David C. Baldus / DePaul Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

The authors analyze data concerning race discrimination in capital sentencing and data regarding how the public perceives this issue. They conclude that race discrimination is not an inevitable feature of all death penalty systems. Before Furman v. Georgia was decided in 1972, widespread discrimination against black defendants marred the practice of capital punishment in America. According to studies cited by the authors, race-of-defendant discrimination has lessened since Furman. However, race-of-victim discrimination remains a significant factor in sentencing; defendants with white victims are at a significantly higher risk of being sentenced to death and executed than are defendants whose victims are black, Asian, or Hispanic. From 1976 to 2002, the proportion of white-victim cases among all murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases has ranged between 51% and 56%. However, 81% of executed defendants had white victims. Polling data indicate that the general public perceives only one form of race discrimination in the use of the death penalty – race-of-defendant discrimination – and that the public and elected officials may see racial discrimination as inevitable in the criminal justice system. Race of victim discrimination is a pervasive problem in the death penalty system. However, race discrimination is not inevitable. If serious controls were enacted to address this problem (such as those imposed in a few states) a fairer system could result.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

Mentally Ill Prisoners on Death Row: Unsolved Puzzles for Courts and Legislatures

By Richard J. Bonnie / Catholic University Law Review, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

This paper focuses on the problems relating to mental illness or other mental disabilities that arise after sentencing, where the underlying values at stake are the dignity of the condemned prisoner and the integrity of the law.

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

Document(s)

Leaflet – 2020 World Day

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

fr
More details Download [ - 0 Ko ]

2020 World Day 8-page leaflet

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Fair Trial, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty,
  • Available languages Brochure - Journée mondiale 2020

Document(s)

Database Center for North Korean Human Rights – Briefings on public execution

By Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


Article

Republic of Korea


More details See the document

NKDB hosts a monthly English language briefing and discussion on North Korean human rights every month with embassy officials, NGO staff, and NKDB staff as guests

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Republic of Korea
  • Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

China Executed 2,400 People in 2013, Dui Hua

By Dui Hua Human Rights Journal, on 1 January 2014


2014

Article

China


More details See the document

The Dui Hua Foundation estimates that China executed approximately 2,400 people in 2013 and will execute roughly the same number of people in 2014. Annual declines in executions recorded in recent years are likely to be offset in 2014 by the use of capital punishment in anti-terrorism campaigns in Xinjiang and the anti-corruption campaign nationwide.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

The Failed Failsafe: The Politics of Executive Clemency

By Cathleen Burnett / Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article discusses the role of executive clemency in light of the current political environment. Attending to the political aspects of the capital litigation process gives insight into the trends in the use of executive clemency

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Clemency,

Document(s)

Stories of Victims of Terrorism

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2016


2016

Multimedia content

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 142 Ko ]

Together with AfVT, the World Coalition has developed this two-page note explaining why some victims of terrorism are against the death penalty.

Document(s)

The Prevalence and Potential Causes of Wrongful Conviction by Fingerprint Evidence.

By Simon A. Cole / Golden Gate University Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


More details See the document

As the number of post-conviction DNA exonerations mounted and the Innocence Project undertook to treat these exonerations as a data set indicating the principal causes of wrongful conviction, the absence of fingerprint cases in that data set could have been interpreted as soft evidence that latent print evidence was unlikely to contribute to wrongful convictions. That situation changed in 2004 when Stephan Cowans became the first – and thus far the only – person to be exonerated by DNA evidence for a wrongful conviction in which fingerprint evidence was a contributing factor. Cowans’s wrongful conviction in Boston in 1997 for the attempted murder of a police officer was based almost solely on eyewitness identification and latent print evidence. The Cowans case not only provided dramatic additional support for the already established proposition that wrongful conviction by fingerprint was possible, it also demonstrated why the exposure of such cases, when they do occur, is exceedingly unlikely. These points have already been made in a comprehensive 2005 study of exposed cases of latent print misattributions. In this article, I discuss some additional things that we have learned about the prevalence and potential causes of wrongful conviction by fingerprint in the short time since the publication of that study.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Condemning the Other in Death Penalty Trials: Biographical Racism, Structural Mitigation, and the Empathic Divide

By Craig Haney / DePaul Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article analyses racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty – despite their importance to the critical debate over the fairness of capital punishment – are not able to address the effects of many of the most pernicious forms of racism in American society. In particular, they cannot examine “biographical racism” – the accumulation of race-based obstacles, indignities, and criminogenic influences that characterizes the life histories of so many African-American capital defendants. Second, I propose that recognizing the role of this especially pernicious form of racism in the lives of capital defendants has significant implications for the way we estimate fairness (as opposed to parity) in our analyses of death sentencing. Chronic exposure to race-based, life-altering experiences in the form of biographical racism represents a profoundly important kind of “structural mitigation.” Because of the way our capital sentencing laws are fashioned, and the requirement that jurors must engage in a “moral inquiry into the culpability” of anyone whom they might sentence to die, this kind of mitigation provides a built-in argument against imposing the death penalty on African-American capital defendants. It is structured into their social histories by the nature of the society into which they have been born.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 1983


1983

Regional body report

enenrufr
More details See the document

Document(s)

The death penalty – Abolition in Europe

By Council of Europe / Peter Hodgkinson / Roger Hood / Michel Forst / Stefan Trechsel / Caroline Ravaud / Hans-Christian Kruger / Philippe Toussaint / Serguei Kovalev / Eric Prokosch / Renate Wohlwend / Roberto Toscano / Roberto Fico / Anatoly Pristavkin / Sergiy Holovatiy, on 8 September 1999


1999

Book

Czech Republic


More details See the document

Europe is the first continent in which the death penalty has been almost completely abolished. The Council of Europe has been Europe’s major defender of abolition and presently requires all countries seeking membership in its ranks to place a moratorium on the death penalty. This collection of texts by major European abolitionists includes voices from countries which have enjoyed abolition for many years, as well as from those where abolition has been a struggle against public opinion. Contributors from governments, universities and NGOs add their voices to that of the Council of Europe, explaining the achievements and the ground still to be covered in attaining total abolition in Europe. An introduction by a world expert on abolition, Roger Hood and a conclusion by Russia’s leading abolitionist Sergey Kovalev makes this volume a moving testament to the battle for abolition of the death penalty, which is already so well advanced in Europe. This collection also contains a detailed explanation of Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which deals specifically with abolition of the death penalty, as well as reports on various eastern European countries which have yet to attain complete abolitionist status.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list Czech Republic
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

RECOMMENDATION 1302 (1996) on the abolition of the death penalty in Europe

By Council of Europe / Parlamentary Assembly, on 1 January 1996


1996

Regional body report


More details See the document

The Assembly recalls Recommendation 1246 (1994) on the abolition of capital punishment. It welcomes the decision of the Committee of Ministers of 16 January 1996 to encourage member states which have not abolished the death penalty to operate, de facto or de jure, a moratorium on the execution of death sentences.

  • Document type Regional body report
  • Themes list International law,

Document(s)

The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment

By Franklin E. Zimring / Oxford University Press, on 1 January 2003


2003

Book

United States


More details See the document

Why does the United States continue to employ the death penalty when fifty other developed democracies have abolished it? Why does capital punishment become more problematic each year? How can the death penalty conflict be resolved?In The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment, Frank Zimring reveals that the seemingly insoluble turmoil surrounding the death penalty reflects a deep and long-standing division in American values, a division that he predicts will soon bring about the end of capital punishment in our country. On the one hand, execution would seem to violate our nation’s highest legal principles of fairness and due process. It sets us increasingly apart from our allies and indeed is regarded by European nations as a barbaric and particularly egregious form of American exceptionalism. On the other hand, the death penalty represents a deeply held American belief in violent social justice that sees the hangman as an agent of local control and safeguard of community values.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Europe – A Death Penalty Free Zone: Commentary and Critique of Abolitionist Strategies

By Peter Hodgkinson / Ohio Northern University Law Review, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article


More details See the document

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critique and commentary on the European agenda on the abolition of the death penalty, and in so doing the author has relied heavily on the contributions made by a number of commentators to the recent Council of Europe publication, “The Death Penalty: Abolition in Europe”.

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

Document(s)

Race for Your Life: An Analysis of the Role of Race in Erroneous Capital Conviction

By Talia Roitberg Harmon / Criminal Justice Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

Prior research on the role of race in wrongful capital convictions has focused primarily on the race of the defendant. In contrast, this article begins with two case studies that illustrate the impact of the race of the defendant and also the race of the victim in contributing to erroneous convictions. The second section of this article identifies the race of the defendant and the victim in 82 cases where prisoners were released from death row because of doubts about their guilt and in a matched group of inmates who were executed. Through the use of three logistic regression models, the combination of the race of the defendant and the race of the victim is identified as a significant predictor of case outcome (exoneration vs. execution). The results also indicate that an indirect relationship may exist between the combination of the race of the defendant and the victim, the strength of the evidence, and case outcome.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence, Discrimination,

Document(s)

Innocence Unmodified

By Emily Hughes / North Carolina Law Review , on 1 January 2010


2010

Article

United States


More details See the document

The Article proceeds in three parts. Part I explains the pivotal role that “actual” innocence has played in the Innocence Movement. It shows that even though the Innocence Movement has begun to broaden its DNA-based focus to include non-DNA-based claims, its goal has remained constant: achieving justice for “actually” innocent people. Part I then shows how the Innocence Movement has prioritized the cases of “actually” innocent people who were convicted through trial over “actually” innocent people who pleaded guilty. The prioritization of wrongful convictions derived from trials over wrongful convictions from pleas underscores how the Innocence Movement has overlooked the claims of people who have pleaded guilty and are not “actually” innocent, but who may still have strong wrongful conviction claims based on fundamental constitutional violations. Part II examines innocence unmodified in the context of trials and postconviction appeals. It asserts that one reason to protect innocence unmodified is because under the Court‟s existing jurisprudence, “actual” innocence alone is not enough to reverse a wrongful conviction. This is because the Supreme Court has not yet decided whether the Constitution forbids the execution of an “actually” innocent person who was convicted through a “full and fair” trial. Because the Court has not recognized a freestanding “actual” innocence claim, the “actual” innocence of a wrongly convicted person only matters as a door through which to allow a court to reach underlying constitutional claims. Part II uses the example of a recent Supreme Court decision, In Re Troy Davis, to highlight how an isolated prioritization of “actual” innocence does not achieve justice for wrongly convicted people. Part III examines innocence unmodified in the context of pleas. It reveals the degree to which the Court has itself polarized innocence in the context of pleas—prioritizing “actual” innocence over fundamental constitutional protections for all people.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,