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View all document types 2482 Document(s)

Document(s)

USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

More than 1,000 men and women have been put to death in the USA since executions resumed there in 1977. Dozens of these people had histories of mental impairment, either from before the crimes for which they were sentenced, or at the time of their execution. The report discusses many cases and includes an illustrative list of 100 people. It does not attempt to answer the complex question of precisely which defendants should be exempt from the death penalty on the grounds of mental illness at the time of the crime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Double Tragedies: Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty for People with Severe Mental Illness

By Susannah Sheffer / National Alliance on Mental Illness / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


More details See the document

This report asserts that the death penalty is not only inappropriate and unwarranted for persons with severe mental illness but that it also serves as a distraction from problems within the mental health system that contributed or even led directly to tragic violence. Families of murder victims and families of people with mental illness who have committed murder have a cascade of questions and needs. It is to these questions, rather than to the death penalty, that as a society we must turn our attention and our collective energies if we are truly to address the problem of untreated mental illness and the lethal violence that can result.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Hope and Fear: Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

ar
More details See the document

Amnesty International received information from a number of sentenced prisoners indicating that their trials had not met international fair trial standards. Some had been tried in secret locations, rather than in properly established courts of law. Some trials had been completed within an hour. A number of prisoners complained that they had been convicted on the basis of false “confessions” which they had been forced to make under torture or other illtreatment during pre-trial detention. Detainees commonly were denied access to lawyers in the early stages of their detention, when they were usually held incommunicado, and were interrogated by the Asayish.

Document(s)

A Thousand People Face the Death Penalty in Iraq

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. At least 1,000 people are believed to be under sentence of death, 150 of whom have exhausted all legal remedies available to them and are therefore at serious risk of being hanged. This document describes the use of the death penalty in Iraq, including issues of transperancy, crimes punishable by death, unfair trials, the death penalty as used in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and some individual cases are discussed.

Document(s)

Japan: Hanging by a thread: Mental health and the death penalty in Japan

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


NGO report


More details See the document

The use of the death penalty is in decline globally. Japan is one of the few industrialized countries to continue to use it, hanging a small number of prisoners each year. This report discusses the legal basis for exempting mentally ill prisoners from the death penalty and documents the situation faced by such prisoners on death row in Japan. It calls on the authorities to ensure that mentally ill prisoners are not executed and to implement a moratorium on the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions in 2008

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

arrufres
More details See the document

This document summarises Amnesty International’s global research on the death penalty. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and interviews with survivors of human rights violations.

Document(s)

Pakistan, a long march for democracy and the rule of law

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Fatma Cosadia / Odette Lou Bouvier, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

fr
More details See the document

Regularly denounced by human rights associations, violations of the right to a fair trial and inequality before the law for prisoners who face the death penalty are flagrant. Most prisoners belong to the most disadvantaged social classes or to ethnic or religious minorities. Involved in often questionable circumstances, with confessions extracted under frequent beatings and torture, many litigants are not given an adequate defence. To defend these cases, lawyers appointed ex officio receive 200 rupees per hearing (less than 5 U.S. dollars). Often young and inexperienced to deal with procedures not respecting the minimum fair trial guarantees, these lawyers are not in a position to ensure the mandate entrusted to them.

Document(s)

Iran/death penalty: A state terror policy

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Antoine Bernard, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

en
More details See the document

As momentum is gathering across the world towards abolition of capital punishment, Iran ranks second for number of executions, after China, and first for per capita executions. Unfair trials, execution of juveniles, targeting of ethnic and religious minorities… the death penalty is applied in blatant violation of Iran’s obligations under international human rights law. A very wide range of offences (including economic, drug-related, so-called sexual offences, apostasy…) carry the death penalty and the methods of execution (public hangings, stoning…)amount to the most inhuman and degrading treatment.

Document(s)

Mental Illness and the Death Penalty

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2009


NGO report


More details See the document

This overview discusses the intersection of the law and the challenges faced by mentally ill capital defendants at every stage from trial through appeals and execution. It provides examples of some of the more famous cases of the execution of the mentally ill. Lastly, it describes current legislative efforts to exempt those who suffer from a serious mental illness from execution and the importance of such efforts.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2009


NGO report


More details See the document

The death penalty in the U.S. is an enormously expensive and wasteful program with no clear benefits. All of the studies on the cost of capital punishment conclude it is much more expensive than a system with life sentences as the maximum penalty. In a time of painful budget cutbacks, states are pouring money into a system that results in a declining number of death sentences and executions that are almost exclusively carried out in just one area of the country. As many states face further deficits, it is an appropriate time to consider whether maintaining the costly death penalty system is being smart on crime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Financial cost,

Document(s)

From Cradle to Coffin: A Report on Child Executions in Iran

By Stop Child Executions / Foreign Policy Center, on 1 January 2009


NGO report


More details See the document

This report aims to briefly highlight the past and present challenges and choices in Iran’s human rights record on juvenile offenders. It considers legal and theological perspectives on key issues as well as presenting case studies on selected individuals whose mistreatment raises serious questions about the injustices faced by young people in the Iranian judicial system. The report offers practical recommendations to the international community as it takes a closer look at the Islamic Republic and its human rights record through the 2010 Universal Periodic Review.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Lessons from Asia

By David T. Johnson / Franklin E. Zimring / Asia-Pacific Journal, on 1 January 2009


Article

China


More details See the document

Part one of this article summarizes death penalty policy and practice in the region that accounts for 60 percent of the world’s population and more than 90 percent of the world’s executions. The lessons from Asia are then organized into three parts. Part two describes features of death penalty policy in Asia that are consistent with the experiences recorded in Europe and with the theories developed to explain Western changes. Part three identifies some of the most significant diversities within the Asian region – in rates of execution, trends over time, and patterns of change – that contrast with the recent history of capital punishment in non-Asian locations and therefore challenge conventional interpretations of death penalty policy and change. Part four discusses three ways that the politics of capital punishment in Asia are distinctive: the limited role of international standards and transnational influences in most Asian jurisdictions; the presence of single-party domination in several Asian political systems; and the persistence of communist versions of capital punishment in the Asia region.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Death Penalty in the US Quiz

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2009


Campaigning


More details See the document

Test your knowledge of human rights and the death penalty in the U.S. with our downloadable quiz.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

What is the ODIHR

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2009


Working with...

enenenrufr
More details See the document

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is one of the world’s principal regional human rights bodies.It promotes democratic elections, respect for human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and the rule of law. ODIHR is the human rights institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an intergovernmental body working for stability, prosperity and democracy in its 56 participating States.

Document(s)

Manual for Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities

By Organization of American States, on 1 January 2009


Working with...

es
More details See the document

The purpose of this Manual for Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities, prepared by the Department of International Affairs, is to clarify the mechanisims through which CSOs can participate in OAS activities and contribute to the formulation of hemispheric policies. In addition, the Manual provides a summary of the structure and work areas of the Organization as well as the guiding principles for CSO participation.

Document(s)

Tools and Tips for Effective e-Activism

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


Working with...

fres
More details See the document

This booklet provides hints and tips for effective e-activism. It includes chapters about the use of petitions, widgets, email use, letters, social networking sites, blogs, photos and videos as well as becoming an online volunteer.

Document(s)

Writing Wrongs: How to Shift Public Opinion on the Death Penalty with Letters to the Editor

By Nancy Oliviera, on 1 January 2009


Working with...


More details See the document

This booklet explains why it is important to write letters to the editor as a platform for distributing information to the public. It provides a guide to good letter writing.

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

Document(s)

Working with Victims: A Guide for Activist

By Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 1 January 2009


Working with...


More details See the document

The common assumption is that all victims’ family members support the death penalty. We cannot expect to abolish the death penalty without presenting an alternative view. Victims’ voices have a powerful effect – lawmakers have voted against the death penalty as a result of hearing victims’ testify for abolition. Including victims’ stories when working for abolition is strategically wise and is essential to bringing new people into the abolition movement. Here are a few suggestions. We encourage activists to consult with MVFHR for further guidance.

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

Document(s)

Racial Disparities

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that “in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

Commonwealth of Independent States: Positive trend on the abolition of the death penalty but more needs to be done

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report

ru
More details See the document

On 28 November the meeting of the heads of the states in the Commonwealth of Independent States takes place in Minsk, Belarus. On the eve of the meeting Amnesty International calls on the heads of CIS states to put the issue of the abolition of the death penalty high on their agenda and to do all within their power to make the region a death penalty-free zone. Amnesty international is concerned that the conditions on death row in the region fall far short of international standards.

Document(s)

When Law and Ethics Collide — Why Physicians Participate in Executions

By Atul Gawande / New England Journal of Medecine 354(12), 1-13., on 1 January 2006


Article

United States


More details See the document

Evidence from execution logs showed that six of the last eight prisoners executed in California had not stopped breathing before technicians gave the paralytic agent, raising a serious possibility that prisoners experienced suffocation from the paralytic, a feeling much like being buried alive, and felt intense pain from the potassium bolus. This experience would be unacceptable under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. So the judge ordered the state to have an anesthesiologist present in the death chamber to determine when the prisoner was unconscious enough for the second and third injections to be given — or to perform the execution with sodium thiopental alone.The California Medical Association, the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) immediately and loudly opposed such physician participation as a clear violation of medical ethics codes. “Physicians are healers, not executioners,” the ASA’s president told reporters. Nonetheless, in just two days, prison officials announced that they had found two willing anesthesiologists. The court agreed to maintain their anonymity and to allow them to shield their identities from witnesses. Both withdrew the day before the execution, however, after the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit added a further stipulation requiring them personally to administer additional medication if the prisoner remained conscious or was in pain. This they would not accept. The execution was then postponed until at least May, but the court has continued to require that medical professionals assist with the administration of any lethal injection given to Morales. This turn of events is the culmination of a steady evolution in methods of execution in the United States.

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

Document(s)

PROTOCOL TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

By Organization of American States, on 1 January 1990


1990

Regional body report

es
More details See the document

Article 1The States Parties to this Protocol shall not apply the death penalty in their territory to any person subject to their jurisdiction.

Document(s)

An Introduction to Advocacy Training Guide

By Ritu R. Sharma / SARA Project, on 1 January 1997


1997

Lobbying


More details See the document

The Guide should be useful to people in all sectors who wish to improve policies and programs through advocacy.

  • Document type Lobbying
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

China: The death penalty in China: breaking records, breaking rules

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 1997


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In China last year, approximately 17 people were sentenced to death each day, every day of the year. This report examines the record versus the rhetoric in 1996. It examines the death penalty in practice during this year’s “Strike Hard Anti-Crime Campaign” which highlights legal inadequacies and institutionalized abuses long discussed by domestic critics.

Document(s)

International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S.

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 1999


1999

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines the sequence of recent events that has increasingly placed the death penalty in the international spotlight. Some of these events are direct challenges to the practice of capital punishment in the U.S. Others are changes in the balance of death penalty practices and attitudes around the world. The report looks at the ways in which the international community has sought to limit the application of the death penalty, and the U.S.’s response to these initiatives. It also explores the world-wide trend towards complete abolition of the death penalty and the U.S. reaction. Although much of the official U.S. response to international criticism has been denial, the report looks at some local and unofficial actions, which indicate a different direction. Finally, the report notes the present and potential costs the U.S. is facing for adhering to the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Unequal, Unfair and Irreversible: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Laura LaFay / American Civil Liberties Union / Virgina, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines four key aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and race. During its preparation, another issue became apparent: the state’s record keeping.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Ghana: Briefing on death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

As the Presidential elections approach in Ghana, Amnesty International is renewing its call for steps towards abolishing the death penalty, after seven years without any executions. This document describes the current use of the death penalty, giving details of those currently under sentence of death and describing the death penalty under Ghanaian law and international law

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 1999

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper is an attempt to cover developments during 1999 and provide information current at the end of the year concerning the death penalty worldwide, different aspects of its use and attempts to abolish it or reduce its application.

Document(s)

China: Death penalty log in 1999

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


NGO report


More details See the document

The attached Log gives available details of death sentences and executions occurring in China throughout 1999.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Sentenced to Death: A Report on Washington Supreme Court Rulings In Capital Cases

By American Civil Liberties Union / Washington, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report


More details See the document

The ACLU conducted an analysis of court rulings in the 25 Washington cases in which the death sentence has been imposed since 1981, when the current death penalty statute took effect. That analysis of almost two decades of death sentences and executions makes it clear that the system by which we impose and review death sentences in Washington is fundamentally flawed.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Beyond Reason: The Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental Retardation

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

Twenty-five U.S. states still permit the execution of offenders with mental retardation and should pass laws to ban the practice without delay. The United States appears to be the only democracy whose laws expressly permit the execution of persons with this severe mental disability.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Mental retardation and the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

This paper attempts to summarise the issues arising from the practice of executing prisoners who have mental retardation. It draws mainly on the US experience but makes reference to other jurisdictions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Zambia: Time to abolish the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

This report aims at focusing attention on the country’s use of the death penalty, particularly as Zambia does not apply international standards for fair trials in its use of the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 2000

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

This paper covers events around the exercise of the death penalty during the year 2000, including such subjects as significant national and international court cases and decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the mentally ill and those with mental retardation; its use against the `innocent’ and against women; medical and religious perspectives and public opinion polls and surveys.

Document(s)

The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis

By Jason T. Carmichael / David Jacobs / American Sociological Review, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

United States


More details See the document

Despite the interest in the death penalty, no statistical studies have isolated the social and political forces that account for the legality of this punishment. Racial or ethnic threat theories suggest that the death penalty will more likely be legal in jurisdictions with relatively large black or Hispanic populations. Economic threat explanations suggest that this punishment will be present in unequal areas. Jurisdictions with a more conservative public or a stronger law and order Republican party should be more likely to legalize the death penalty as well. After controlling for social disorganization, region, period, and voilent crime, panel analyses suggest that minority presence and economic inequality enhance the likelihood of a legal death penalty. Conservative values and Republican strength in the legislature have equivalent effects; A supplement time-to-event analysis supports these conclusions. The results suggest that a political approach has explanatory power because threat effects expressed through politics and effects that are directly political invariable account for decisions about the legality of capital punishment.

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

Document(s)

AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

By African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 8 September 1981


1981

United Nations report

fr
More details See the document

ARTICLE 4Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.ARTICLE 5Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation of man, particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited.

Document(s)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By United Nations, on 1 January 1948


1948

United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” Article 3 – Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Document(s)

AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS “PACT OF SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA”

By Organization of American States, on 8 September 1969


1969

United Nations report

es
More details See the document

Article 4. Right to Life1. Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

Document(s)

Status of signature and ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

By United Nations, on 1 January 1989


1989

NGO report

frfr
More details See the document

Status of signature ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, including declarations, reservations and objections.

Document(s)

Convention on the Rights of the Child

By United Nations, on 1 January 1989


United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Article 37States Parties shall ensure that:(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.

Document(s)

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty

By United Nations, on 1 January 1989


United Nations report

arrufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

The States Parties to the present Protocol,Believing that abolition of the death penalty contributes to enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights,Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948, and article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted on 16 December 1966,Noting that article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights refers to abolition of the death penalty in terms that strongly suggest that abolition is desirable,Convinced that all measures of abolition of the death penalty should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life,Desirous to undertake hereby an international commitment to abolish the death penalty,Have agreed as follows:Article 11. No one within the jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed.2. Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.

Document(s)

Paralegal Aid Clinics: A handbook for paralegals working in prisons

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2002


2002

Working with...


More details See the document

The Paralegal Advisory Service (PAS) trainers manual for conducting paralegal aid clinics (PLCs) inside prison has been written for paralegal facilitators who will conduct PLCs in prisons aimed principally at remand prisoners

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Role of International Law in United States Death Penalty Cases

By Sandra Babcock / Leiden Journal of International Law, on 1 January 2002


Article

United States


More details See the document

The United States has repeatedly failed to notify detained foreign nationals of their rights to consular notification and access under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. In capital cases, US non-compliance with this ratified Treaty has led to litigation by foreign governments and individual lawyers in domestic courts and international tribunals. While these efforts have had mixed results in individual cases, litigation by Mexico, Germany and other actors has led to increased compliance with Article 36, and a growing recognition of the significance of US treaty obligations.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Foreign Nationals,

Document(s)

Faith in Action

By Amnesty International - USA, on 1 January 2006


2006

Campaigning


More details See the document

Using faith to combat the death penalty: This document has sermons, prayers and services, essays, views on the death penalty, resources for discussion and action, resources for next steps.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Broken Justice: The death penalty in Alabama

By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Alabama, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report


More details See the document

This report documents unfairness and unreliability that plague the death penalty system in Alabama and makes several recommendations, including a moratorium on executions. The major areas of focus the report examines are: Inadequate Defence, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Judicial Overrides, Execution of the Mentallly Retarded, Racial Discrimination, and Geographic Disparities.

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

Document(s)

Freedom Inside The Walls

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2005


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

Shot in Benin, Kenya and Malawi ‘Freedom Inside These Walls’ provides disturbing footage of prison conditions inside these countries, which are common to many other prisons in Africa. It highlights the challenges in accessing justice faced by poor people in conflict with the law.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty Debate

By John J. Donohue / Stanford Law Review / Justin Wolfers, on 1 January 2005


Article

United States


More details See the document

Over much of the last half-century, the legal and political history of the death penalty in the United States has closely paralleled the debate within social science about its efficacy as a deterrent. The injection of Ehrlich’s conclusions into the legal and public policy arenas, coupled with the academic debate over Ehrlich’s methods, led the National Academy of Sciences to issue a 1978 report which argued that the existing evidence in support of a deterrent effect of capital punishment was unpersuasive. Over the next two decades, as a series of academic papers continued to debate the deterrence question, the number of executions gradually increased, albeit to levels much lower than those seen in the first half of the twentieth century

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

Document(s)

The death penalty in Thailand

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Julie Morizet / Sinapan Samidoray / Siobhan Ni Chulachain, on 1 January 2005


NGO report


More details See the document

The present report shows that, although the formal judicial process which leads to the imposition of the death penalty is theoretically in accordance with the international legal standards, serious miscarriages of justice can result in condemnations to the capital punishment. By lasting up to 84 days, the long police custody creates conditions that favour possible cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments. The difficult access to legal aid, both during police custody and the trial process, does not provide sufficient safeguards that the rights of the defence are fully respected. The conditions of detention in prisons, and notably the fact that death row inmates are chained 24 hours a day, may amount to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

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

Document(s)

Indonesia: A briefing on the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

en
More details See the document

This briefing follows the first executions in Indonesia in more than three years. Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, an Indian national convicted of drug-trafficking in 1994, was executed by firing squad. Two Thai nationals, Saelow Prasert (m) and Namsong Sirilak (f), who had been sentenced to death in the same case, were executed on 1 October 2004. A total of at least 54 people are currently believed to be under sentence of death in Indonesia, 30 of them for drug-related offences. Amnesty International is concerned that these recent developments reflect an increasing willingness by the authorities to use the death penalty to address crime, in particular drug-trafficking. The organization is also concerned about calls to expand the number of crimes for which the death penalty may be imposed.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Egypt

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Etienne Jaudel / Alya Chérif Chammari / Nabeel Rajab, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report

arfr
More details See the document

The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic. Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the basis of the sentence. The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.

Document(s)

Tanzania: the death sentence institutionnalised

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Eric Mirguet / Arnold Tsunga, on 1 January 2005


NGO report

enfr
More details See the document

Individuals are regularly sentenced to death in murder cases, but no statistics are published about the number of condemnations. Under the Tanzanian Penal Code, the death sentence remains a mandatory penalty for murder while it can also be applied for treason. As of April 2003, 370 persons (359 males and 11 females) were awaiting execution in the prisons of mainland Tanzania in conditions that might amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. There are a number of dysfunctions in the Tanzanian legal system, which seems to represent a threat to the rule of law, and an obstacle to reform: the unwillingness of the Executive to have its decisions challenged in judicial proceedings, and; the existence of a Penal System essentially based on retaliation towards the offenders rather than rehabilitation ; e.g. corporal punishments can still be applied for numerous offences, in spite of the fact that they clearly violate international and regional human rights instruments. Furthermore, pervasive corruption in the police and the judiciary represents a serious threat to the due process of law, including in death penalty cases.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Guatemala: On the road towards abolition

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Catherine Delanoë-Daoud / Marcela Talamas / Emmanuel Daoud, on 1 January 2005


NGO report


More details See the document

Violations of due process in the case of prisoners condemned to death. There are known cases of torture carried out by agents of the State and there is no legal provision that allows the Executive branch to grant a pardon and, subsequently, to commute a death sentence. The Guatemalan State has executed various individuals despite the fact that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had petitioned for precautionary measures; this constitutes a flagrant and recurrent violation of Guatemala’s international human rights commitments.The Guatemalan State, in addition to not having adequate public policies for prisons, also has no laws regulating prisons and conditions of detention, in spite of the fact that various UN instruments are devoted to that question.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process , Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Charter of Arab League

By League of Arab States, on 1 January 2006


2006

Working with...


More details See the document

The League of Arab States is composed of the independent Arab states which have signed this Charter.

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

Document(s)

African Court on Human and Peoples Rights Quick Facts

By African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 1 January 2006


Working with...

enfr
More details See the document

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Court’s Protocol). The Court’s mission is to complement and reinforce the functions of the Commission in promoting and protecting human and peoples’ rights, freedoms and duties in African Union Member States.

Document(s)

Chad, Death Penalty: ending a moratorium, between security opportunism and settling of scores

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Mahfoudh Ould Bettah / Isabelle Gourmelon / Olivier Foks, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

The report is damning, showing a system of justice which attaches little importance to regional and international instruments for the protection of human rights ratified by Chad. The case was conducted with a haste wholly incompatible with the respect for the right to a fair trial – proceedings exclusively for the prosecution, confessions obtained under torture, refusal to take account of evidence brought by the defence during the investigation, no lawyer present during the investigation stage. This iniquitous trial proves the hypothesis that justice has been manipulated in order to hide the true nature of a crime and the identity of its perpetrators, whilst securing the executions of persons judged undesirable.

Document(s)

STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS! Ending the death penalty for child offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18, yet some countries continue to execute child offenders or sentence them to death. Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in the world, they represent a complete disregard by the executing states of their commitments under international law, and an affront to all notions of morality and decency when it comes to the protection of children – one of the most vulnerable groups in society. This document describes the use of the death penalty against child offenders worldwide and its prohibition under international law.

Document(s)

Children and the death penalty: Executions worldwide since 1990

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

The document details cases of child offenders executed since 1990 and cites the relevant international standards. Two tables are appended: a list of cases and a table of the 113 countries which provide for the death penalty but exclude its use of the death penalty against child offenders. There are also appendices giving the text of the resolution on “The death penalty in relation to child offenders” adopted by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in August 2000 and extracts from the resolution on “The question of the death penalty” adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2002.

Document(s)

English speaking Caribbean: State Killing in the English speaking Caribbean: a legacy of colonial times

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


NGO report


More details See the document

This report seeks to answer the arguments put forward by the proponents of capital punishment in the English Speaking Caribbean and examines the shortcomings in the administration of the death penalty in the region.The paper primarily focuses on Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the two countries with the largest death row populations in the region. However, details of other counties are given and the themes and problems illustrated in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are prevalent in the other nations of the ESC.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Indecent and internationally illegal: The death penalty against child offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002


NGO report


More details See the document

This report gives details of the national picture of the execution of juveniles, looking particularly at how two key decisions of the US Supreme Court have widened the gap between the USA and most other countries on this issue. The report examines the arguments used by those who oppose the execution of juvenile offenders and provides an overview of the international situation on the use of the death penalty against child offenders.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

Gray Rules Guillory May Ask for Mercy

By Vincent Lupo / American Press, on 1 January 2003


2003

Working with...


More details See the document

This article focuses on Lorilei Guillory, the mother of a 6-year-old Iowa boy murdered 11 years ago. Guillory wantsto be allowed to ask jurors for mercy for the man who allegedly molested and killed her child. Judge Al Gray said he will allow Guillory “to testify and ask for mercy if she wishes” during any penalty phase, but prosecutors are appealing the decision ot the Louisiana Supreme Court. Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation filed an amicus curiae brief in the Louisiana Supreme Court in support of Lorilei Guillory’s effort to testify in the penalty phase of the trial of the man who murdered her 6 year old son Jeremy and to express her opposition to the execution of her son’s murderer

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

Document(s)

Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?

By Journal of Politics / Alan R. Metelko / Laura Langbein, on 1 January 2003


Article

United States


More details See the document

This article explores the roots of white support for capital punishment in the United States. Our analysis addresses individual-level and contextual factors, paying particular attention to how racial attitudes and racial composition influence white support for capital punishment. Our findings suggest that white support hinges on a range of attitudes wider than prior research has indicated, including social and governmental trust and individualist and authoritarian values. Extending individual-level analyses, we also find that white responses to capital punishment are sensitive to local context. Perhaps most important, our results clarify the impact of race in two ways. First, racial prejudice emerges here as a comparatively strong predictor of white support for the death penalty. Second, black residential proximity functions to polarize white opinion along lines of racial attitude. As the black percentage of county residents rises, so too does the impact of racial prejudice on white support for capital punishment.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Virginia, on 1 January 2003


NGO report


More details See the document

In April of 2000, the ACLU of Virginia published its first report on the status of the death penalty in Virginia. Since that time, a remarkable number of changes have taken place on this issue both in Virginia and throughout the country, which necessitated a second edition of the report. The first report examined four aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and the role of race. This report will look at those four areas and also add several other issues: the problem of prosecutorial misconduct in capital cases, the problem of executing mentally retarded offenders, the question of executing juvenile offenders and the danger of executing wrongfully convicted persons, as shown by the growing number of individuals who have been exonerated while on death row.

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

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2002

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2002. Other subjects covered in this paper include significant judicial decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; reductions in the scope of the death penalty; moratoria and commutations; and moves to restrict appeals in capital cases.

Document(s)

The exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty under general international law

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In October 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime” and that “this rule has been recognized as being of a sufficiently indelible nature to now constitute a norm of jus cogens”. This paper examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders (people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18) is prohibited under customary international law and as a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Japan: A Practice Unworthy of a Democracy

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Sharon Hom / Etienne Jaudel / Richard Wild, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

enfr
More details See the document

Despite the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations’ efforts towards improving the defence system, Japanese prisoners – especially those sentenced to death – do not receive a fair trial.The Daiyo Kangoku practice is one amongst several practices which allows suspects to be detained in police stations for 23 days, contravening the rules of a fair trial. Confessions, which can be obtained through strong pressure, give police the basis for accusation. Furthermore, the conditions on death row themselves amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments: Once the death sentence has been delivered, the prisoner is held in solitary confinement. Detainees have extremely limited contact with families and lawyers and meetings are closely monitored. Above all, prisoners live with the constant fear of never knowing if today will be their last day. The prisoner is informed that the execution will take place on the very same day, and family members are notified the following day.

Document(s)

Protecting the right to life against the Death Penalty. Written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Legislative or Other Measures Denying Judicial or Other Effective Recourses to Challenge the Death Penalty.

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

es
More details See the document

This document contains Amnesty International’s written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on legislative or other measures denying judicial or other effective recourse to challenge the death penalty; in the matter of a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (article 64(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights) and in the matter of legislative measures concerning the mandatory imposition of the death penalty and related matters.

Document(s)

Guided Jury Discretion in Capital Murder Cases: The Role of Declarative and Procedural Knowledge

By Richard L. Wiener / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Melanie Rogers / Ryan Winter / Linda Hurt / Amy Hackney / Karen Kadela / Hope Seib / Shannon Rauch / Laura Warren / Ben Morasco, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

This article analyzes whether state-approved jury instructions adequately guide jury discretion in the penalty phase of first-degree murder trials. It examines Eighth Amendment jurisprudence regarding guided jury discretion, emphasizing the use of “empirical factors” to examine the quality of state-approved instructions. Psychological research and testimony on the topic of the comprehensibility of jury instructions are reviewed. Data from a recently completed simulation with 80 deliberating juries showed that current instructions do not adequately convey the concepts and processes essential to guiding penalty phase judgments. An additional simulation with 20 deliberating juries demonstrated that deliberation alone does not correct for jurors’ errors in comprehension. The article concludes with recommendations for policy and future research.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Fair Trial,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the United States: A Crisis of Conscience

By Richard L. Wiener / Craig Haney / Psychology, Public Policy and Law, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

The articles in this issue discuss many appellate court decisions that turned on due process problems in the guilt and penalty phases of capital murder trials and the troubling role of race in capital prosecutions. Governor Ryan of Illinois cited many of these issues when he declared a moratorium on the death penalty and appointed a blue-ribbon panel to study the prosecution of capital murder in 2000. Governor Ryan commuted the sentences of all Illinois death row inmates in January 2003, in part, because the legislature was unable to address these issues that again appeared in the panel’s report. These issues raise serious questions about the reliability of the capital murder system and recommend a continued public debate about its fairness.

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

Document(s)

Stuck in the Dark Ages: Supreme Court Decision Making and Legal Developments

By James R.P. Ogloff / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Sonia R. Chopra, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

In the latter quarter of the 20th century, the United States Supreme Court has generally refused to narrow the procedural and substantive conditions under which adults may be sentenced to death for capital murder. The current status of social science evidence is briefly reviewed to evaluate the Court’s treatment of 3 specific categories of evidence: The death-qualified jury, prejudicial capital sentencing, and juror comprehension of capital-sentencing instructions. The role of perceptions of public opinion in the perseverance of capital punishment statutes is considered. It appears that the Court, in general, does not place much weight on social science evidence. Suggestions are made for future areas of research and practice for social scientists interested in capital punishment.

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

Document(s)

Capital Punishment, the Moratorium Movement, and Empirical Questions: Looking Beyond Innocence Race and Bad Lawyering in Death Penalty Cases

By James R. Acker / Charles A. Lanier / Psychology, Public Policy and Law, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

This article briefly explores the underpinnings of the contemporary capital punishment moratorium movement and examines executive and legislative responses to calls for a halt to executions, including suggestions for studying the death penalty process. Although most investigations focus on select issues like innocence, ineffective counsel, and race bias, this article suggests that a wide-ranging constellation of issues should be investigated in any legitimate attempt to evaluate the administration of the death penalty. The article canvasses this broader sweep of issues, discusses related research evidence, and then considers the policy implications of conducting such a thorough empirical assessment of the administration of capital punishment in this country.

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

Document(s)

Dangerousness, Risk Assessment, and Capital Sentencing

By Aletha M. Claussen-Schulza / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Marc W. Pearceb / Robert F. Schopp, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

Judges, jurors, police officers, and others are sometimes asked to make a variety of decisions based on judgments of dangerousness. Reliance on judgments of dangerousness in a variety of legal contexts has led to considerable debate and has been the focus of numerous publications. However, a substantial portion of the debate has centered on the accuracy and improvement of risk assessments rather than the issues concerning the use of dangerousness as a legal criterion. This article focuses on whether dangerousness judgments can play a useful role in capital sentencing decisions within the framework of “guided discretion” and “individualized assessment” set forth by the Supreme Court of the United States. It examines the relationship between these legal doctrines and contemporary approaches to risk assessment, and it discusses the potential tension between these approaches to risk assessment and these legal doctrines. The analysis suggests that expert testimony has the potential to undermine rather than assist the sentencer’s efforts to make capital sentencing decisions in a manner consistent with Supreme Court doctrine. This analysis includes a discussion of the advances and limitations of current approaches to risk assessment in the context of capital sentencing.

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

Document(s)

Arab Charter on Human Rights

By League of Arab States, on 1 January 2004


Regional body report

arfr
More details See the document

Article 51. Every human being has the inherent right to life.2. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.Article 6Sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes inaccordance with the laws in force at the time of commission of the crime and pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.Article 71. Sentence of death shall not be imposed on persons under 18 years of age, unlessotherwise stipulated in the laws in force at the time of the commission of the crime.2. The death penalty shall not be inflicted on a pregnant woman prior to her deliveryor on a nursing mother within two years from the date of her delivery; in all cases, the best interests of the infant shall be the primary consideration.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Lesotho: The Law and Practice

By Moses O A Owori / British Institute of International and Comparative Law, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

The first part of the paper looks at the national law governing the death penalty vis-à-vis international standards; the second part of the paper identifies the problems one encounters at the pretrial, trial and post trial stages and examines the attempts to solve some of these problems; the final part looks at present trends in the application of the death penalty and draws tentative conclusions as to the future prospects of the death penalty in Lesotho.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

The Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

This report — the first-ever national survey of women currently on Death Row — found that women who have been sentenced to death are often subjected to harsh living conditions, including being forced to live in virtual isolation, and many are sentenced for crimes that don’t result in a death sentence for men.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Women,

Document(s)

Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2004


NGO report


More details See the document

This report catalogs the emergence of innocence as the most important issue in the long-simmering death penalty debate. The sheer number of cases and the pervasive awareness of this trend in the public’s consciousness have changed the way capital punishment is perceived around the country. The steady evolution of this issue since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 has been accelerated in recent years by the development of DNA technology, the new gold standard of forensic investigation. This science, along with a vigorous re-investigation of many cases, has led to the discovery of a growing number of tragic mistakes and freed inmates. The evidence in this report presents a compelling case for many Americans that the risks associated with capital punishment exceed acceptable bounds. One hundred and sixteen people have been freed from death row after being cleared of their charges, including 16 people in the past 20 months. These inmates cumulatively spent over 1,000 years awaiting their freedom. The pace of exonerations has sharply increased, raising doubts about the reliability of the whole system.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2009

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2009


2009

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 11475 Ko ]

Poster world day against the death penalty 2009

Document(s)

Individual Statement of Commissioner Renny Cushing

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2010


2010

Working with...


More details See the document

Individual Statement of Commissioner Renny Cushing

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

Document(s)

Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends, and Perspectives

By United Nations / Ivan Šimonovic, on 1 January 2014


2014

International law - United Nations


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

The Role of Race in Washington State Capital Sentencing, 1981-2014

By Katherine Beckett / University of Washington, on 1 January 2014


Academic report


More details See the document

This report assesses whether race influences the administration of capital punishment in Washington State, and if so, where in the process it matters.

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

Document(s)

Iran: The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a tool of political control

By Taimoor Aliassi / IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS REVIEW, on 1 January 2014


Article

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

fa
More details See the document

The Iranian authorities use the drug issue to enforce their rule and repress ethnic nationalities and members of opposition groups. Whenever it faces escalating crises, internally or externally, new and harsher laws against drugs and addicts are adopted and public hangings of members of ethnic nationalities increase dramatically. The following periods of hangings and drug laws illustrate this policy.

Document(s)

ARBITRARINESS: Getting a Death Sentence May Depend on the Budget of the County

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

Whether the death penalty will be sought in a murder may depend more on the budget of the county in which it is committed than on the severity of the crime, according to several prosecutors. A report by the Marshall Project found that the high costs of capital cases prevent some district attorneys from seeking the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Stakeholder Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on the United States

By The Advocates for Human Rights / Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty / Greater Caribbean For Life, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

This submission addresses the United States’ compliance with its human rights obligations with regard to its use of the death penalty. This submission concludes that the United States, in continuing to allow a sentence of death, does not guarantee its citizens adequate protection against cruel and unusual punishment, freedom from discrimination, rights to life, liberty and security of person, due process, and equal protection. It also is failing to provide an adequate remedy for those whose rights are violated.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process , Right to life, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Innocence, Discrimination, Foreign Nationals, Lethal Injection, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2014: infographic

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

DPIC’s 2014 Year-End Report. Death sentences were at a 40-year low and executions were at a 20-year low. Texas, Missouri, and Florida accounted for 80% of all the executions in the United States. There were 7 exonerations this year and it took an average of 30 years to discover their innocence.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence, Statistics,

Document(s)

THE DEATH PENALTY IN 2014: YEAR END REPORT

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

With 35 executions this year, 2014 marks the fewest people put to death since 1994, according to this report by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The 72 new death sentences in 2014 is the lowest number in the modern era of the death penalty, dating back to 1974. Executions and sentences have steadily decreased, as Americans have grown more skeptical of capital punishment. The states’ problems with lethal injections also contributed to the drop in executions this year.Death sentences—a more current barometer than executions—have declined by 77% since 1996, when there were 315. There were 79 death sentences last year. This is the fourth year in a row that there have been fewer than 100 death sentences.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Innocence, Intellectual Disability, Lethal Injection, Statistics,

Document(s)

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

By Bryan Stevenson / Spiegel & Grau, on 1 January 2014


Book

United States


More details See the document

Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, has written a new book, Just Mercy, about his experiences defending the poor and the wrongfully convicted throughout the south. It includes the story of one of Stevenson’s first cases as a young lawyer, that of Walter McMillian, who was eventually exonerated and freed from death row. McMillian, a black man, had been convicted of the murder of a white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. His trial lasted just a day and a half, prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence, and the judge imposed a death sentence over the jury’s recommendation for life. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said of the book, “Bryan Stevenson is America’s young Nelson Mandela, a brilliant lawyer fighting with courage and conviction to guarantee justice for all. Just Mercy should be read by people of conscience in every civilized country in the world to discover what happens when revenge and retribution replace justice and mercy. It is as gripping to read as any legal thriller, and what hangs in the balance is nothing less than the soul of a great nation.”

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Due Process , Fair Trial, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Report on the Death Penalty in Iraq UNAMI/OHCHR

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Human Rights Office, on 1 January 2014


International law - United Nations


More details See the document

This reporton the death penalty in Iraqis publishedjointlyby the Human RightsOffice of theUnited Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)andthe Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).The first section of this report outlines the international human rights standards on the use of thedeath penalty. The subsequent sections examine the domestic legal framework for the use of thedeath penalty in Iraq, judicial proceedings in death penalty cases, the implementation of the deathpenalty since 2004, and thejustifications put forward by the Government of Iraq for its continueduse. The report concludes with a set of recommendations tothe Iraqi authorities, the Governmentof Kurdistan Region and the international community.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Due Process , Hanging, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Written Statement to the 20th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Iran

By Iran Human Rights (IHR) / United Nations / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights / Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran / Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva (KMMK-G), on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

This report is being submitted by Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, The Advocates for Human Rights, Iran Human Rights (IHR), Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva (KMMK-G), and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, relevant stakeholders, in conjunction with the Universal Periodic Review of Iran by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Iran will be subject to review during the 20th session (October – November 2014). This report examines the imposition of the death penalty in Iran in light of international human rights standards. This report will also examine and discuss the judicial process applied in cases involving punishment by the death penalty. Reports and commentary indicate that there is a serious problem of access to justice for the vast majority of individuals accused of crimes for which the death penalty is a possible punishment. It has been compiled from a combination of sources, including the penal code, news reports, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other commentary.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Minorities, Religion , Due Process , International law, Capital offences, Right to life, Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Stoning, Statistics,

Document(s)

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

By University of Pittsburgh Law Review / Christof Heyns , on 1 January 2014


International law - United Nations

arrufres
More details See the document

In the present report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of hisactivities and considers four topics relating to the protection of the right to life:(a) the role of regional human rights systems; (b) less lethal and unmanned weaponsinlaw enforcement; (c) resumptions of the death penalty; and (d) the role ofstatistical indicators.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2014


International law - Regional body


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Shadow Report on the Death Penalty in the United States of America for the CERD

By The Advocates for Human Rights / Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty / Greater Caribbean For Life, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

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

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

Last 100 executed: Who are they?

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

Some defendants who commit murder are automatically excluded from the death penalty in the U.S., such as juveniles and the intellectually disabled. Others with similar deficits are regularly executed. A new study by Robert Smith (l.), Sophie Cull, and Zoe Robinson examined the mitigating evidence present in 100 recent cases resulting in execution, testing whether the offenders possessed mitigating qualities similar to those spared from execution. This infographic presents some of their findings.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Arbitrariness,

Document(s)

Manifesto for a Protocol to the African Charter on the abolition of the death penalty

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / FIACAT, on 1 January 2014


Working with...

fr
More details See the document

Continental Conference on the Death Penalty2-4 July 2014, Cotonou, BeninHuman Rights Organisations’ Manifesto for a Protocolto the African Charter on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa

Document(s)

Stakeholder report for Iraq UPR

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights / Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

The Advocates for Human Rights, in collaboration with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty, submitted a joint stakeholder report to the U.N. Human Rights Council for its October-November 2014 Universal Periodic Review of Iraq. This submission describes Iraq’s international human rights obligations with regard to its use of the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Minorities, Due Process , Fair Trial, International law, Transparency, Torture, Discrimination, Legal Representation, Most Serious Crimes, Hanging, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions 2013

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2014


NGO report

arfarufres
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2013. Amnesty International records figures on the use of the death penalty based on the best available information.

Document(s)

Facilitation manual: A guide to using participatory methodologies for human rights education

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

This guide is part of Amnesty International’s Education for Human Dignity project and is intended to be used with the project’s substantive modules on poverty and human rights issues. This facilitation manual has been developed, however, with the necessary flexibility to be used alone as a general resource in a diversity of settings.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2014


International law - Regional body


More details See the document

This publication covers the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 and offers a concise update that highlights only those changes in the status of the death penalty made since the last Background Paper.

  • Document type International law - Regional body

Document(s)

List of signatories to the Second Optional Protocol by region

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


Lobbying

fr
More details See the document

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)

Turning the tide in the Caribbean: towards an end to the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2013


2013

Campaigning


More details See the document

This toolkit is for activists working towards the abolition of the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean. Drawing on many years of Amnesty International’s work to promote all human rights and to oppose violations of those rights, including the death penalty, it provides practical tips and suggestions for advocacy and campaigning. It sets out key arguments and relevant international human rights standards and provides information about resources that activists can use to strengthen and broaden the campaign against the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Public debate, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

أحكام الإعدام وما نُفذ منها في عام 2012

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2013


NGO report

en
More details See the document

يغطي التقرير الحالي اللجوء إلى فرض عقوبة الإعدام على الصعيد القضائي خلال الفترة من يناير/كانون الثانيإلى ديسمبر/كانون الأول 2012 . وتدوّن منظمة العفو الدولية الأرقام المتعلقة بفرض عقوبة الإعدام بناء علىأفضل المعلومات المتوافرة لديها. وكما جرى في سابق السنوات، تُجمع المعلومات من طائفة من المصادر المتنوعة،بما في ذلك الأرقام والإحصاءات الرسمية، والمعلومات المستقاة من الأفراد المحكومين بالإعدام، وعائلاتهم وممثليهم،وتقارير الإبلاغ الواردة من منظمات المجتمع المدني، والتقارير الإعلامية. ولا تبلغ منظمة العفو الدولية إلا عنالأرقام التي يمكن استنباطها على أسس سليمة مستقاة من البحوث التي تقوم بها.

Document(s)

Death Sentences and executions in 2012

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2013


NGO report

en
More details See the document

The report covers the judicial use of death penalty for the period January to December 2012.It summarises Amnesty International’s global research on the death penalty. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and interviews with survivors of human rights violations