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Flyer for the Caribbean Conference – The Death Penalty in the Context of Public Security: Neither Right, Nor Effective organised to celebrate the 11th World Day Against the Death Penalty dedicated to the Greater Caribbean, by local civil society in Trinidad and Tobago on October, 1st. 2013

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list Trinidad and Tobago
• Themes list Deterrence ,

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

This guide was created because of the growing flaws in the adminstration of the death penatly, it provides a guide to the death penalty administration process and vulnerable populations in death row administration.

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

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 type United Nations report
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages عقوبة الإعدام وتنفيذ الضمانات التي تكفل حماية حقوق الذين يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام : م ذكّرة من الأمين العامСмертная казнь и применение мер, гарантирующих защиту прав тех, кому грозит смертная казнь : Доклад Генерального секретаряLa pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte : Informe del Secretario GeneralLa pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte : Informe del Secretario GeneralCapital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-Generalعقوبة الإعدام وتنفيذ الضمانات التي تكفل حقوق ال ذين يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام :تقرير الأمين العامСмертная казнь и осуществление мер, гарантирующих защиту прав тех, кто приговорен к смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаряPeine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire généralPeine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况: 秘书长的报告死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况: 秘书长的报告

Video “It is the potential of this documentary to move us toward a more enlightened society that excites me about this work.” Benjamin Jealous, former NAACP PresidentAs wrongful convictions, botched executions, and a broken justice system inch further into the spotlight, we must consider: What is justice? What part should the death penalty play?

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Mental Illness, Innocence, Death Penalty,

Exactly what went wrong and why is the theme of this article. How and why did the Labour government, despite its massive majority in Parliament and a long-standing commitment to abolition, fail to get rid of the death penalty? Why was this “window of opportunity” to abolish capital punishment shut for another decade and a half? The answers to these questions will be sought primarily in the realm of government and Parliament.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United Kingdom
• Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

As a result of legal challenges, and in line with the trend worldwide, the mandatory death penalty has now been abolished in nine Caribbean countries and a discretion to impose a lesser sentence has been given to the judges of the Eastern Caribbean, Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas. However, in relation to Trinidad & Tobago, in the case of Charles Matthew (Matthew v The State [2005] 1 AC 433), a majority of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council decided – notwithstanding that the mandatory death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of entrenched fundamental freedoms and human rights established in the Constitution of Trinidad & Tobago – that it remained protected from constitutional challenge by the operation of the “savings clause” in the Constitution. As a result, Trinidad & Tobago remains one of only three Commonwealth Caribbean countries (Barbados and Guyana being the other two) that still retains the mandatory death penalty.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty,

The death penalty is a subject that, in the words of Justice Adrian Saunders of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, “invariably elicits passionate comment.” Such comment is particularly so within the states that make up the Commonwealth Caribbean, where rising rates of violent crime have led to strong public clamor for a swift and final response. The involvement of foreign courts and quasi-judicial international tribunals in limiting the actual use of the death penalty in the Caribbean has made the issue even more politically charged, leading to a strongly held perception that the judgments of these foreign bodies are unacceptable challenges to the very exercise of Caribbean national sovereignty.

• Document type Article
• Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty,

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,

In the summer of 2007, an older man approaches Reyhaneh Jabbari and asks the architecture student who has a side job as an interior decorator for her help in the design of offices. During the site inspection, he tries to rape her. Reyhaneh stabs him in self-defence. She is arrested for murder and sentenced to death. Reyhaneh was to spend the next seven years in prison while her family hired lawyers and made the public aware of the case. However, in spite of the efforts of national and international politicians and human rights organisations, the Iranian judiciary continued to cite the “right of blood-revenge”. This meant that, as long as Reyhaneh did not withdraw her accusations against the man, his family could demand her death. Reyhaneh stuck to her testimony and was hanged at the age of 26.
In her moving and shockingly topical documentary debut, director Steffi Niederzoll uses among other things original audio and visual material that was smuggled out of Iran. This film, in which Holy Spider actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi lends Reyhaneh her voice, makes visible the injustice in Iranian society and portrays an involuntary heroine who gave her life in the fight for women’s rights.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
• Themes list Gender / Women
• Available languages Sept hivers à Téhéran

Concluding Talking Ponts on behalf of Parliamentarians and PGA, Atteding the 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

• Document type Multimedia content
• Themes list Public debate, Death Penalty,
• Available languages Déclaration finale au nom des parlementaires et de l'Action mondiale des parlementaires présents au 7ème Congrès mondial contre la peine de mort

The ABA has long been concerned with the provision of effective counsel for all criminal defendants, especially for those facing the death penalty. In 1989, the ABA first published its Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Counsel in Death Penalty Cases, which detailed the kind of competent, effective legal representation that all capital defendants were entitled to receive. Earlier this year, after a two-year effort drawing upon the expertise of a broad group ofdistinguished and experienced judges, lawyers, and academics, the ABA House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved revisions to those Guidelines to update and expand upon the obligations of death penalty jurisdictions to ensure due process of law and justice. “These Guidelines are not aspirational.” They articulate a national standard of care and the minimum that should be required in the defense of capital cases.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Legal Representation,

American officials have indicated that extra efforts will be used to ensure that captured terrorist suspects face the death penalty. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has stated that the U.S. military will “try to prevent enemy leaders from falling into the hands of peacekeeping troops from allied nations that might oppose capital punishment.” Americans should be troubled to learn that the United States is out of step with an emerging worldwide consensus that the death penalty, even for the most heinous terrorist, “has no legitimate place in the penal systems of modern civilised societies.” As of July 2004, 117 nations were abolitionist in law or in practice, while only 80 retained the death penalty. The entire Council of Europe–45 nations ranging from Iceland to Russia–now constitutes a death penalty free zone.

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

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,

This report is the outcome of a fact-finding mission conducted by FIDH in July 2008, in order to assess the measures taken by the Japanese government to implement the recommendations made by a previous investigation, conducted in 2003.The conclusions of the report are appalling. According to Florence Bellivier, General Secretary of FIDH “Japan continues to condemn criminals to death, and incarcerate them up for decades, in prisons where secrecy and isolation are commonplace, in total disregard of the world opinion”. In addition, the rhythm of the executions has accelerated over the recent years. “2008 has been a record year, with more executions this year than in any other of the last fifteen years. We are witnessing a real step backwards” added Dan Van Raemdonck, Vice-President of FIDH. Thirteen persons have been executed since the beginning of the year, and 102 are currently on death row. There has not been a single retrial of a death penalty case since 1986, and no convicted prisoner has been pardoned since 1975.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Japan
• Themes list Transparency, Country/Regional profiles,
• Available languages La peine de mort au Japon: la loi du silence - À contre-courant de la tendance internationale

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York listed below present their compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and have the honour to refer to resolution 62/149, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 15 November 2007, and subsequently by the General Assembly on 18 December 2007 by a recorded vote. The Permanent Missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention to existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Afghanistan / Antigua and Barbuda / Bahamas / Bahrain / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Central African Republic / China / Comoros / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Dominica / Egypt / Equatorial Guinea / Eritrea / Eswatini / Ethiopia / Fiji / Grenada / Guinea / Guyana / Indonesia / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Japan / Jordan / Kuwait / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Libya / Malaysia / Maldives / Mauritania / Mongolia / Myanmar / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Solomon Islands / Somalia / Sudan / Suriname / Syrian Arab Republic / Thailand / Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago / Uganda / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مؤرخــةشــفويةمــذكرة11الثــانيكــانون/ينــاير2008Nota verbal de fecha 11 de enero de 2008 dirigida al Secretario General por las Misiones Permanentes ante las Naciones Unidas del Afganistán, Antigua y Barbuda, [...] y Zimbabwe ante las Naciones UnidasNote verbale datée du 11 janvier 2008, adressée au Secrétaire général par les missions permanentes auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies de l’Afghanistan, d’Antigua-et-Barbuda, [...] et du ZimbabweВербальная нота Постоянных представительств Антигуа и Барбуды, Афганистана, […] и Японии при Организации Объединенных Наций от 11 января 2008 года на имя Генерального секретаря普通照会2007

This report examines how state death penalty systems are functioning in design and practice and are intended to serve as the bases from which states can launch comprehensive self-examinations, impose reforms, or in some cases, impose moratoria.

• Document type NGO report

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 type NGO report
• Themes list Moratorium ,
• Available languages État de signature et ratification du Deuxième Protocole facultatif se rapportant au Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques visant à abolir la peine de mort.État de signature et ratification du Deuxième Protocole facultatif se rapportant au Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques visant à abolir la peine de mort.

Oral Statement of Penal Reform International during the Panel on Children of Parents Sentenced to the Death Penalty or Executed, Human Rights Council, 24th Session.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Themes list Juveniles, International law, Death Penalty,

Most of the world’s countries or territories have either abolished the death penalty or no longer use it. More than half of those that retain the death penalty, of which many are in South-East Asia, do so for drug-related offences. Most prisoners on death row in South-East Asia have been convicted of drug-related offences, although law and practice vary considerably among countries that retain the death penalty.

• Document type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics,

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,

This study reflect on the aspects of fairness and accuracy as foundation of the American criminal justice system. As the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized, these goals are particularly important in cases in which the death penalty is sought. A system cannot claim to provide due process or protect the innocent unless it offers a fair and accurate system for every person who faces the death penalty.

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

The present report contains information covering developments during 2006. 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 have abolished the death penalty and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this form of punishment.

• Document type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages دام عقوبة مسألة: العام الأمينВопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаряQuestion de la peine de mort : Rapport du Secrétaire général死刑问题: 秘书长的报告La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General

We assessed the Court’s reformist project on its own terms, asking whether the Court achieved the goals explicit or tolerated, if not invited, the inequalities and capriciousness characteristic of the pre-Furman era. We also argued that, apart from its failure on its own terms, the Supreme Court’s reformist regulation of capital punishment might well have carried an additional unanticipated cost. Whereas abolitionists initially sought judicial regulation of the death penalty as at least a first step towards abolition, judicial reform actually may have helped to stabilize the death penalty as a social practice. We argued that the appearance of intensive regulation of state death penalty practices, notwithstanding its virtual absence, played a role in legitimizing the practice of capital punishment in the eyes of actors both within and outside the criminal justice system, and we pointed to some objective indicators—such as the dramatic decline in the use of executive clemency in the post-Furman era[12] —as support for this thesis. Implicit in Furman and the 1976 foundational cases. Our assessment was not a positive one. Although the reformist approach spawned an extraordinarily intricate and detailed capital punishment jurisprudence, the resulting doctrines were in practical terms largely unresponsive to the underlying concerns for fairness and heightened reliability that had first led to the constitutional regulation of the death penalty. We described contemporary capital punishment law as the worst of all possible worlds. Its sheer complexity led to numerous reversals of death sentences and thus imposed substantial costs on state criminal justice systems. On closer inspection, however, the complexity concealed the minimalist nature of the Court’s reforms.

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

Article 1 – Abolition of the death penaltyThe death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.

• Document type Regional body report
• Themes list International law,
• Available languages German : Protokoll Nr. 13 zur Konvention zum Schutze der Menschenrechte und Grundfreiheiten bezüglich der Abschaffung der Todesstrafe unter allen UmständenItalian : Protocollo n° 13 alla Convenzione per la salvaguardia dei Diritti dell'Uomo e delle Libertà fondamentali relativo all'abolizione delle pena di morte in ogni circostanzaПротокол № 13 к Конвенции о защите прав человека и основных свобод относительно отмены смертной казни при любых обстоятельствахProtocole n° 13 à la Convention de sauvegarde des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertés fondamentales, relatif à l'abolition de la peine de mort en toutes circonstances

Article 1 – Abolition of the death penaltyThe death penalty shall be abolished. No-one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.

• Document type Regional body report
• Themes list International law,
• Available languages German : Protokoll Nr. 6 zur Konvention zum Schutze der Menschenrechte und Grundfreiheiten über die Abschaffung der TodesstrafeItalian : Protocollo n° 6 alla Convenzione per la salvaguardia dei Diritti dell'Uomo e delle Libertà fondamentali sull'abolizione delle pena di morteПротокол № 6 к Конвенции о защите прав человека и основных свобод относительно отмены смертной казниProtocole no. 6 à la Convention de sauvegarde des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertés fondamentales concernant l'abolition de la peine de mort

• Document type United Nations report
• Available languages تقرير 2018- وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامInforme 2018 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRapport 2018 - Moratoire sur l'application de la peine de mortДоклад 2018 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни2018报告 - 暂停使用死刑联合国

The permanent missions to the United Nations in New York listed below have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 67/176, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 19 November 2012, and subsequently by the General Assembly on 20 December 2012 by a recorded vote. The permanent missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention of existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Afghanistan / Antigua and Barbuda / Bahrain / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Chad / China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Egypt / Equatorial Guinea / Eritrea / Eswatini / Ethiopia / Grenada / Guyana / India / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Kuwait / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Libya / Malaysia / Mauritania / Myanmar / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Solomon Islands / Somalia / Sudan / Syrian Arab Republic / Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago / Uganda / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرة شفوية مؤرخة 16 نيسان/أبريل 2013 موجهة إلى الأمين العام من البعثة الدائمة لمصر لدى الأمم المتحدةNota verbal de fecha 16 de abril de 2013 dirigida al Secretario General por la Misión Permanente de Egipto ante las Naciones UnidasNote verbale datée du 16 avril 2013, adressée au Secrétaire général par la Mission permanente de l’Égypte auprès de l’Organisation des Nations UniesВербальная нота Постоянного представительства Египта при Организации Объединенных Наций от 16 апреля 2013 года на имя Генерального секретаря2013年4月16日埃及常驻联合国代表团给秘书长的普通照会

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York listed below have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 71/187, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 17November 2016 and subsequently by the Assembly on 19 December 2016 by a recorded vote. The Permanent Missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attemptto impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention of existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Antigua and Barbuda / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Chad / China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Egypt / Ethiopia / Grenada / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Kuwait / Libya / Malaysia / Maldives / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Sudan / Syrian Arab Republic / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرة شفوية مؤرخة 7 أيلول/سبتمبر 2017 موجهة إلى الأمين العام من البعثة الدائمة لمصر لدى الأمم المتحدةNota verbal de fecha 7 de septiembre de 2017 dirigida al Secretario General por la Misión Permanente de Egipto ante las Naciones Unidas.Note verbale datée du 7 septembre 2017, adressée au Secrétaire général par la Mission permanente de l’Égypte auprès de l’Organisation des Nations UniesВербальная нота Постоянного представительства Египта при Организации Объединенных Наций от 7 сентября 2017 года на имя Генерального секретаря2017 年 9 月 7 日埃及常驻联合国代表团给秘书长的普通照会

Six months after the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty, ECPM is proud to announce the publication of the Proceedings of the Brussels Congress. This unpublished, documented and illustrated book reports on the rich debates held during the Congress and discusses the new associative and political dynamics promoted in this context.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Themes list Member organizations, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

The story is based on the conviction Dhananjoy, accused for the gruesome murder of Hetal Parekh, which took place in the year 1990. On the basis of circumstantial evidence and on the basis of the deceased mother’s statement, Dhananjoy Chatterjee- a security guard, was executed and hanged to death on the early hours of 15th August 2004, after serving imprisonment for 14 long years and after having appealed to all levels of court in the country; and finally, to the President of India.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list India
• Themes list Public opinion, Innocence, Death Row Conditions, Discrimination, Death Penalty,

Twelve states and the District of Columbia do not impose the death penalty. The authors, all sociology professors at American universities, use the case-study method to examine why this is so. The factors they consider include murder rates, the history of executions, economic circumstances, public opinion, mass media, population diversity, and each state’s abolition of the death penalty. They also examine the role of a state’s social, cultural, and economic leaders in public debate on capital punishment. The states studied are Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, and West Virginia, though there is also some discussion of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Media reports and government documents were reviewed and legislators, civil servants, journalists, death-penalty activists, and others interviewed. Throughout, the authors express an abolitionist point of view, stating “We hope this book will provide practical information to those interested in furthering death penalty abolition in the United States and throughout the world.”

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

Why are death penalty provisions, convictions and executions so prevalent in China? This article aims to answer this question by way of defining China as a ‘state power’ based society characterized by a socialist social system. The prevalence of the death penalty in China can be explained in terms of the following factors: first, the death penalty is a political issue of state power; second, the death penalty is a crucial part of criminal policy in a ‘state power’-based society; third, the issue of whether to retain the death penalty is a political rather than a legal matter. The Chinese government has improved its death penalty system in recent years; however, the situation has not fundamentally changed. The future of death penalty policy and practice in China will depend primarily on legal rather than democratic developments. The death penalty serves as a focal point that can help illuminate issues of punishment and society in East Asia. Accordingly, this article will elaborate my theories regarding the death penalty in contemporary China, with the primary intent of elucidating the relationship between punishment and society in China.

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

In 2003, the Missouri Supreme Court set aside the death sentence of Christopher Simmons, who was 17 when he was arrested for the murder of Shirley Crook. The Simmons court held that the “evolving standards of decency” embodied in the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments barred execution of persons who committed capital crimes before their 18th birthday. This decision was based in part on the emerging legislative consensus in the states opposing execution of juvenile offenders and the infrequency with which the death penalty is imposed on juvenile offenders. The State sought a writ of certiorari, and the case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. This article presents results of analyses of empirical data on the use of the death penalty for adolescent homicide offenders in state courts in the U.S. since 1990. The data shows that, since 1994, when death sentences for juvenile offenders peaked, juvenile death sentences have declined significantly. In particular, the decline in juvenile death sentences since 1999 is statistically significant after controlling for the murder rate, the juvenile homicide arrest rate, and the rate of adult death sentences. This downward trend in juvenile death sentences signals that there is an evolving standard in state trial courts opposing the imposition of death sentences on minors who commit capital offenses.

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

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

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

This ressource provided by the American Bar Association permits to help fill clemency petitions in the United States.

• Document type Arguments against the death penalty
• Themes list Clemency, Death Penalty,

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 type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages الإعدام عقوبة وفرض الش, ألستون∗ فيليب السيد الخاص، المقررТРАНСПАРЕНТНОСТЬ И ВЫНЕСЕНИЕ СМЕРТНОГО ПРИГОВОРА, Доклад Специального докладчика Филипа АлстонаTRANSPARENCE ET IMPOSITION DE LA PEINE DE MORT, Rapport du Rapporteur spécial, M. Philip Alston死刑的公开和执行问题, 特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿的报告LA TRANSPARENCIA Y LA IMPOSICIÓN DE LA PENA DE MUERTE, Informe del Relator Especial, Philip Alston

The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to its resolution 65/206. It discusses the trend towards abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of a moratorium on execution. The report also reflects on the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. It further discusses the importance of making available relevant information with regard to the use of the death penalty, which can contribute to transparent national debates and international and regional initiatives for the promotion of the universal abolition of the death penalty.

• Document type United Nations report
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages تقرير 2012 - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامInforme 2012 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRapport 2012 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortДоклад 2012 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни2012报告 - 暂停使用死刑

Two trends accompanying the abolition of the death penalty give reason for concern: there is a striking increase in offences that carry the sanction of life imprisonment as the sanction which typically replaces the death penalty following abolition or a moratorium of the death penalty; and a striking increase in prisoners serving this indefinite sentence. Secondly, a differential, harsher treatment is applied to them as compared to other categories of prisoners. At the same time, the development of international standards in any affirmative–if not legally binding– form are lacking. As a consequence states are more frequently enforcing a form of punishment problematic in terms of international human rights standards and norms.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Kenya
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Scholars have devoted substantial attention to both the overrepresentation of black defendants on federal death row and the disproportionate number of federal defendants charged capitally for the murder of white victims. This attention has not explained (much less resolved) these disquieting racial disparities. Little research has addressed the unusual geography of the federal death penalty, in which a small number of jurisdictions are responsible for the vast majority of federal death sentences. By addressing the unique geography, we identify a possible explanation for the racial distortions in the federal death penalty: that federal death sentences are sought disproportionately where the expansion of the venire from the county to the district level has a dramatic demographic impact on the racial make-up of the jury. This inquiry demonstrates that the conversation concerning who should make up the jury of twelve neighbors and peers—a discussion begun well before the founding of our Constitution—continues to have relevance today. Louisiana, Missouri, Virginia and Maryland referred to.

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

This Article presents evidence of racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty in the United States Armed Forces from 1984 through 2005.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Minorities, Country/Regional profiles,

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations inNew York listed below have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 73/175, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Assembly on 17 December 2018 by a recorded vote. The Permanent Missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention of existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Bahrain / Bangladesh / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Chad / China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Egypt / Ethiopia / Grenada / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Kuwait / Libya / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Sudan / Syrian Arab Republic / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرة شفوية مؤرخة 13 أيلول/سبتمبر 2019 موجهة إلى الأمين العام من الممثل الدائم لمصر لدى الأمم المتحدةNota verbal de fecha 13 de septiembre de 2019 dirigida al Secretario Generalpor el Representante Permanente de Egipto ante las Naciones UnidasNote verbale datée du 13 septembre 2019, adressée au Secrétaire général par le Représentant permanent de l’Égypte auprès de l’Organisation des Nations UniesВербальная нота Постоянного представителя Египта при Организации Объединенных Наций от 13 сентября 2019 года на имя Генерального секретаря2019年9月13日埃及常驻联合国代表给秘书长的普通照会

The participants to the 6th World Congress against the death penalty have handed over their final declaration, calling again for the universal abolition of the death penalty.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Available languages Déclaration finale 6ème Congrès mondial contre la peine de mort

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,

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,

Chivalry – that set of values and code of conduct for the medieval knightly class – has long influenced American law, from Supreme Court decisions to substantive criminal law doctrines and the administration of criminal justice. The chivalrous knight was enjoined to seek honor and defend it through violence and, in a society which enforced strict gender roles, to show gallantry toward “ladies” of the same class, except for the women of the knight’s own household, over whom he exercised complete authority. This article explores, for the first time, whether these chivalric values might explain sentencing outcomes in capital cases. The data for the article comes from our original study of 1299 first degree murder cases in California, whose death penalty scheme accords prosecutors and juries virtually unlimited discretion in making the death-selection decision. We examine sentencing outcomes for three particular types of murder where a “chivalry effect” might be expected – gang murders, rape murders and domestic violence murders. In cases involving single victims, the results were striking. In gang murders, the death sentence rate was less than one-tenth the overall death sentence rate. By contrast, in rape murder cases, the death sentence rate was nine times the overall death sentence rate. The death sentence rate for single-victim domestic violence murders was roughly 25% lower than the overall death sentence rate. We also examined, through this study and earlier California studies, more general data on gender disparities in death sentencing and found substantial gender-of-defendant and gender-of-victim disparities. Women guilty of capital murder are far less likely than men to be sentenced to death, and defendants who kill women are far more likely to be sentenced to death than defendants who kill men. We argue that all of these findings are consistent with chivalric norms, and we conclude that, in the prosecutors’ decisions to seek death and juries’ decisions to impose it, chivalry appears to be alive and well.

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

Has the imposition of death improved our stance in this battle for security of our fellow man? Does it have a “sting” in the sense of deterring man from killing men, women and children? Has society been victorious in preventing the killing? The simple answer is that the death penalty in America has done little to deter or prevent those inclined to kill from killing. Another concern is whether our system has terminated the lives of innocent individuals. 3 Under these circumstances, what should we as a society do insofar as our criminal justice system is concerned? In this article I seek to address those questions and ultimately recommend an overhaul in our death penalty approach. Is it time to …

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

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,

This article investigates the way in which the Council of Europe enforced the norm against capital punishment in Europe. The Council of Europe, through both moral persuasion and centripetal pressure, compelled its member states to adopt the regionally promoted human rights standard. Ukraine, where the very last execution in Europe took place, accepted the norm after a number of years of resistance and in the face of public opposition to abolition. It was possible because of the adamant role of the Council of Europe in attempting to build a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Ukraine’s strategic will to be integrated within the European regional community.

• Document type Article
• Countries list Ukraine
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

The Report of the UN Hugh Commissioner for human Rights provides a summary of the high-level discussion on the question of the death penalty, held on 4 March 2015, at the twenty-fifth session of the Council. The aim of the panel discussion was to exchange views on the question of the death penalty, and to address regional efforts aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and the challenges faced in that regard.

• Document type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Death Penalty,
• Available languages Обсуждение вопроса о смертной казни в рамках дискуссионной группы высокого уровня. Доклад Верховного комиссара Организации Объединенных Наций по правам человекаRéunion-débat de haut niveau sur la question de la peine de mort. Rapport du Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme死刑问题高级别小组讨论会. 联合国人权事务高级专员的报告Mesa redonda de alto nivel sobre la cuestión de la pena de muerte. Informe del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos

The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to its resolution 69/186. It discusses developments towards the abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of moratoriums on executions. The report also reflects on trends in the use of the death penalty, including the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. It also discusses the role of national human rights institutions and private companies, as well as regional and international initiatives for advancing the abolition of the death penalty.

• Document type United Nations report
• Themes list International law, Moratorium , Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages Доклад 2016 - Мораторий на применение смертной казниRapport 2016 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mort2016报告 - 暂停使用死刑Informe 2016 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerte

This Article uncovers the true costs of administering the death penalty in California by tracing how much taxpayers are spending for death penalty trials versus non–death penalty trials and for costs incurred due to the delay from the initial sentence of death to the execution.The article makes recomendations.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Sentencing Alternatives, Financial cost,

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 type Multimedia content
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Poster of the 13th Wold Day against the death penalty dedicated to drug crimes: the death penalty doesn’t stop drug crimes

• Document type Multimedia content
• Themes list Drug Offences, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
• Available languages German : Poster - 13° Welttag gegen die TodesstrafeItalian : Poster - 13° Giornata mondialeپوستر - روز جهانی سال 2015плакат - Всемирный день 2015г海報 - 2015 年世界反死刑日Cartel - Día Mundial 2015Affiche Journée Mondiale 2015

On December 18, DPIC released its annual report on the latest developments in capital punishment, “The Death Penalty in 2014: Year End Report.” In 2014, 35 people were executed, the fewest in 20 years. Death sentences dropped to their lowest level in the modern era of the death penalty, with 72 people sentenced to death, the smallest number in 40 years. Just seven states carried out executions, and three states (Texas, Missouri, and Florida) accounted for 80% of the executions. The number of states carrying out executions was the lowest in 25 years. Seven people were exonerated from death row this year, including three men in Ohio, who were cleared of all charges 39 years after their convictions, the longest time among all death row exonerees. There have now been 150 people exonerated from death row since 1973. “The relevancy of the death penalty in our criminal justice system is seriously in question when 43 out of our 50 states do not apply the ultimate sanction,” said Richard Dieter, DPIC’s Executive Director and the author of the report. “The U.S. will likely continue with some executions in the years ahead, but the rationale for such sporadic use is far from clear.”

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

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 type International law - United Nations
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages مسألة عقوبة الإعدام; تقرير الأمين العامВопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаряQuestion de la peine de mort : Rapport du Secrétaire général死刑问题: 秘书长的报告La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General

Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. In his report the Secretary-General confirms that the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty is continuing. During the reporting period, initiatives limiting the use of the death penalty and implementing the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty were also recorded in several States. A minority of States continued to use the death penalty, in contravention of international human rights law. As requested by the Council in its resolution 22/11, the report also includes information on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Juveniles, Death Penalty,

This report highlights the death penalty situation and executions in Asian countries between 2010 and 2013. It also gives an overview over the legal protection measures for the mentally impaired and intellectually disabled in Asian countries where the death penalty is used. Furthermore, we have listed Asian countries that have acceded to the ICCPR and its Second Optional Protocol. We have also collected excerpts from international human rights documents. By using these documents for mutual reference, death penalty activists in Asia will be able to get a more comprehensive picture of the use of the death penalty and executions in Asian countries.

• Document type Article
• Themes list International law, Public debate, Most Serious Crimes,
• Available languages 亞洲不公平審判報告 II : 死刑並非亞洲的共同價值

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 30/5. It provides a summary of the high-level discussion on the question of the death penalty held on 1 March 2017 at the thirty-fourth session of the Council. The objective of the panel discussion was to continue the exchange of views on the question of the death penalty and to address violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

• Document type International law - United Nations
• Themes list International law, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

This report is divided into three parts. In Part A, the Commission identifies flaws in California’s death penalty system that render it dysfunctional, and remedies we unanimously recommend to repair it. Repairing the system would enable California to achieve the national average of a twelve year delay between pronouncement of sentence and the completion of all judicial review of the sentence. In Part B, the Commission offers the Legislature, the Governor, and the voters of California information regarding alternatives available to California’s present death penalty law. The Commission makes no recommendation regarding these alternatives. In Part C, the Commission presents recommendations relating to miscellaneous aspects of the administration of California’s death penalty law. We were not able to reach unanimous agreement upon all of these recommendations, and dissents are noted where applicable. Commissioner Jerry Brown, Attorney General of California, agrees in principle with some of the Commission’s recommendations as set forth in his separate statement. Commissioner William Bratton, Chief of Police for the City of Los Angeles, abstains from the specific recommendations in this Report, and will issue a separate explanatory statement.

• Document type Government body report
• Themes list Networks,

On 10 October 2021, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and other abolitionist organizations worldwide will celebrate the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty.

This year the World Day is dedicated to women who risk being sentenced to death, who have received a death sentence, who have been executed, and to those who have had their death sentences commuted, have been exonerated or pardoned. Included in this theme, are trans women and other gender diverse individuals, who are a minority on death row but who are discriminated against on the basis of gender.

Capital punishment disproportionately targets socially marginalized individuals; it is no different for transgender people, who may face discrimination in every aspect of their lives.

• Document type Campaigning
• Themes list Women
• Available languages FICHE D’INTRODUCTION SUR LES PERSONNES TRANS PASSIBLES DE LA PEINE DE MORT

For the 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty this year is dedicated to the right to effective legal representation for individuals who face death sentences around the world. The theme of access to counsel reinforces the importance of fair trial standards in every legal system and judicial context.

• Document type Campaigning
• Countries list Maldives
• Themes list Fair Trial / Legal Representation

This report has three broad sections. the first sets out the state of play of this issue in the 22 countries concerned. As well as the latest political developments, it examines the various national, regional and international protagonists. Particular attention has been paid to seven countries: Algeria, Jordan, lebanon, Morocco and tunisia in view of their legal progress towards abolition; and Egypt and Yemen for the energy of their abolitionist players. The second section identifies and analyses the relevant arguments against use of the death penalty, including the religious argument. Finally, the last section discusses the outlook for the future and suggests action and recommendations to strengthen the abolitionist movement. the report’s main aim is to encourage regional and sub-regional currents.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Religion , World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
• Available languages كفاح ضد العقوبة الاعدام في العالم العربيLa Lutte contre la peine de mort dans le monde arabe

As of November 2001, 203 men sit on Ohio’s death row. With the executions of Wilford Berry on February 19, 1999, Jay D. Scott on June 14, 2001, and John Byrd, Jr. on February 19, 2002, the death penalty in Ohio is a reality. The capital defense practitioner representing a client at trial or on appeal must be prepared to defend his or her client against that reality. To that end, this article examines the statutory framework within which capital cases are prosecuted with the express purpose of aiding defense practitioners and improving the quality of capital representation in Ohio. This article analyzes both the positive and negative aspects of Ohio’s death penalty statute. To meet its twin objects, practical advice and suggested litigation strategies are intermingled with critical analysis of the law in Ohio.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Legal Representation,

Joint statement calling on the government to immediately commute all death sentences; to investigate all allegations of torture made by persons sentenced to death, and to dismiss any and all convictions made on the basis of confessions obtained under conditions of torture; to re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view towards abolishing the practice.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list Bahrain
• Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

This film is based on the death penalty in Kazakhstan. The death penalty was formerly a common charge for the most obscene crimes, and was at its greatest prominence in 1995, when 101 males on charges of death sentences were executed by the firing squad.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list Kazakhstan
• Themes list Most Serious Crimes, Country/Regional profiles,

Bu rapor, Ocak-Aralık 2022 dönemi için ölüm cezasının adli kullanımını kapsamaktadır. Uluslararası Af Örgütü yalnızca infazlar, ölüm cezaları ve ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin diğer hususlar (cezanın hafifletilmesi ve beraat gibi) hakkında makul teyitlerin olduğu durumlarda raporlama yapmaktadır. Birçok ülkede hükümetler ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin bilgi yayınlamamaktadır.

• Document type NGO report

To assess support for the death penalty in Mexico and South Korea, surveys were administered to students at institutions of higher education. The majority of respondents in Mexico (52.3%) and South Korea (60.8%) supported the death penalty. Given that the Mexican and South Korean governments have histories of using criminal justice agencies to suppress democratic reform, the high level of support for the death penalty indicates that a history of authoritarian governance may not inculcate widespread opposition to the punishment. Concomitantly, regression analyses of the data indicate that beliefs about the treatment afforded to criminal suspects do not significantly affect support for capital punishment. Contrary to research conducted in the United States, which has consistently shown support for capital punishment is lower among females than among males, regression analyses of the data show that gender has no impact on support for the death penalty; findings that call for a reexamination of the thesis that the gender gap in support for the death penalty in the United States is the result of a patriarchal social structure.

• Document type Article
• Countries list Mexico
• Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Fifty-five (55) OSCE participating States have either completely abolished the death penalty or maintain moratoria on executions as an important first step towards abolition. However, in a global context where discussions focus on the threat of terrorism and a need to be tough on crime, it is perhaps not surprising that the question of reintroducing the death penalty surfaces at times, including in the OSCE region. It is, therefore, a good moment to reflect on the reasons why there is still support for the death penalty, considering the growing understanding that capital punishment is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Some of the most persistent arguments used to justify the use of the death penalty and its possible reintroduction will be discussed in the report.

• Document type International law - Regional body
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

In Africa, more than 80% of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, with only 10 countries executing within the past decade, said FIDH and DITSHWANELO in their joint study, “Triggers for the abolition of the death penalty in Africa: a Southern African perspective”.The 36 pages study identifies the triggers leading to the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. It was released simultaneously with a documentary called #Gambia has decided which shows the current abolitionist process experienced in The Gambia.

• Document type NGO report
• Available languages Les déclencheurs de l'abolition de la peine de mort en Afrique: une perspective de l'Afrique australe

This joint stakeholder report aims to provide up-to-date and useful information to understand the reality of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in view of the next review of Iran by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2019. The substantive information was gathered from news, reports and testimonies from various local sources. Iran is one of the leading death-sentencing and executing states in the world. Despite some recent steps towards limiting the scope of the death penalty for drug-related crimes, Iran’s use of capital punishment remains non-transparent, arbitrary, and worrisomely broad in scope.

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

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,

This article examines the situation of the death penalty in Africa. It does so byaddressing three main questions: First, to what extent is the death penalty inAfrica in fact an issue about which one should be particularly concerned?Second, what are the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Third, whatis to be done to strengthen the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Inaddition, the article examines the question whether article 4 of the AfricanCharter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its related provisions will inspirethe abolition of the death penalty. It is suggested that challenging mandatorydeath sentences, advancing procedural challenges, open debate onalternatives to the death penalty, and improving the national criminaljustice system will strengthen restrictions on the death penalty in Africa. Thearticle concludes that positive criminal justice reform rather than moralisticcondemnation is the most effective route to the eventual abolition of thedeath penalty in Africa.

• Document type Article
• Themes list Networks,

Status of the ratification of the Protocol 13 ECHR

• Document type Regional body report
• Themes list International law,
• Available languages Italian : Ratifica del protocollo n° 13 alla Convenzione per la salvaguardia dei Diritti dell'Uomo e delle Libertà fondamentali relativo all’abolizione delle pena di morte in ogni circostanzaGerman : Ratifizierung des Protokoll Nr. 13 zur Konvention zum Schutze der Menschenrechte und Grundfreiheiten bezüglich der Abschaffung der Todesstrafe unter allen UmständenРатификация протокола № 13 к Конвенции о защите прав человека и основных свобод относительно отмены смертной казни при любых обстоятельствахRatifcationes du protocole n° 13 à la Convention de sauvegarde des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertés fondamentales, relatif à l'abolition de la peine de mort en toutes circonstances

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Antigua and Barbuda / Congo / Democratic Republic of the Congo / Djibouti / Dominica / Eswatini / Guinea / Lebanon / Libya / Nauru / Niger / Pakistan / Philippines / Republic of Korea / Sierra Leone / Solomon Islands / South Sudan / Tonga / Uganda / Zimbabwe

Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and she now faces her last appeal.

• Document type Multimedia content
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Fair Trial

The fifth edition of this highly praised study charts and explains the progress that continues to be made towards the goal of worldwide abolition of the death penalty. The majority of nations have now abolished the death penalty and the number of executions has dropped in almost all countries where abolition has not yet taken place. Emphasising the impact of international human rights principles and evidence of abuse, the authors examine how this has fuelled challenges to the death penalty and they analyse and appraise the likely obstacles, political and cultural, to further abolition. They discuss the cruel realities of the death penalty and the failure of international standards always to ensure fair trials and to avoid arbitrariness, discrimination and conviction of the innocent: all violations of the right to life. They provide further evidence of the lack of a general deterrent effect; shed new light on the influence and limits of public opinion; and argue that substituting for the death penalty life imprisonment without parole raises many similar human rights concerns.

• Document type Book
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

On May 16, 2001, the federal government carried out its first execution for a criminal offense in over 38 years (Timothy McVeigh). This article (part of a symposium issue) examines recent developments in the administration of the federal death penalty, in the legislative, judicial, and executive (Department of Justice) arenas. While not an abolitionist, the author expresses misgivings about federal capital punishment as it is currently administered, updating statistics regarding racial and geographic disparity from his 1999 article “The Federal Death Penalty: History and Some Thoughts About the Department of Justice’s Role,”. The article also explains “What the Supreme Court Got Wrong in Jones,” (1999). Finally, the international implications of the first execution by the federal government in two generations are explored. No longer can the United States shift its internationally isolated position regarding capital punishment onto its constituent states under a theory of independent federalism. Note: This is a description of the paper and not the actual abstract.

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

Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submittedin order to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. The reportconfirms that the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty is continuing.However, numerous concerns remain with regard to the lack of respect for internationalhuman rights norms and standards in States that still impose the death penalty. Asrequested in Human Rights Council resolution 22/11, the report also includes informationon the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
• Available languages Question de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général 2014La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General 2014مسألةعقوبةالإعدامتقريرالأمينالعام2014Вопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаря 2014死刑问题 秘书长的报告 2014

OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments regarding the death penalty, including to consider the potential abolition of capital punishment. In light of these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The background paper is based on the information provided by participating States, in the form of responses to ODIHR questionnaires.

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

Two decades after Iran ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the authorities continue to show contempt for one of its core principles – the prohibition of the death penalty for juvenile offenders (people younger than 18 at the time of the crime). Indeed, Iran tops the grim global table of executioners of juvenile offenders.The report analyses the Iranian Penal System with regard to juvenile offenders, acknowledges the reforms, presents the recent trends and points out the major shortcomings that still need to be addressed in view of a full compliance of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the international standards.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Juveniles, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
• Available languages Iran: Synthèse et les conclusions du rapport sur la peine de mort en Iran.