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Document(s)

Killing in the Name of Justice. The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

By Amnesty International / Amnesty International UK, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Saudi Arabia


More details See the document

The 2015 Amnesty International’s Report on Saudi Arabia gravely confirms that Saudi Arabia remains one of the most prolific executioners in the world. Between January 1985, the earliest year from when information on executions is available, and June 2015 it executed at least 2,200 persons, almost half of whom were foreign nationals. Over one third of these executions were carried out for offences that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty can be imposed under international law. Most of these crimes, such as drug-related offences, are not mandatorily punishable by death according to the authorities’ interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Saudi Arabia
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Most Serious Crimes, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Discrimination, Torture, and Execution: A Human Rights Analysis of the Deathe Penalty in U.S. Prisons

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), on 1 January 2013


2013

NGO report


More details See the document

In May 2013, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) undertook a fact-finding mission in California and Louisiana to evaluate the death penalty as practiced and experienced in these jurisdictions under a human rights framework. The mission examined whether the death penalty was being applied in a discriminatory manner, and if the conditions on death row met the U.S.’s obligation to prevent and prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.The mission interviewed death-row prisoners, exonerees and their family members, advocates, legal counsel, and non-governmental organizations in both states, analyzing the information gathered against the backdrop of international human rights law. Based on the interviews conducted and documentary review, the mission concludes that the use of the death penalty in California and Louisiana fails to protect a number of basic rights, rendering the United States in breach of certain fundamental international obligations. Specifically, the mission finds California and Louisiana violate the principle of non-discrimination in the charging, conviction and sentencing of persons to death. Both states treat prisoners condemned to death in a manner that is, at minimum, cruel, inhuman or degrading, and in some cases, constitutes torture.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Torture, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2010

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


2020

NGO report

Albania

ru
More details See the document

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

Document(s)

Promotion by Council of Europe member states of an international moratorium on the death penalty

By Council of Europe / M. Pietro MARCENARO, on 1 January 2007


2007

International law - Regional body

fr
More details See the document

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights confirms its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. It takes pride in its decisive contribution to making the member states of the Council of Europe a de facto death penalty-free zone. It notes with satisfaction that the death penalty is on the decline world-wide, as shown by a 25% decrease in executions and death sentences between 2005 and 2006. More than 90% of known executions in 2006 took place in only six countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the United States of America – an observer state of the Council of Europe.The small number of countries that still resort to executions on a significant scale is becoming increasingly isolated in the international community. Between 1977 and 2006, the number of abolitionist countries rose from 16 to 89. This number increases to 129 if one includes those countries which have not carried out anyexecutions for the past 10 years or more.A moratorium is an important step as it saves lives at once and has the potential of demonstrating to the public in retentionist countries that an end to state-sponsored killings does not lead to any increase in violent crime. On the contrary, a moratorium on executions can bring about a change of atmosphere in society fostering greater respect for the sanctity of human life, and thus contribute to reversing the trend towards ever-increasing hate and violence.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the Great Lakes Region of Africa: protagonists, arguments and strategies

By Franck Gorchs-Chacou / Caroline Sculier / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 323 Ko ]

Focusing in particular on four of the region’s countries – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda –, this research work aspires to become a practical tool for Great Lakes’ activists: after describing the state of play of the death penalty in the region, it examines the factors arguing in favour of its abolition and suggests strategies for individual and collective action.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty Is Dead Wrong: Jus Cogens Norms and the Evolving Standard of Decency

By Geoffrey Sawyer / Penn State International Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

Nigeria


More details See the document

The conviction of Amina Lawal in Nigeria for committing adultery and sentence of death by stoning created an international outcry of support to overturn her sentence. The support she received is a reflection of the outrage many around the world feel toward this particular method of execution, and in a larger context the growing social norm that the death penalty should be abolished. As more of the world looks upon the death penalty as unfair, or cruel and unusual, or as torture, arguably, a jus cogens norm prohibiting the death penalty has developed in international law, and will ultimately be the vehicle by which the death penalty will be abolished worldwide. Part I of this comment will detail the plight of Amina Lawal, and how her situation is indicative of the globalization of human rights norms. In Part II, this comment will examine the meaning of a jus cogens norm and how it can be established in the context of capital punishment. Using human rights treaties, the law and practice of other nations, and international tribunal decisions, Part III will assert, citing other contexts, such as the “right to life,” and the already entrenched jus cogens norm prohibiting torture, that a jus cogens norm abolishing the death penalty has arguably already been established. Finally, Part IV will assess what the effect of the establishment of a jus cogens norm prohibiting capital punishment.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Nigeria
  • Themes list Stoning,

Document(s)

The Juvenile Death Penalty Today: Death Sentences and Executions for Juvenile Crimes, January 1, 1973 – February 28, 2005

By Victor Streib / Ohio Northern University, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

This is Issue #77, the final issue of these periodic reports, having first been launched on June 15, 1984. On that date, the death penalty for juvenile offenders (defined as those under age 18 at the time of their crimes) was an obscure issue in law as well as in political and social arenas. During the last twenty-one years, these reports have been with us (1) through the intense litigation of the late 1980s, (2) through our society’s near hysteria about violent juvenile crime in the 1990s, (3) into the era of the international pressure on the United States to abandon this practice, and (4) now at the end of this practice. The validity and influence of these reports is indicated by thecitations to them in the opinions of leading courts, including the United States Supreme Court: Roper v. Simmons, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 1192, 1193, 1210, 1211, 1221 (2005); In re Stanford, 537 U.S. 968, 971 (2002); and Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361, 373 (1989). In the litigation leading up to the final juvenile death penalty case before the United States Supreme Court (Roper v. Simmons, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005)), the Missouri Supreme Court majority opinion included 12 citations to these reports: See Simmons v. Roper, 112 S.W.3d 397, 408, 409, 411 (Mo. 2003). This final issue of this periodic report is intended to document the status of the death penalty for juvenile offenders as ofthe day before the United States Supreme Court held this practice to be unconstitutional. These reports sketch the characteristics of the juvenile offenders and their crimes who have been sentenced to death, who have been executed, and who are currently under death sentences. —- See bottom left hand corner of web page.

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

Document(s)

China’s Death Penalty: The Supreme People’s Court, the Suspended Death Sentence and the Politics of Penal Reform

By Susan Trevaskes / British Journal of Criminology, on 1 January 2013


2013

Article

China


More details See the document

This paper examines the issue of judicial discretion and the role of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in death penalty reform since 2007. The SPC has been encouraging judges to give ‘suspended’ death sentences rather than ‘immediate execution’ for some homicide cases. Lower court judges are encouraged to use their discretion to recognize mitigating circumstances that would allow them to sentence offenders to a suspended death sentence. The SPC has used ‘guidance’ instruments which include ‘directives’ and other SPC interpretations and a new ‘case guidance’ system which provides case exemplars to follow. The study explored these guidance instruments as a way of deepening the understanding of how law, politics and judicial practices are interwoven to achieve reform goals.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
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Member(s)

Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders CSHRD

on 24 July 2024

The Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders (CSHRD) is an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights in Somalia. CSHRD was established in 2014. CSHRD runs holistic and comprehensive torture victims rehabilitation centre in Somalia. CSHRD work is guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDHR and the SDGs of 1, 5, 10, […]

2024

Somalia

Article(s)

Calendar of events for World Day 2015

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 September 2015

Browse the schedule and the map to prepare and promote the events planned around the world on the big day.

2015

Drug Offenses

Document(s)

The Death Penlty In 2011: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2011


2011

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The number of new death sentences dropped dramatically in 2011, falling below 100 for the first time in the modern era of capital punishment. Executions also continued decline, while developments in a variety of states illustrated the growing discomfort that many Americans have with the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty In 2018: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center / Death Penalty Information Centre, on 1 January 2018


2018

NGO report


More details See the document

New death sentences and executions remained near historic lows in 2018 and a twentieth state abolished capital punishment, as public opinion polls, election results, legislative actions, and court decisions all reflected the continuing erosion of the death penalty across the country.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty Project: 2018 Report

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

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

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

Document(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)

Practice guide for defense counsel representing individuals facing the death penalty in Uganda

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2019


2019

Working with...


More details See the document

This Practice guide offers guidance to defense counsel in Uganda for the accused person facing a criminal trial of a capital offence involving a death penalty. The best practices are intended to ensure effective legal representation in order to mitigate the potential of imposition of the death penalty. The best practices detailed in the Practice guide intend to enhance the performance of criminal defense counsel in all stages of the criminal trial proceeding to mitigate the adverse effect of an erroneous conviction and sentencing of the accused person to death.The Practice guide was developed in recognition of the unique nature and effect of the death penalty compared to other criminal penalties, and therefore defense counsel in a capital case should take extraordinary efforts on behalf of the accused to review and ensure compliance with these best practices throughout the proceedings.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Human Rights and the Death Penalty in the United States

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This sheet details what human rights are in relation to the death penalty and the USA. It discusses racism, inadequete legal representation and the unjustifiable cost of the death penalty in the US.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

Parliamentarians and the abolition of the death penalty – a resource

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / Francis H. Warburton, on 1 January 2014


2014

Working with...

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 667 Ko ]

This resource is for parliamentarians around the globe, currently working or thinking of working for the abolition of the death penalty. It is intended to provide some of the key arguments for abolition based on a series of case studies, showing how abolition has been achieved and is being achieved around the world. The resource also sets out the mini steps that can be taken toward abolition and some information on the development of parliamentary networks and there are a list of contacts where parliamentarians can find information and support.

Document(s)

Where is the justice for me?’ The case of Troy Davis, facing execution in Georgia

By Amnesty International / Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains he did not commit. Given that all but three of the witnesses who testified against Troy Davis at his trial have since recanted or contradicted their testimony amidst allegations that some of it had been made under police duress, there are serious and as yet unanswered questions surrounding the reliability of his conviction and the state’s conduct in obtaining it. As the case currently stands, the government’s pursuit of the death penalty contravenes international safeguards which prohibit the execution of anyone whose guilt is not based on “clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts”. Amnesty International does not know if Troy Davis is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is facing execution. As an abolitionist organization, it opposes his death sentence either way. It nevertheless believes that this is one in a long line of cases in the USA that should give even ardent supporters of the death penalty pause for thought. For it provides further evidence of the danger, inherent in the death penalty, of irrevocable error. As the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court wrote in 1993, “It is an unalterable fact that our judicial system, like the human beings who administer it, is fallible. Or as a US federal judge said in 2006, “The assessment of the death penalty, however well designed the system for doing so, remains a human endeavour with a consequent risk of error that may not be remediable.”

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty and Victims

By United Nations, on 1 January 2016


2016

International law - United Nations


More details See the document

This publication includes perspectives from a broad range of victims. While some of them are family members of crime victims, others are victims of human rights violations in application of the death penalty, of its brutality and traumatic effects. Victims’ perspectives, taken holistically, make a compelling case against the death penalty. When it comes to the death penalty, almost everyone loses. The perspectives of the victims on the death penalty as reflected in this book are likely to provoke tough discussions. This may be a welcome challenge. The publication was launched at a high-level event on 21st September at the UN in New York.The full recording of the event and the programme is available at: texte

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Innocence, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2016

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2016


International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The background paper provides information on changes and developments withregard to the death penalty in the OSCE area and new developments on the internationallevel. In this year’s edition, there is a specific focus on the relationship betweencapital punishment and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhumanor degrading treatment or punishment.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

A year-end compilation of death penalty data for the state of Missouri : Annual Report 2015

By Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

MADP released its annual report which highlights some of the major problems with Missouri’s broken death penalty system. Here is a snapshot of the death penalty in Missouri in 2015: 6 executions in 2015 but no new death sentences in Missouri in 2015.

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

Document(s)

Annual Report of the Death Penalty in Iran in 2010

By Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report

fa
More details See the document

The annual report of the death penalty in 2010 shows a dramatic increase in the number of executions compared to the previous years. The number of annual executions in 2010 in Iran is probably the highest since the mass executions of political prisoners in the summer of 1988.

Document(s)

Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran 2018

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

This report provides an assessment and analysis of death penalty trends in 2018 in the Is-lamic Republic of Iran. It sets out the number of executions in 2018, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative framework and procedures, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Uzbekistan: ‘Justice only in heaven’ – the death penalty in Uzbekistan

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Uzbekistan


More details See the document

This document reports on the use of the death penalty in Uzbekistan. It looks at the scope of the death penalty and the current hurdles to its abolition. The report also examines those factors which commonly lead to judicial error – the use of arbitrary detention and torture, unfair trials and corruption.The latter part of the report looks at the conditions for prisoners on death row and the suffering inflicted by the state on the families of those sentenced to death.

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

Document(s)

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2019: The Year in Review

By Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty / Kristin Houlé / Grace Rudser, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) – a statewide advocacy organization based in Austin, Texas – publishes this annual report to inform the public and elected officials about issues associated with the death penalty over the past year. The report includes illustrative charts and graphs, and cites the death penalty developments in Texas (USA).

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition

By Organization of American States / Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on 1 January 2012


2012

International law - Regional body

es
More details See the document

The report takes into account the standards developed within the Inter-American human rights system to restrict the application of the death penalty over the last 15 year.

Document(s)

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year in Review

By Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

This year, jurors in Texas imposed the fewest new death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s revised capital punishment statute in 1976. According to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s (TCADP) report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year in Review, juries newly condemned three individuals to death. They rejected the death penalty in four other trials. The first death sentence of the year was not imposed until October 7, 2015.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the U.S. in 2016: infographic

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

Figures on the application of the death penalty in the US in 2016: Another record decline in death penalty use

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

Document(s)

Sharia law and the death penalty

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

PRI has witnessed the death penalty’s abolition in a majority of the world’s nations, but it continues to be used in most Muslim countries. One of the main reasons for this is the justification that it is permitted by the Quran, the Islamic holy book. In many Islamic countries which continue to carry out executions, the death penalty has become a taboo subject. Governments frequently use Sharia to justify why they retain and apply capital punishment, and this can seem to close discussion on the subject. However, Sharia law is not as immutable on the death penalty as many scholars or states say. Among the misconceptions about Sharia law is the belief that there is a clear and unambiguous statement of what the punishments are for particular offences. In fact, there are several different sources referring to punishments, and different schools of Sharia law give different weight to them.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Religion , Methods of Execution,

Document(s)

Death Penalty in the Palestinian Legal System: A Legal Review

By Maan Shihda Ideis / Independent Commission for Human Rights , on 1 January 2010


2010

International law - Regional body

ar
More details See the document

ICHR carried out this review in order to assist the PNA in its attempts to join international community that did abolish death penalty from their legal system. In order for the PNA to ratify the various international conventions stipulating respect for the right to life and prohibits the execution of every human being. In this study, ICHR aims to define the practical steps that the PNA should take in order to abolish death penalty from the Palestinian legal system. According to Article (10) of the Basic Law of 2002, the human rights and fundamental freedoms shall be binding and respected by the PNA which shall, without delay, accede to the regional and international declarations and instruments that protect human rights, especially those international charters and resolutions that governing the right to life, the abolition of death penalty, and/or placing restrictions on the procedures of its execution.

Document(s)

Myth #9 – The Bible supports the death penalty

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The Bible preaches retribution. Jesus supports the death penalty. FACT: People have been arguing for decades over interpretations of the Bible. The Church has officially declared its opposition to the death penalty. The concept of “mercy” is preached in the majority of religions.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Religion ,

Document(s)

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

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


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).

Member(s)

Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires (COJESKI)

on 30 April 2020

The Collectif des organisations des jeunes solidaires du Congo-Kinshasa RDC [Collective of Youth Solidarity Organisations in Congo-Kinshasa DRC, COJESKI-RDC] is a platform consisting of 340 youth organisations which has been operating in Congo-Zaire since 1995. Its main aim is to promote and defend positive human values, sustainable development and good governance of the Democratic Republic […]

2020

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Member(s)

Réseau d’alerte et d’intervention pour les droits de l’Homme (RAIDH)

on 30 April 2020

The Alert and Intervention Network for Human Rights (Réseau d’alerte et d’intervention pour les droits de l’Homme (RAIDH) aims to organise, finance and support any work, initiatives, measures, ideas or discussions which aim to defend and promote human rights (particularly civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, international humanitarian rights, rights for refugees, […]

France

Document(s)

File: Saudi Arabia in the World Day against the Death Penalty, execution of Civil Society

By European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, on 1 January 2018


2018

Multimedia content

Saudi Arabia


More details See the document

Saudi Arabia uses the death penalty as an instrument against individuals, society and freedoms. It is used far away from any international laws and frameworks as it is applied sometimes on children. These practices have become an approach that includes numerous violations as well as denial of the right to life, such as arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials. As the world revives the anti-death penalty day on October 10, the European Saudi organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) illuminates it through its figures, the issues it has documented and the campaigns it has led. Through the articles published ESOHR tries to show the usage of the death penalty by the Saudi government as a mean to achieve its goals and to impose silence.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Saudi Arabia
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Article(s)

Support grows for Davis as his execution is stayed

on 26 October 2008

Troy Davis’s execution was stayed on October 23, four days before he was scheduled to die, as activists took action on his behalf all over the world.

2008

United States

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2016: video summary of DPIC Year End Report.

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

DPIC’s 2016 Year-End Report: another record decline in death penalty use in the US. A video summary of the report.

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

Document(s)

Families of Murder Victims Oppose the Death Penalty

By California People of Faith Working Against the death penalty, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

The San Diego chapter of California People of Faith Working Against the DeathPenalty educates and mobilizes faith communities to act to abolish the death penalty in California. We are a nonpartisan, statewide, interfaith organization. As communities of faith, we join together to take responsibility for the killing of our citizens by the State of California. As people of faith, we know that the God/Wisdom of all faiths calls us to something more: a high and often difficult standard of love, forgiveness and justice that is rooted not in retribution but rather in redemption and restoration. The death penalty denies the sacredness of human life. Spiritually, the death penalty diminishes us all. As we invest in vengeance in this society, we divest ourselves of compassion. As we support retribution, we neglect restorative justice. We cannot be a community of compassion and unity if we choose to destroy one another. And we should not allow the State to do it for us.

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

Document(s)

Annual report on the death penalty in Iran 2013

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report

fafr
More details See the document

The sixth annual report of Iran Human Rights (IHR) on the death penalty gives an assessment of how the death penalty was implemented in 2013 in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Document(s)

Pathways to Justice: Implementing a Fair and Effective Remedy following Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty in Kenya

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

This report draws on experiences in other jurisdictions where capital sentencing laws have been struck down or abolished, thereby generating the need for prisoners already unlawfully sentenced to death to be given substitute sentences. It delineates the ways in which other common law jurisdictions have addressed the practical and procedural challenges of resentencing following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty – navigating potential human rights infringements and ensuring that satisfactory requirements of due process are met. Resentencing procedures must also be scalable and practically accessible to the large number of individuals (thousands in the case of Kenya) entitled to relief.

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

Document(s)

The death penalty in Council of Europe member and observer states: a violation of human rights

By Council of Europe / Ms Renate WOHLWEND, on 1 January 2011


2011

International law - Regional body

fr
More details See the document

The Parliamentary Assembly is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. The European experience has shown conclusively that the death penalty is not needed to check violent crime. The United States of America and Japan, as observer states, and Belarus, which aspires to membership of the Council of Europe are invited to join the growing consensus among democratic countries that protect human rights and human dignity by abolishing the death penalty. The report addresses a series of specific recommendations to the United States, Japan and Belarus aimed at promoting a moratorium on executions followed by definitive abolition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area 2012

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2012


2012

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2011. It is intended to provide a concise update to highlight changes in the status of the death penalty in OSCE participating States since the previous publication and to promote constructive discussion of this issue.

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

Document(s)

: Time to Abolish the Death Penalty in Zimbabwe: Exploring the Views of its Opinion Leaders

By Death Penalty Project, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Zimbabwe


More details See the document

This report draws on in-depth interviews with 42 opinion leaders on the death penalty, their knowledge of the criminal justice system, the likelihood of abolition and how that could be achieved. They represent the fields of politics, public service, law, religion, civil society, academia, and defence.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Zimbabwe
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

: The Right Way: More Republican lawmakers championing death penalty repeal

By Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

At a press conference in Washington, DC, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty released a new report that shows the surge in the number of Republican lawmakers who sponsored death penalty repeal legislation at the state level. The report – called The Right Way – looked at all death penalty repeal bills filed since 2000, using the increase in sponsorships as a measure for growing Republican leadership on the issue.

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

Document(s)

Life after death: What replaces the death penalty?

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012


2012

NGO report


More details See the document

Report from PRI that analyzes how there has been a global trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty and a restriction in the scope and use of capital punishment over the last fifty years.

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

Document(s)

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA – The Death Penalty in 2000

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

China


More details See the document

The attached report analyses the use of the death penalty in China in 2000 and examines sentencing patterns and the legislation behind the death penalty in China.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the United States

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Antoine Bernard, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report


More details See the document

The report indicates that most of the people sentenced to capital punishment, especially the poor and indigent, did not benefit from a fair trial, and that the conditions of detention – which is very long – constitute “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments”. Furthermore, the FIDH fears that the possible moratoriums on the executions considered by several States only aims at improving the criminal procedures prior to the executions.

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

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


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)

Effective advocacy towards abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / FIACAT, on 1 January 2018


2018

Lobbying

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 840 Ko ]

This manual has been written by the World Coalition against the death penalty (WCADP) in partnership with FIACAT.This tool is a guide for the advocacy towards abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa. It became a capitalisation tool of the joint project between FIACAT and WCADP “Contributing to the abolition of the Death Penalty in sub-Saharan Africa”

Document(s)

A-53: SIGNATORIES AND RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOL TO THE AMERICAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

By Organization of American States / Department of International Law, on 1 January 2011


2011

Regional body report

es
More details See the document

Estado de Firmas y Ratificaciones del protocolo a la convention americana sobre derechos humanos relativo a la abolicion de la pena de muerte

Member(s)

Reprieve

on 30 April 2020

Reprieve is a small, feisty registered charitable organisation of human rights defenders. Our strategy is to use strategic interventions to end the use of the death penalty globally, and to end extreme human rights abuses carried out in the name of “counterterrorism” or “national security” We work for among the most disenfranchised people in society, […]

2020

United Kingdom

Document(s)

The Death of the American Death Penalty

By L. Koch / Northeastern University Press / J. Galliher, on 1 January 2012


2012

Book

United States


More details See the document

A new book by Larry Koch, Colin Wark and John Galliher discusses the status of the death penalty in the U.S. in light of recent legislative activity and court decisions. In The Death of the American Death Penalty, the authors examine the impact of factors such as economic conditions, public sentiment, the role of elites, the media, and population diversity on the death penalty debate.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Member(s)

Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains

on 30 April 2020

The Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights (OMDH) aims to diffuse and deepen the awareness of individual and collective human rights in socio-economic, cultural, civil and political matters. Working with other Moroccan, Arabic, African and international organisations, it organises conferences, debates, research, investigations and exhibitions as well as a video competition on human rights. The OMDH […]

2020

Morocco

Article(s)

Saudi Arabia Reviews Death Sentences Issues Against Children

By Louis Linel, on 1 September 2020

According to the Saudi Human Rights Commission, the death sentence issued against Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun and Abdullah al-Zaher will be reviewed in accordance with reforms decreed in the Kingdom in April on juvenile criminal justice.

2020

Juveniles

Saudi Arabia

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2011. Shared responsibility and shared consequences.

By Patrick Gallahue / Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

The Global Overview 2011. It provides a country-by-country analysis of the death penalty for drugs, and is intended to inform policy-makers of the potential for change as well as to shed some light on the environments in which the international fight against illicit drugs is pursued.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Capital Punishment in Pennsylvania: The Report of the Task Force and Advisory Committee

By Joint State Government Commission, on 1 January 2018


2018

Government body report


More details See the document

Senate Resolution No.6 in 2011 called for a study of the contemporary capital punishment system in the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania is among the 31 states and the federal government that authorize capital punishment. During the last four decades in Pennsylvania, hundreds of murderers have been convicted and condemned to death; however, there have been only three executions.This study follows others on the same or related topics, including those conducted by the American Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System. The SR6 report is the culmination of work done by the Justice Center for Research at The Pennsylvania State University, the Interbranch Commission on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, and an advisory committee comprised of judges, public defenders, district attorneys, victim advocates, inmate advocates, clergy, law enforcement officials, and other expert stakeholders.

  • Document type Government body report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

Lightening the Load of the Parental Death Penalty on Children

By Oliver Robertson / Quaker United Nations Office, on 1 January 2013


2013

NGO report

enarfafres
More details See the document

This paper begins by providing some basic information about children of parents sentenced to death, issues that persist through the whole of a parent’sinteraction with the criminal justice system. Next, it looks at issues that aresimilar to those faced by other children of prisoners, but focuses on the ways inwhich children of parents sentenced to death are different. For a more detailedaccount of the situation of children of prisoners worldwide, including recommendations and examples of good practice, read QUNO’s 2012 paperCollateral Convicts. Thirdly, the fundamentally different issues are considered, thoseonly children of parents sentenced to death experience. There are a limitednumber of recommendations included throughout: these are not intended to becomprehensive, instead only covering those areas where there is already clarity about a positive way forward.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

By Human Rights Council, on 1 January 2012


2012

Working with...


More details See the document

The present report, the first to be submitted to the Human Rights Council, is submitted pursuant to Council resolution 16/9 and covers the human rights developments since the commencement of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on 1 August 2011.

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

Document(s)

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

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


1996

Regional body report


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Complicity or Abolition?: The Death Penalty and International Support for Drug Enforcement

By Damon Barrett / Rick Lines / Patrick Gallahue / International Harm Reduction Association, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

This report exposes the links between the carrying out of executions and the financial contributions from European governments, the European Commission and the UNODC to support drug enforcement operations in countries that use the death penalty such as China, Iran and Viet Nam. The report notes that such operations continue to be funded without appropriate safeguards despite the fact that the abolition of the death penalty is a requirement of entry into the Council of Europe and the European Union and that the United Nations advocates strongly against capital punishment

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty: Myths and Realities

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

The Penal Reform International’s Report “Myths and Realities” provides ‘quick answers to common questions’ about the death penalty.The ‘myths’ covered include: ‘The death penalty keeps societies safer’, ‘the death penalty is applied fairly’, ‘there is nothing in international law to stop countries using the death penalty’, and ‘victims and relatives are in favour’. The booklet is a useful guide for activists and advocates of abolition, giving them the arguments they need to tackle common pre- and misconceptions.

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

Document(s)

Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty

By Caroline Sculier / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 686 Ko ]

This report analyses the various ways in which moratoria is/can be used by a number of countries throughout the world. The countries are placed into one of three groups 1: One step away from Statutory Abolition? 2. Countries which are Abolitionist in Practice but Resist Making their Position Official; and, 3. Countries with an Ambiguous Stance.

Document(s)

The High Cost of the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020


2020

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

A fact sheet on the cost of the death penalty in the United States. Life emprisonment without parole is suggested.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Transparency, Death Penalty, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Slow march to the gallows: Death penalty in Pakistan

By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Anne-Christine Habbard, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

Pakistan ranks among the countries in the world which issue the most death sentences: currently, over 7,400 prisoners are lingering on death row. In recent years, Pakistan has witnessed a significant increase in charges carrying capital punishment, in convictions to death, as well as in executions. The HRCP and FIDH find that the application of death penalty in Pakistan falls far below international standards. In particular, they find that, given the very serious defects of the law itself, of the administration of justice, of the police service, the chronic corruption and the cultural prejudices affecting women and religious minorities, capital punishment in Pakistan is discriminatory and unjust, and allows for a high probability of miscarriages of justice, which is wholly unacceptable in any civilised society, but even more so when the punishment is irreversible. At every step, from arrest to trial to execution, the safeguards against miscarriage of justice are weak or non-existent, and the possibility that innocents have been or will be executed remains frighteningly high.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process , Discrimination,

Document(s)

The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of the Death Penalty in the United States

By Carol S. Steiker / Annual Review of Law and Social Science, on 1 January 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

This review addresses four key issues in the modern (post-1976) era of capital punishment in the United States. First, why has the United States retained the death penalty when all its peer countries (all other developed Western democracies) have abolished it? Second, how should we understand the role of race in shaping the distinctive path of capital punishment in the United States, given our country’s history of race-based slavery and slavery’s intractable legacy of discrimination? Third, what is the significance of the sudden and profound withering of the practice of capital punishment in the past two decades? And, finally, what would abolition of the death penalty in the United States (should it ever occur) mean for the larger criminal justice system?

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

Member(s)

Hope and Justice

on 30 April 2020

Hope and Justice is a small association founded after a plea for help from two prisoners sentenced to death, Justin Fuller and Carl Brooks. The initial aim was to save their lives by raising awareness among the greatest number of people possible of their cases and a fund for their defence. Justin Fuller was executed […]

2020

Belgium

Member(s)

Quaker United Nations Office, Geneva

on 30 April 2020

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) serves as a Quaker presence at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva and New York. QUNO represents Quaker concerns at the international level, under the auspices of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), the international Quaker body which has General Consultative Status with the UN. In addition to […]

Switzerland

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area

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


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)

The Death Penalty in 2019: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The US death penalty usage remains near record lows in 2019.

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

Document(s)

The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yeman

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

ar
More details See the document

In this 20-page report, Human Rights Watch documents failures in law and practice that since January 2005 have resulted in 32 executions of juvenile offenders in five countries: Iran (26), Saudi Arabia (2), Sudan (2), Pakistan (1), and Yemen (1). The report also highlights cases of individuals recently executed or facing execution in the five countries, where well over 100 juvenile offenders are currently on death row, awaiting the outcome of a judicial appeal, or in some murder cases, the outcome of negotiations for pardons in exchange for financial compensation

Document(s)

Judged for More than Her Crime: a Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty

By Cornwell Death Penalty Project / Delphine Lourtau, on 1 January 2018


2018

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

This groundbreaking report aims to bridge critical gaps in understanding of how states apply capital punishment from a gender perspective. This study is the first to examine how and when women receive death sentences and the conditions under which they are detained on death row, with a particular focus on India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Pakistan and the United States. The conclusions are that gender discrimination is pervasive at all stages of capital cases, but that its operation is complex. Report published by Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide with the support of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Document(s)

Struck by Lightning: The Continuing Arbitrariness of the Death Penalty Thirty-Five Years After Its Re-instatement in 1976

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examenes how, after three and a half decades of experience under the revised statutes on death penalty, the randomness of the system continues.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Arbitrariness,

Document(s)

Dignity Denied: The Experience of Murder Victims’ Family Members Who Oppose the Death Penalty

By Robert Renny Cushing / Susannah Sheffer / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

This report, which includes policy recommendations, is the culmination of a long effort to identify and document the bias on the part of some prosecutors, judges, and members of the victims’ services community against victims’ family members who oppose the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Conditions of Detention on Death Row

By Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Conditions of Detention on Death Row

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

Document(s)

Fighting for clients’ lives: the impact of the death penalty on defence lawyers

By Susannah Sheffer / Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2014


2014

Working with...


More details See the document

How are lawyers affected by defending death penalty cases, where failure means execution? And how do they respond when their clients are killed?This briefing paper, written by Susannah Sheffer and drawing on her book Fighting for their lives, showcases the voices of the lawyers themselves to demonstrate the profound and long-lasting impacts that the death penalty can have on those indirectly affected by it.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

The Persistent Problem of Racial Disparities in The Federal Death Penalty

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

This paper details the profoundly troubling evidence that racial disparities continue to plague the modern federal death penalty. Of the next six federal inmates scheduled for execution, all are African-American defendants. Defendants of color make up the majority of federal death row and the majority of modern federal executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Minorities, Discrimination,

Document(s)

The Last Word: Rewriting the American death penalty

By Lawrence O’Donnell / MSNBC, on 1 January 2011


2011

Campaigning


More details See the document

Sept. 22: The execution of Troy Davis drew an unprecedented amount of media attention. But where was the outrage over Derrick Mason who was put to death in Alabama today? MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has more in the Rewrite.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Fair Trial, Innocence, Arbitrariness,

Document(s)

USA: Blind faith: An appeal to President George W. Bush to admit that the USA’s 30-year experiment with the death penalty has failed

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

In the context of the “war on terror”, US officials have authorized and condoned interrogation techniques and detention conditions that violate the international prohibition on torture. Yet officials have at the same time claimed to be committed to treating detainees humanely. Amnesty International now urges President Bush, in addition to reconsideration of his administration’s approach to the treatment of detainees in US custody at home and abroad, to reconsider his support for the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty: A Best Practices Manual

By Sandra Babcock / Death Penalty Worldwide, on 1 January 2013


2013

Working with...

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1202 Ko ]

This manual was written by Death Penalty Worldwide, a project affiliated with the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, and the law firm of Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. The manual aims to provide lawyers with legal arguments and strategic guidance in their representation of individuals facing the death penalty around the world. It sets forth the best practices in the defense of capital cases, based on the experiences of advocates around the world, international human rights principles, and the jurisprudence of both national courts and international tribunals.

Document(s)

Annual Report: Death Penalty in Iran 2011

By Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report

enfafrfafr
More details See the document

The execution wave that began after the June 2009 post-election protests in Iran continues with high frequency. According to the present report, the execution figure in 2011 is currently the highest since the beginning of 1990’s.

Document(s)

Investigating Attitudes to the Death Penalty in Indonesia in bahasa Indonesia

By Universitas Indonesia LBH Masyarakat Universitas Oxford The Death Penalty Project, on 10 August 2021


2021

NGO report

Drug Offenses

Indonesia

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

Pandangan Para Pembentuk Opini tentang Hukuman Mati di Indonesia

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

Document(s)

International Network of Academics Against the Death Penalty

By International Academic Network for the abolition of capital punishment, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

It is of the utmost importance, in the short and medium-term, to develop an intense work of academically nature both of study and disclosure of the problems of the abolition of the death penalty in the international scenario, to complement and help the work of the diplomatic action and non-governmental organizations. To this effect it is proposed to keep REPECAP as an ever – growing scientific world network comprising academic law scholars, human rights centers, institutions of public law and Ngos, with expertise and skill in the problems of death penalty and interests in the field of international criminal justice, as well as young researchers who have been dealing with these topics or wish to get involved with the subject, regardless of nationality or locations.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty: The Ultimate Punishment

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2008


2008

Campaigning

enfres
More details See the document

Campaigning toolkit published by Amnesty International. A 16-page detailed advocacy document explaining why the abolition of the death penalty is necessary and how the theories behind capital punishment get it wrong.

Document(s)

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty – inhumane and Ineffective

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Viet Nam

fres
More details See the document

Amnesty International is alarmed by the recent dramatic rise in the reported imposition of the death penalty in Viet Nam, particularly for drugs-related offences and other economic crimes. It believes that the continuing use of the death penalty in Viet Nam is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and a breach of the right to life and that the conditions surrounding its imposition in Viet Nam are in contravention of international human rights standards. In this report Amnesty is calling on the Vietnamese Government to immediately establish a moratorium on all executions, while taking steps towards total abolition of the death penalty in accordance with international standards and United Nations recommendations.

Document(s)

Japan: “Will this day be my last?” The death penalty in Japan

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Japan

enes
More details See the document

This report examines a number of concerns related to the application of the death penalty in Japan, where approximately 87 prisoners currently remain on death row. These concerns include the fact that a prisoner is notified of the execution on the morning of the day it is to be carried out. In some cases the prisoner is not notified at all. This means that prisoners live with the constant fear of execution, not knowing whether they will be alive the next day. Amnesty International calls on the Japanese government to abolish the death penalty as a matter of urgency.

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


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)

Death to the Death Penalty/ La peine de mort est condamnée à disparaître/Muerte a la Pena de Muerte.

By Amnesty International / YouTube, on 1 January 2010


2010

Working with...


More details See the document

This video is part of the campaign run by Amnesty International titled “Death to the Death Penalty”, in the video wax figures ressembling forms of execution melt away leaving only the Amnesty International candle burning/Ce video, réalisé par Amnesty International pour la campagne intitulé “La peine de mort est condamnée à disparaître”/Muerte a la Pena de Muerte.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in China: Towards the Rule of Law

By Nicola Macbean / Ashgate Publishing, on 1 January 2008


2008

Academic report


More details See the document

In the run up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, intemational criticism of China’s human rights record has highlighted the use of the death penalty. Although global activists may try to intemationalise China’s use ofthe death penalty, capital punishment is a domestic issue.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Public debate, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Arguing for the Death Penalty: Making the Retentionist Case in Britain, 1945-1979

By Thomas Wright / University of York, on 1 January 2010


2010

Multimedia content

United Kingdom


More details See the document

There is a small body of historiography that analyses the abolition of capital punishment in Britain. There has been no detailed study of those who opposed abolition and no history of the entire post-war abolition process from the Criminal Justice Act 1948 to permanent abolition in 1969. This thesis aims to fill this gap by establishing the role and impact of the retentionists during the abolition process between the years 1945 and 1979. This thesis is structured around the main relevant Acts, Bills, amendments and reports and looks briefly into the retentionist campaign after abolition became permanent in December 1969. The only historians to have written in any detail on abolition are Victor Bailey and Mark Jarvis, who have published on the years 1945 to 1951 and 1957 to 1964 respectively. The subject was discussed in some detail in the early 1960s by the American political scientists James Christoph and Elizabeth Tuttle. Through its discussion of capital punishment this thesis develops the themes of civilisation and the permissive society, which were important to the abolition discourse. Abolition was a process that was controlled by the House of Commons. The general public had a negligible impact on the decisions made by MPs during the debates on the subject. For this reason this thesis priorities Parliamentary politics over popular action. This marks a break from the methodology of the new political histories that study ‘low’ and ‘high’ politics in the same depth.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United Kingdom
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Guiding Hand of Counsel’ and the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases

By Robin M. Maher / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

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,

Document(s)

The Challenge to the Mandatory Death Penalty in the Commonwealth Caribbean

By JOANNA HARRINGTON / American Journal of International Law, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article


More details See the document

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,

Document(s)

AEDPA Repeal

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


2022

Academic report

Terrorism

United States


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide developments in 2007

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

fresar
More details See the document

In 2007 the world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of the capital punishment. A historical landmark is the resolution on a moratorium on executions endorsed by the United Nations. By the end of the 2007, 91 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. The death penalty has now been abolished in law or practice by 135 countries. Other subjects covered in this report include commutations, judicial reviews, use against child offenders; and extradition.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty Worldwide – Developments in 2006 (With amendments)

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

arfres
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The world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of capital punishment during 2006. By the end of the year 88 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. The death penalty has now been abolished in law or practice by 128 countries. Other subjects covered in this document include significant judicial decisions; the use of the death penalty against child offenders; resumptions of executions; and campaigning activities to promote abolition.

Document(s)

Moving away from the death penalty

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2015


2015

International law - United Nations


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The present publication provides an extensive review of global trends in death penalty matters, a summary of the applicable international legal standards, and the current status of legislative reform related to the death penalty in South-East Asia. As a product of the OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia, this publication is intended to be a resource for further discussions in the region toward the abolition of the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2010

By Rick Lines / Patrick Gallahue / Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


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The report is the first detailed country by country overview of the death penalty for drugs, monitoring both national legislation and state practice of enforcement. Of the states worldwide that retain the death penalty, 32 jurisdictions maintain laws that prescribe the death penalty for drug offences. The study also found that in some states, drug offenders make up a significant portion – if not the outright majority – of those sentenced to death and/or executed each year.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

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

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


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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)

Moving Away From the Death Penalty: National Experiences

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2012


2012

International law - United Nations


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Why do states retain the death penalty? Any suggestions that the death penalty has a meaningful deterrent effect have been overstated, with little research supporting such an assertion. The OHCHR is organising a series of global panel discussions on the abolition of the death penalty. This publication is based on the first of these discussions, held at the United Nations in New York on 3 July 2012.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,

Document(s)

A Matter of Life and Death: films, an assembly, lessons and information on the death penalty to inspire students aged 14+

By Amnesty International UK, on 8 September 2020


2020

Campaigning


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Through A Matter of Life and Death lessons, assembly and films, students aged 14+ can explore the issues surrounding the use of the death penalty, one of Amnesty’s oldest and most established campaigns.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Public opinion,