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Document(s)
ISOLATION AND DESOLATION CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH MALAYSIA – Bahasa Melayu
By Carole Berrih, Ngeow Chow Ying, ECPM, ADPAN, on 27 May 2021
2021
NGO report
Death Row Conditions
Malaysia
More details See the document
Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death in Malaysia is the first ever fact-finding mission report on the conditions of detention of death row prisoners in Malaysia.
It examines the use of death penalty in Malaysia as well as the actual situation of people on death row.
This report is not meant to point fingers but rather to put the facts on the table in a transparent manner and work from there. It is mainly an advocacy tool for all abolitionist stakeholders, from civil society actors to the parliamentarians who will keep fighting for the abolition of the death penalty.
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Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death di Malaysia adalah satu-satunya laporan berasaskan misi mengkaji fakta (fact-finding mission) mengenai keadaan-keadaan penahanan bagi banduan-banduan hukuman mati di Malaysia.
Laporan ini mengkaji pelaksanaan hukuman mati di Malaysia dan juga keadaan sebenar orang-orang yang dijatuhkan hukuman mati.
Laporan ini bukan bertujuan untuk menunding jari terhadap mana-mana pihak, tetapi bertujuan untuk memberi pencerahan kepada fakta-fakta yang ditemui dan berusaha ke atasnya. Laporan ini bertujuan utama sebagai alat advokasi kepada semua pihak yang mempunyai kepentingan dalam pemansuhan, bermula dari ahli persatuan kemasyarakatan sehingga ahli parlimen yang akan berusaha berterusan untuk memansuhkan hukuman mati.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Malaysia
- Themes list Death Row Conditions
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
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)
The death penalty in China
By Bin Lu, Hong Liang / Columbia University Press, on 1 January 2015
2015
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Featuring experts from Europe, Australia, Japan, China, and the United States, this collection of essays follows changes in the theory and policy of China’s death penalty from the Mao era (1949–1979) through the Deng era (1980–1997) up to the present day. Using empirical data, such as capital offender and offense profiles, temporal and regional variations in capital punishment, and the impact of social media on public opinion and reform, contributors relay both the character of China’s death penalty practices and the incremental changes that indicate reform. They then compare the Chinese experience to other countries throughout Asia and the world, showing how change can be implemented even within a non-democratic and rigid political system, but also the dangers of promoting policies that society may not be ready to embrace.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition
By Routledge / Madoka Futamura, on 1 January 2014
2014
Book
More details See the document
Covering a diverse range of transitional processes in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition offers a broad evaluation of countries whose death penalty policies have rarely been studied. The book would be useful to human rights researchers and international lawyers, in demonstrating how transition and transformation, ‘provide the catalyst for several of interrelated developments of which one is the reduction and elimination of capital punishment’.
- Document type Book
- Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2003/67
By United Nations, on 1 January 2004
2004
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from January 2003 through December 2003. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages الموضوع العقوبة الاعدام : تقرير الأمين العام مقدم بشأن قرار اللجنة 2003/67По вопросу смертной казни: доклад Генерального Секретаря, предоставленный в ответ на резолюцию 2003/67 Комиссии по правам человекаQuestion de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général présenté en application de la résolution 2003/67死刑问题: 秘书长按照委员会第2003/67 号决议提交的报告Cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General presentado de conformidad con la resolución 2003/67
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
arMore 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 type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages مراجعة قانونية لعقوبة الإعدام في سطيني
Document(s)
Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia
By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Virginia, on 1 January 2003
2003
NGO report
More details See the document
In April of 2000, the ACLU of Virginia published its first report on the status of the death penalty in Virginia. Since that time, a remarkable number of changes have taken place on this issue both in Virginia and throughout the country, which necessitated a second edition of the report. The first report examined four aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and the role of race. This report will look at those four areas and also add several other issues: the problem of prosecutorial misconduct in capital cases, the problem of executing mentally retarded offenders, the question of executing juvenile offenders and the danger of executing wrongfully convicted persons, as shown by the growing number of individuals who have been exonerated while on death row.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
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 Death Penalty in Singapore: in Decline but Still Too Soon for Optimism
By National University of Singapore, on 1 January 2016
2016
Article
Singapore
More details See the document
A survey on Singaporeans’ opinion on the death penalty, which was led by Assoc Prof Chan Wing Cheong from the NUS Faculty of Law, found that most Singaporeans are in favour of the death penalty but less so for certain cases. Fewer support the death penalty for drug trafficking and firearms in cases where no one dies or is injured and there is also less support for the mandatory death penalty. The survey polled 1,500 Singapore citizens aged 18 to 74 between April and May 2016.For a free summary of the study: http://news.nus.edu.sg/highlights/11231-death-penalty-support-not-clear-cut
- Document type Article
- Countries list Singapore
- Themes list Public opinion, Public debate, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Egypt
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Etienne Jaudel / Alya Chérif Chammari / Nabeel Rajab, on 1 January 2005
2005
NGO report
arfrMore details See the document
The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic. Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the basis of the sentence. The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages عقوبة العدام في مصرLa peine de mort en Egypte
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
fresMore details See the document
In October 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime” and that “this rule has been recognized as being of a sufficiently indelible nature to now constitute a norm of jus cogens”. This paper examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders (people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18) is prohibited under customary international law and as a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Statistics,
- Available languages La non-application de la peine de mort à des mineurs délinquants en droit international généralLa exclusión de los menores de la pena de muerte con arreglo al derecho internacional general
Member(s)
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran
on 30 April 2020
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center previously know as Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation Mandate and goals : Promoting universal human rights in Iran and documenting the violation of the right to life in the Islamic Republic of Iran Kind of actions : Creation of an online memorial to the victims of the violation of the right to life in […]
2020
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Document(s)
Written Statement to the 22nd Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Malawi
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
More details See the document
This submission informs on Malawi’s international human rights obligations with regard to its use of the death penalty. This report will also examine and discuss the judicial process applied in cases involving punishment by the death penalty. Reports and commentary indicate that there is a serious problem of prison conditions and access to justice for the vast majority of individuals accused of crimes for which the death penalty is a possible punishment. This report has been compiled from a combination of sources, including the Malawi Penal Code, experts, news reports, non-governmental organizations, and other commentary. Further, this report makes recommendations that steps be taken to alleviate such conditions. These steps include both reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and respects international human rights standards, complete abolition of capital punishment, universal access to adequate legal representation and provision of clean, safe, and appropriate prison conditions as well as regular monitoring.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process , Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Debate Over the Death Penalty in Today’s China
By Zhang Ning / China perpectives, on 1 January 2005
2005
Article
China
More details See the document
Despite the sensitivity of the subject, the death penalty is currently a topic of public discussion among Chinese legal experts who are now openly wondering about its possible abolition. This debate is of interest on three counts. First, it goes hand-in-hand with a retrospective reading of the Chinese penal tradition, highlighting the succession of attempts at modernising criminal law for over a century. It also shows the ever present weight of the Maoist legacy and the contradictions of the present policy, caught between a concern for legality and continuing recourse to exceptional measures. Lastly, legal professionals and theorists alike are engaging in a review—based on specific cases—of the particular features of contemporary Chinese society and culture.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Public debate,
Document(s)
A/HRC/RES/42/24 – Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 27 September 2019 – The question of the death penalty
By Human Rights Council, on 8 September 2020
2020
United Nations report
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list International law, Death Penalty,
- Available languages A/HRC/RES/42/24 - قراراعتمده مجلس حقوق الإنسان في 27 أيلول/سبتمبر 2019 ٤2/2٤- مسألة عقوبة الإعدامA/HRC/RES/42/24 - Резолюция, принятая Советом по правам человека 27сентября2019 года - Вопрос о смертной казниA/HRC/RES/42/24 - Résolution adoptée par le Conseil des droits de l'homme le 27 septembre 2019 - La question de la peine de mortA/HRC/RES/42/24 - 人权理事会 2019 年 9 月 27 日通过的决议 - 死刑问题A/HRC/RES/42/24 - Resolución aprobada por el Consejo de Derechos Humanos el 27 de septiembre de 2019 - La cuestión de la pena de muerte
Document(s)
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty in the US
By Death Penalty Information Center / Mark Warren, on 1 January 2013
2013
Article
United States
More details See the document
New information on foreign nationals facing the death penalty in the U.S. is now available through Mark Warren of Human Rights Research. This DPIC page includes information on 143 foreign citizens from 37 countries on state and federal death rows.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Discrimination and Instructional Comprehension: Guided Discretion, Racial Bias, and the Death Penalty
By Craig Haney / Mona Lynch / Law and Human Behavior, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
This study links two previously unrelated lines of research: The lack of comprehension of capital penalty-phase jury instructions and discriminatory death sentencing. Jury-eligible subjects were randomly assigned to view one of four versions of a simulated capital penalty trial in which the race of defendant (Black or White) and the race of victim (Black or White) were varied orthogonally. Dependent measures included a sentencing verdict (life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty), ratings of penalty phase evidence, and a test of instructional comprehension. Results indicated that instructional comprehension was poor overall and that, although Black defendants were treated only slightly more punitively than White defendants in general, discriminatory effects were concentrated among participants whose comprehension was poorest. In addition, the use of penalty phase evidence differed as a function of race of defendant and whether the participant sentenced the defendant to life or death. The study suggest that racially biased and capricious death sentencing may be in part caused or exacerbated by the inability to comprehend penalty phase instructions.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
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)
Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution.
By Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier / Tulsa Law Review, on 1 January 2006
2006
Article
United States
More details See the document
This article examines the debate about whether or not an innocent person has been executed in the United States. The article begins by discussing several famous historical claims of wrongful execution, including Sacco & Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, and Bruno Hauptmann. Then, the article addresses some recent claims of wrongful executions, including the case of Larry Griffin and the impact of a 2006 DNA test in the Roger Coleman case. The article evaluates why some innocence claims attract more attention than others. By recognizing two obstacles in wrongful execution claims and by establishing five lessons for gaining media attention, the article uses its historical analysis to extract strategy lessons for death penalty abolitionists. Finally, the article weighs arguments regarding the pros and cons of an abolitionist strategy that focuses on proving the innocence of executed individuals. The article concludes that wrongful execution claims provide an important argument for abolitionists, but such claims should not be presented as the main or only problem with the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Criminological analysis on deterrent power of death penalty
By Yuanhuang Zhang / Frontiers of law in China, on 1 January 2009
2009
Article
China
zh-hantMore details See the document
Death penalty is the most effective deterrence to grave crimes, which has been the key basis for the State to retain death penalty. In fact, either in legislation or in execution, death penalty can not produce the special deterrent effect as expected. With respect to this issue, people tend to conduct normative exploration from the perspective of ordinary legal principles or the principle of human rights, which is more speculative than convincing. Correct interpretation based on the existing positive analysis and differentiation based on human nature which sifts the true from the false will not only help end the simple, repetitive and meaningless arguments regarding the basis for the existence of death penalty, but also help understand the rational nature of both the elimination and the preservation of death penalty, so as to define the basic direction towards which the State should make efforts in controlling death penalty in the context of promoting social civilization.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Deterrence ,
- Available languages 犯罪学分析死刑威慑力量(注:英文名翻译)
Document(s)
The death penalty in China today: Kill fewer, kill cautiously
By Susan Trevaskes / Asian Survey, on 1 January 2008
2008
Article
China
More details See the document
While the PRC death penalty debate has been an ongoing and highly contentious issue in the international human rights arena, death sentence policy and practice in China has remained relatively static since the early 1980s. Events in late 2006 and early 2007 have now dramatically changed the landscape of capital punishment in China. This paper analyses the recent debate on the death penalty in terms of the shifting power relationships in China today. The Supreme People’s Court wants to strictly limit the death penalty to only the ‘most heinous’ criminals while the politburo on the other hand, wants to maintain the two-decade old ‘strike hard’ policy which encourages severe punishment to be meted out to a wider range of serious criminals.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Public debate,
Document(s)
Cruel and Unusual: The American Death Penalty and the Founders’ Eighth Amendment
By John D. Bessler / Northeastern University Press, on 1 January 2012
2012
Book
United States
More details See the document
Bessler examines the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment case law and concludes that the death penalty may well be declared unconstitutional in time. Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, called the book, “A searing indictment of capital punishment, this pioneering history of the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause is destined to reframe America’s death penalty debate.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list International law, Public debate,
Document(s)
Report on roundtable on the abolition of the death penalty, Madrid October 2012
By International Commission Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2013
2013
NGO report
More details See the document
The purpose of the Round Table was to review developments on the death penalty and to identify legal and political challenges and opportunities for the coming five years. The meeting covered country, regional and thematic questions.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
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
esMore 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 type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages La pena de muerte en el sistema interamericano de derechos humanos: de restricciones a abolición
Document(s)
Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure
By Jody Lyneé Madeira / New York University (NYU), on 1 January 2012
Book
More details See the document
Professor Jody Lynee’ Madeira of the Indiana University School of Law follows the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing to explore whether the families of murder victims obtain closure from an execution. In Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure, Prof. Madeira recounts her wide range of interviews with those who experienced this tragedy first-hand.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
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
frMore 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 type Lobbying
- Themes list Public debate, Trend Towards Abolition, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Actions de plaidoyer efficaces en faveur de l'abolition de la peine de mort en Afrique Subsaharienne
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
esMore 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
- Document type Regional body report
- Themes list International law,
- Available languages A-53: ESTADO DE FIRMAS Y RATIFICACIONES, PROTOCOLO A LA CONVENCION AMERICANA SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS RELATIVO A LA ABOLICION DE LA PENA DE MUERTE
Document(s)
China Against the Death Penalty Report 2012
By China Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2012
2012
NGO report
zh-hantMore details Download [ pdf - 170 Ko ]
The original report in Chinese was in three parts. Part I, translated here, outlines the legal system and its application in relation to the death penalty. Part II introduces the use of the death penalty review system following the Supreme People’s Court’s resumption of its power to review death sentences on January 1st, 2007. Part II also analyses the influence of the death penalty review system on the new criminal procedure law that will come into effect in 2013. Part III introduces a number of death penalty cases.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages 中国死刑观察报告
Document(s)
Initiating Constructive Debate: A Critical Reflection on the Death Penalty in Africa
By Lilian Chenwi / Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa, on 1 January 2005
2005
Article
More details See the document
This article aims to show that there is a need for constructive debate on the death penalty in Africa. Considering that the African Commission is encouraging such a debate, the article begins with an examination of its stance on the subject. This is followed by a brief evaluation of the use of the death penalty in Africa, highlighting some areas of concern. The death penalty is then considered from a human rights perspective, focusing mainly on the possibility of relying on constitutional provisions on the right to life and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment to challenge the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Right to life, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Mandatory Death Penalty,
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 US in 2016: Year End Report
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016
2016
NGO report
More details See the document
Use of the death penalty fell to historic lows across theUnited States in 2016. States imposed the fewest deathsentences in the modern era of capital punishment, sincestates began re-enacting death penalty statutes in 1973. Newdeath sentences are predicted to be down 39% from 2015’s40-year low. Executions declined more than 25% to theirlowest level in 25 years, and public opinion polls alsomeasured support for capital punishment at a four-decadelow.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The death penalty and poverty: Promoting access to justice for the poor in Nigeria
By Adaobi Egboka, on 1 January 2017
2017
Multimedia content
Botswana
More details Download [ pdf - 575 Ko ]
Presentation of Adaobi Egboka, from Legal Defense and Assistance Project for the plenary session on poverty and the death penalty which took place during the 2017 General Assembly of the World Coalition.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Botswana
- Themes list Fair Trial, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
In Defense of the Right to Life: International Law and Death Penalty in the Philippines
By Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines , on 1 January 2017
Academic report
More details See the document
This study is a joint collaboration between international law expert Dr Christopher Ward SC, Senior Counsel of the New South Wales Bar and Adjunct Professor of the Australian National University, and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list International law, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Turkey: The Risk of Reinstatment of the Death Penalty
By World Caolition againt the Death Penalty, Anne Souléliac, Rusen Aytac - Barreau de Paris, on 10 August 2021
2021
Campaigning
Public Opinion
Turkey
frMore details Download [ pdf - 312 Ko ]
Findings from a preliminary study on the situation of human rights defenders in Turkey and the potential of a return to capital punishment.
- Document type Campaigning
- Countries list Turkey
- Themes list Public Opinion
- Available languages Turquie : Quels sont les risques de rétablissement de la peine de mort ?
Document(s)
Parlamentarians and the Abolition of the Death Penalty – A Resource –
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / Francis H. Warburton, on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
More details Download [ pdf - 667 Ko ]
This resource is for parlamentarians 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 around the world. It is provided with an arguments section as well as with specific case studies based on countries that have either achieved abolition or have managed to achieve one of the intermediate steps toward abolition.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Death Dissent and Diplomacy: The U.S. Death Penalty as an Obstacle to Foreign relations
By Mark Warren / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 1 January 2004
2004
Article
United States
More details See the document
Widely believed to be the innocent victims of an unfair trial, two foreign nationals facing execution in the United States had captured the attention of theworld. Rallies in their support attracted huge crowds in London and Paris, in Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Bombay and Tokyo. Petitions for mercy flooded the governor’s office, signed by half a million people worldwide. The Italian head of state, former Nobel prize winners, and the Vatican joined in the global appealfor clemency, all to no avail. The world watched as the final days ticked away, transfixed by the last-minute battle to obtain a new trial amid a mounting storm ofdomestic and international protest. Citing procedural default and deference to state law, the appellate courts refused to intervene.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Member(s)
Ordre des avocats de Genève
on 30 April 2020
The Geneva Bar association (Ordre des Avocats de Genève) represents lawyers before the authorities, other regional bar associations, foreign bar associations and the Swiss Lawyers’ Federation. At the same time, it looks after the strict application of ethical and deontological standards. The Geneva Bar association was a partner of the 4th World Congress Against the […]
2020
Switzerland
Member(s)
Confédération générale du travail (CGT)
on 30 April 2020
The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail – CGT) is based in France and is strong of 690,000 members. It is affiliated to the European Trade Union Confederation and the International Trade Union Confederation and is one of the confederated unions representing France. Through its analysis, proposals and action, it aims at developping […]
France
Document(s)
When Legislatures Delegate Death: The Troubling Paradox Behind State Uses of Electrocution and Lethal Injection and What It Says About Us
By Deborah W. Denno / Ohio State Law Journal, on 1 January 2002
2002
Article
United States
More details See the document
This article discusses the paradoxical motivations and problems behind legislative changes from one method of execution to the next, and particularly moves from electrocution to lethal injection. Legislatures and courts insist that the primary reason states switch execution methods is to ensure greater humaneness for death row inmates. History shows, however, that such moves were prompted primarily because the death penalty itself became constitutionally jeopardized due to a state’s particular method. The result has been a warped legal “philosophy” of punishment, at times peculiarly aligning both friends and foes of the death penalty alike and wrongly enabling legislatures to delegate death to unknowledgeable prison personnel. This article first examines the constitutionality of electrocution, contending that a modern Eighth Amendment analysis of a range of factors, such as legislative trends toward lethal injection, indicates that electrocution is cruel and unusual. It then provides an Eighth Amendment review of lethal injection, demonstrating that injection also involves unnecessary pain, the risk of such pain, and a loss of dignity. These failures seem to be attributed to vague lethal injection statutes, uninformed prison personnel, and skeletal or inaccurate lethal injection protocols. The article next presents the author’s study of the most current protocols for lethal injection in all thirty-six states where anesthesia is used for a state execution. The study focuses on a number of criteria contained in many protocols that are key to applying an injection, including: the types and amounts of chemicals that are injected; the selection, training, preparation, and qualifications of the lethal injection team; the involvement of medical personnel; the presence of general witnesses and media witnesses; as well as details on how the procedure is conducted and how much of it witnesses can see. The study emphasizes that the criteria in many protocols are far too vague to assess adequately. When the protocols do offer details, such as the amount and type of chemicals that executioners inject, they oftentimes reveal striking errors and ignorance about the procedure. Suchinaccurate or missing information heightens the likelihood that a lethal injection will be botched and suggests that states are not capable of executing an inmate constitutionally. Even though executions have become increasingly hidden from the public, and therefore more politically palatable, they have not become more humane, only more difficult to monitor.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Lethal Injection, Electrocution,
Document(s)
The Politics of Fear and Death: Successive Problems in Capital Federal Habeas Corpus.”
By Bryan A. Stevenson / New York University (NYU), on 1 January 2002
Article
United States
More details See the document
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996 was drafted, enacted, and signed in an atmosphere of anger and fear. The legislation, which includes substantial cutbacks in the federal habeas corpus remedy, was Congress’s response to the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing. During the congressional hearings on the bills that culminated in AEDPA, the proponents of the legislation claimed that its habeas corpus restrictions and other provisions were necessary to fight domestic terrorism. The Senate bill was approved by the House on April 18, 1996, the day before the one-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. President Bill Clinton invoked the bombing in a statement he issued at the time of the Senate’s passage of the legislation and again when he signed the legislation into law. Even at the time of the debates, some courageous legislators were willing to denounce the fallacious connection that the bill’s proponents drew between the bombing and the broader issues of the scope and availability of habeas corpus review. Many of the habeas corpus restrictions ultimately built into AEDPA had been under consideration by Congress since 1990, though none had been adopted. The congressional proponents of these restrictions seized upon the Oklahoma City tragedy as a means of accomplishing their longstanding goal to scale back federal habeas corpus review.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Article(s)
256 Death Sentences Commuted Into Life in Tanzania
By Louis Linel, on 11 December 2020
On the occasion of Tanzania’s Independence Day on 9 December, President John Magufuli announced he would commute the death sentences of 256 convicts into life imprisonment. The law say I must hang all 256 of them. [But] [w]ho will be more sinful – those convicted of killing one, two, or three people, or me, who […]
2020
Clemency
United Republic of Tanzania
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)
Responsible Business Engagement on the Death Penalty. A Practical Guide
By Responsible Business Initiative on the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2019
2019
Working with...
frMore details See the document
Business engagement in the death penalty is critical because of the impact it can have. Putsimply: the power is in your hands. If your business is looking for a human rights issue whereit can achieve measurable change, advocacy on the death penalty must be considered.Global support for the death penalty is declining. Meanwhile, competition for investment isfierce. Governments and the public at large care more about job creation and a healthy economythan a system of executions. Therefore, the voices of businesses and business leaders havea huge role to play in shaping public dialogue about whether to keep – or end – the use ofcapital punishment.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks, Death Penalty,
- Available languages Entreprises Responsables et Engagements sur la Peine de Mort: Guide Pratique
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
enarfafresMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
- Available languages Japanese : 死刑囚の子ども達の 未来に向けてتخفيف العبء عن الأطفال المحكوم آباؤهم أو أمهاتهم بالإعدامکاهش بار مجازات اعدام پدر یا مادر برای فرزندانAlléger le fardeau de la condamnation à mort d’un parent sur les enfantsCómo aliviar la carga que supone para los menores la condena a muerte de un(a) progenitor(a)
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 – Abolition in Europe
By Council of Europe / Peter Hodgkinson / Roger Hood / Michel Forst / Stefan Trechsel / Caroline Ravaud / Hans-Christian Kruger / Philippe Toussaint / Serguei Kovalev / Eric Prokosch / Renate Wohlwend / Roberto Toscano / Roberto Fico / Anatoly Pristavkin / Sergiy Holovatiy, on 8 September 1999
1999
Book
Czech Republic
More details See the document
Europe is the first continent in which the death penalty has been almost completely abolished. The Council of Europe has been Europe’s major defender of abolition and presently requires all countries seeking membership in its ranks to place a moratorium on the death penalty. This collection of texts by major European abolitionists includes voices from countries which have enjoyed abolition for many years, as well as from those where abolition has been a struggle against public opinion. Contributors from governments, universities and NGOs add their voices to that of the Council of Europe, explaining the achievements and the ground still to be covered in attaining total abolition in Europe. An introduction by a world expert on abolition, Roger Hood and a conclusion by Russia’s leading abolitionist Sergey Kovalev makes this volume a moving testament to the battle for abolition of the death penalty, which is already so well advanced in Europe. This collection also contains a detailed explanation of Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which deals specifically with abolition of the death penalty, as well as reports on various eastern European countries which have yet to attain complete abolitionist status.
- Document type Book
- Countries list Czech Republic
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
RECOMMENDATION 1302 (1996) on the abolition of the death penalty in Europe
By Council of Europe / Parlamentary Assembly, on 1 January 1996
1996
Regional body report
More details See the document
The Assembly recalls Recommendation 1246 (1994) on the abolition of capital punishment. It welcomes the decision of the Committee of Ministers of 16 January 1996 to encourage member states which have not abolished the death penalty to operate, de facto or de jure, a moratorium on the execution of death sentences.
- Document type Regional body report
- Themes list International law,
Document(s)
The 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
frMore 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 type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages La peine de mort dans les Etats membres et observateurs du Conseil de l'Europe – une violation des droits de l'homme
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty : Report of the Secretary-General
By United Nations, on 8 September 2020
2020
United Nations report
arruzh-hantesfrMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from June 2008 to July 2009, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition, the practice of engaging in a national debate on the death penalty, and the ongoing difficulties in gaining access to reliable information on executions.
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages مسألة عقوبة الإعدام : تقرير مقدم من الأمين العامВопрос о смертной казни : Доклад Генерального секретаря死刑问题 : 秘书长的报告La cuestión de la pena capital : Informe del Secretario GeneralQuestion de la peine de mort : Rapport du Secrétaire général
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General
By United Nations, on 1 January 2008
2008
International law - United Nations
frarruzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information on the question of the death penalty covering the period from June 2009 to July 2010, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition and the ongoing difficulties experienced in gaining access to reliable information on executions.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages Questions de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire généralمسألة عقوبة الإعدام: تقرير مقدم من الأمين العامВопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаря死刑问题: 秘书长的报告La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General
Document(s)
Annual report on the death penalty in Iran 2016
By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2017
2017
NGO report
frMore details See the document
The 9th annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHR) on the death penalty provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2016 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report sets out the number of executions in 2016, the trend compared to previous years, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Rapport annuel sur la peine de mort en Iran 2016
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)
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 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)
Debating the death penalty: should America have capital punishment? : the experts on both sides make their case
By Hugo Adam Bedau / Stephen B. Bright / Joshua K. Marquis / Bryan Stevenson / Louis P. Pojman / Alex Kozinski / Paul G. Cassell / Oxford University Press / George Ryan, on 1 January 2004
2004
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book contains contributions from judges, attorneys, and academicians on both sides of the death penalty question. The grounds advanced for justification of capital punishment–including deterrence, retribution, and closure for victims’ families–are considered. Whether life imprisonment is adequate to address these concerns is also debated. Other issues include whether racial minorities or indigent defendants are disproportionately executed, whether the penalty is otherwise arbitrarily applied, and what risks exist regarding the execution of an innocent person.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
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)
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA – The Death Penalty in 2000
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 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)
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)
Failings of the Supreme Court, Human Sacrifice, Sentencing and the Death Penalty
By Anup Surendranath / Economic and Political Weekly, on 1 January 2020
2020
Article
India
More details See the document
In the judicial discourse on the relationship between human sacrifice and punishment in criminal law, there are glaring errors. Looking closely at the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ishwari Lal Yadav v State of Chhattisgarh, the deviation from the principle of individualised sentencing and the consequences of ignoring evidence on the complex anthropological and psychological dimensions of human sacrifice are reflected upon.
- Document type Article
- Countries list India
- Themes list Hanging,
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 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 2014: YEAR END REPORT
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
More details See the document
With 35 executions this year, 2014 marks the fewest people put to death since 1994, according to this report by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The 72 new death sentences in 2014 is the lowest number in the modern era of the death penalty, dating back to 1974. Executions and sentences have steadily decreased, as Americans have grown more skeptical of capital punishment. The states’ problems with lethal injections also contributed to the drop in executions this year.Death sentences—a more current barometer than executions—have declined by 77% since 1996, when there were 315. There were 79 death sentences last year. This is the fourth year in a row that there have been fewer than 100 death sentences.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Mental Illness, Innocence, Intellectual Disability, Lethal Injection, Statistics,
Document(s)
In May 2020, While the World May Be Under a Lockdown, the Death Penalty is Not!
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2020
2020
Multimedia content
frMore details Download [ pdf - 182 Ko ]
Statement from the World Coalition calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty during the COVID-19 pandemics.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Moratorium , Death Penalty,
- Available languages En mai 2020, la peine de mort n'est pas confinée !
Document(s)
The Role of Organized Religions in Changing Death Penalty Debates
By Michael L. Radelet / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
More details See the document
In his Article, Professor Michael L. Radelet describes a global decline in the use of the death penalty, the United Nation’s progressively stronger stance against executions, and a growing opposition to capital punishment in the United States. This decrease is attributed to both empirical studies casting doubt on the death penalty’s efficacy in promoting its stated underlying goals, and to the increasingly vocal stance of religious leaders morally opposed to capital punishment. Nevertheless, the decline in other justifications for capital punishment has been met with increasing reliance on retribution as the primary argument in its support. Professor Radelet argues that retribution’s moral, rather than empirical, base makes it an issue largely within the purview of religious denominations, the traditional source of a community’s moral authority. Professor Radelet predicts that religious leaders’ increasing opposition to the flawed administration of the death penalty, rather than their lesser support for the abstract concept of capital punishment, will tip the balance toward its abolition in America.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Religion ,
Document(s)
Flyer-The Death Penalty in the Context of Public Security: Neither Right, Nor Effective
By Greater Caribbean For Life, on 1 January 2013
2013
Multimedia content
Trinidad and Tobago
More details Download [ pdf - 179 Ko ]
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 ,
Document(s)
The political origins of death penalty exceptionalism: Mao Zedong and the practice of capital punishment in contemporary China
By Zhang Ning / Punishment and Society, on 1 January 2008
2008
Article
China
More details See the document
This article focuses on the role played by Mao Zedong in the making of the Chinese communist legal system in general and in the Chinese practice of the death penalty under Mao in particular. It attempts to study this link through an analysis of an event which represented a landmark, namely the campaign of the regression against counterrevolutionaries launched in 1950—2, and through an examination of three specific cases, which enable us to observe the concrete characteristics of these practices, whose effects continue to be felt in today’s China.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Report of the Secretary-General (2020)
By United Nations Secretary-General, on 1 January 2020
2020
United Nations report
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
- Document type United Nations report
- Available languages (2020) وقف العم بعقوبة اإلعدام. تقرير األمين العامMoratoria del uso de la pena de muerte. Informe del Secretario General (2020)Moratoire sur l'application de la peine de mort. Rapport du Secrétaire général (2020)Мораторий на применение смертной казни. Доклад Генерального секретаря (2020)暂停使用死刑。 秘书长的报告 (2020)
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)
Question of the death penalty. Report of the Secretary-General.
By United Nations, on 1 January 2011
2011
International law - United Nations
ruzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from July 2010 to June 2011, and draws attention to a number of phenomena, including the continuing trend towards abolition, the ongoing difficulties in gaining access to reliable information on executions, and various international efforts towards the universal abolition of the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages Вопрос о смертной казни. Доклад Генерального секретаря.死刑问题. 秘书长的报告.La cuestión de la pena capital. Informe del Secretario General.
Document(s)
Resolution 65/206 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/65/456/Add.2 (Part II))] 65/206. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار ٦٥/ ٢٠٦ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامResolución 65/206 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 65/206 - Moratoire sur l'application de la peine de mortРезолюция 65/206 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议65/206 - 暂停使用死刑
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)
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)
Most Deserving of Death? An Analysis of the Supreme Court’s Death Penalty Jurisprudence
By Kenneth Williams / Ashgate Publishing, on 1 January 2012
2012
Book
United States
More details See the document
The book looks at issues such as jury selection, ineffective assistance of counsel, innocence, and race, and how these issues reflect on who is sentenced to death. Prof. Williams concludes that that application of the death penalty is inconsistent and incoherent, partly because of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, and this leads to a lack of public confidence in the system.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Due Process , Fair Trial, Capital offences,
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)
: 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 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)
The Death Penalty in China and the World
By Amnesty International UK, on 8 September 2020
2020
Campaigning
More details See the document
In this lesson students aged 11-16 work collectively to use their mathematical skill and appropriate technology to examine and analyse information about the changing use of the death penalty in China and the world. They look for the most effective ways of presenting information using charts, graphs and maps, and comment on the reliability and validity of the data that they have collected.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
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
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)
: 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)
Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty: A Best Practices Manual
By Sandra Babcock / Death Penalty Worldwide, on 1 January 2013
2013
Working with...
frMore 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 type Working with...
- Themes list Legal Representation, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
- Available languages La défense de condamnés à mort : Guide de bonnes pratiques à l’usage des avocats
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
frMore 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 type NGO report
- Themes list Moratorium , World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
- Available languages Vers un moratoire universel sur l'application de la peine de mort
Document(s)
THE DEATH PENALTY, EXTRADITION, AND THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM: U.S. RESPONSES TO EUROPEAN OPINION ABOUT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
By Kathryn F. King / Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
More details See the document
This article gives insight into the different opinions held by the US and Europe in terms of the death penalty. The interplay between terrorism, the death penalty and extradition is also examined.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Extradition, Terrorism,
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)
Respect for Minimum Standards? Report on the Death Penalty in China
on 1 January 2020
2020
NGO report
China
More details See the document
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list China
Document(s)
Crime and Justice. Abolishing the Death Penalty
By IPS, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
More details See the document
The IPS ‘Death Penalty Abolition Project’, supported bythe European Union, has recorded the voices of many of those who have played a key role in the recently fast-moving journey towards a death-penalty-free world. In doing so, IPS has been guided by the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Collected here are some 100 reports from dozens ofcountries and every continent. The voices of those who have spoken out here – many hundreds in number – include activists,academics, lawyers and, of course, those waiting for that dreaded last knock on their cell door.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Moratorium , Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
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)
Seven Winters in Teheran
By Steffi Niederzoll, on 24 March 2023
2023
Multimedia content
Gender
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Women
frMore details See the document
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
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)
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)
Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty
By Judith W. Kay / Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., on 1 January 2005
2005
Book
United States
More details See the document
In Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty, Judith Kay goes beyond the hype and statistics to examine Americans’ deep-seated beliefs about crime and punishment. She argues that Americans share a counter-productive idea of justice–that punishment corrects bad behavior, suffering pays for wrong deeds, and victims’ desire for revenge is natural and inevitable. Drawing on interviews with both victims and inmates, Kay shows how this belief harms perpetrators, victims, and society and calls for a new narrative that recognizes the humanity in all of us.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Iran: The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a tool of political control
By Taimoor Aliassi / IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS REVIEW, on 1 January 2014
2014
Article
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
faMore details See the document
The Iranian authorities use the drug issue to enforce their rule and repress ethnic nationalities and members of opposition groups. Whenever it faces escalating crises, internally or externally, new and harsher laws against drugs and addicts are adopted and public hangings of members of ethnic nationalities increase dramatically. The following periods of hangings and drug laws illustrate this policy.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
- Themes list Drug Offences,
- Available languages ایران: استفاده از مجازات اعدام در جرایم مربوط به موادمخدر بعنوان ابزاری برای کنترل سیاسیt
Document(s)
Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty Debate
By John J. Donohue / Stanford Law Review / Justin Wolfers, on 1 January 2005
2005
Article
United States
More details See the document
Over much of the last half-century, the legal and political history of the death penalty in the United States has closely paralleled the debate within social science about its efficacy as a deterrent. The injection of Ehrlich’s conclusions into the legal and public policy arenas, coupled with the academic debate over Ehrlich’s methods, led the National Academy of Sciences to issue a 1978 report which argued that the existing evidence in support of a deterrent effect of capital punishment was unpersuasive. Over the next two decades, as a series of academic papers continued to debate the deterrence question, the number of executions gradually increased, albeit to levels much lower than those seen in the first half of the twentieth century
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
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,
instrumentalisation-of-the-death-penalty-8th-world-congress
on 27 January 2023
2023
19 world day against the death penalty -events’ map
on 10 September 2021
2021