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Document(s)
Report to the Committee on Defender Services Judicial Conference of the United States – Update on the Cost and Quality of Defense Representation in Federal Death Penalty Cases
By Lisa Greenman / Jon B. Gould / Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
United States
More details See the document
Part I of this report offers an introduction and overview of the research. Part II examines the way prosecution policies and practices have developed from 1989, the beginning of the modern federal death penalty era, through the end of 2009. Parts III, IV, and V of this report discuss the costs associated with defending a federal capital case. Section VI describes qualitative data obtained through interviews of federal judges who had presided over a federal death penalty case and experienced federal capital defense counsel on topics such as the quality of defense representation, case budgeting and case management practices, the role of experts, and the death penalty authorization process. Finally, in Sections VII and VIII, the Recommendations of the 1998 Spencer Report are reaffirmed, and the Commentary associated with those recommendations is updated to reflect the past 12 years of experience with federal capital litigation.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Financial cost,
Document(s)
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN CALIFORNIA
By CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON THE FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, on 1 January 2008
2008
Government body report
More details See the document
This report is divided into three parts. In Part A, the Commission identifies flaws in California’s death penalty system that render it dysfunctional, and remedies we unanimously recommend to repair it. Repairing the system would enable California to achieve the national average of a twelve year delay between pronouncement of sentence and the completion of all judicial review of the sentence. In Part B, the Commission offers the Legislature, the Governor, and the voters of California information regarding alternatives available to California’s present death penalty law. The Commission makes no recommendation regarding these alternatives. In Part C, the Commission presents recommendations relating to miscellaneous aspects of the administration of California’s death penalty law. We were not able to reach unanimous agreement upon all of these recommendations, and dissents are noted where applicable. Commissioner Jerry Brown, Attorney General of California, agrees in principle with some of the Commission’s recommendations as set forth in his separate statement. Commissioner William Bratton, Chief of Police for the City of Los Angeles, abstains from the specific recommendations in this Report, and will issue a separate explanatory statement.
- Document type Government body report
- Themes list Networks,
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)
‘A “Most Serious Crime”? – The Death Penalty for Drug Offences and International Human Rights Law’
By Rick Lines / Amicus Journal, on 1 January 2010
Article
More details See the document
An in-depth analysis of the international law ramifications of applying the death penalty for drug offences. It reviews the the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold for the lawful application of capital punishment as established in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It then explores the question of whether drug offences meet this threshold by examining the issue through the lenses of international human rights law, the domestic legislation in retentionist states, international narcotics control law, international refugee law and international criminal law. The article concludes that drug offences do not constitute ‘most serious crimes’, and that executions of people for drug offences violates international human rights law.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Drug Offences, Most Serious Crimes,
Document(s)
Not “Waiving” But Drowning: The Anatomy of Death Row Syndrome and Volunteering for Execution
By Amy Smith / Boston University Public Interest Law Journal, on 8 September 2020
2020
Article
United States
More details See the document
Within the international community, other countries have recognized the potential for harm caused by our current system, and as a result have refused to extradite back to the United States individuals who might face the death penalty. These countries cite not only the possibility of execution as reason for refusal, but the waiting process which attends that death as a separate, independent violation of human rights. If we remain unpersuaded by the international community, the behavioral trends of those individuals awaiting execution are telling as well. Within one week in 2008, two individuals awaiting death in Texas committed suicide, reflecting the heightened suicide rates on death row, estimated at ten times greater than those in society at large and several times greater than those in a general prison population. In addition, the widely-recognized practice of “volunteering” for execution permits condemned inmates to waive their state and federally mandated rights to appeal in order to speed up the execution process, in essence “volunteering” to be executed.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Phenomenon, Extradition,
Document(s)
ICCPR Case Law on Detention, the Prohibition of Cruel Treatment and Some Issues Pertaining to the Death Row Phenomenon
By Eva Rieter / Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, on 1 January 2002
2002
Article
More details See the document
This paper discusses some case law on detention issues by the Human Rights Committee (HRC) that supervises the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as HRC case law on the so-called “death row phenomenon,” which involves forcing a person to live under conditions that spawn intense fear, distress, and the virtual destruction of the personality while awaiting execution.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Phenomenon,
Document(s)
The Waiver and Withdrawal of Death Penalty Appeals as “Extreme Communicative Acts”
By Avi Brisman / Western Criminology Review, on 1 January 2010
2010
Article
United States
More details See the document
This paper explores the power struggle between the State and the condemned over the timing and conditions under which an inmate is executed. It begins with a discussion of current public opinion about the death penalty and the ways in which the death penalty has been resisted. Next, it describes capital defendants who elect execution over life imprisonment and considers some of the reasons proffered for waiver and withdrawal. This paper then contemplates whether some instances of “volunteering” should be regarded as “extreme communicative acts” (Wee 2004, 2007)—nonlinguistic communicative acts that are usually associated with protest, especially in the context of a lengthy political struggle (such as hunger strikes, self-immolation, and the chopping off of one’s fingers). In so doing, this paper weighs in on the larger questions of who ultimately controls the body of the condemned and what governmental opposition to waiver and withdrawal may reveal about the motives and rationale for the death penalty. This paper also furthers research on how the prison industrial complex is resisted and how State power more generally is negotiated.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
The Peculiar Forms of American Capital Punishment
By David Garland / Social Research: An International Quarterly, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
There are two puzzles that confront observers of American capital punishment at the start of the 21st century. One concerns the legal and administrative arrangements through which it is enacted, which strike many commentators as irrational, or at least poorly adapted to the traditional ends of criminal justice. The other concerns the persistence of capital punishment in the USA in a period when comparable nations have decisively abandoned its use. In this essay, I will address both of these two questions, beginning with the first and offering conclusions that bear upon the second.The historical struggles around issues of capital punishment, structured as they have been by the American polity with its distinctive mix of federalism, sectionalism, and democratic populism, form the necessary basis for understanding the American present and for comparing America’s current practices with those of other western nations. Any explanation of American capital punishment ought to begin by focusing attention on these structures and these struggles.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
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)
Deciding Death
By Corinna Barrett Lain / Duke Law Journal, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
When the Supreme Court is deciding death, how much does law matter? Scholars long have lamented the majoritarian nature of the Court’s Eighth Amendment “evolving standards of decency” doctrine, but their criticism misses the mark. Majoritarian doctrine does not drive the Court’s decisions in this area; majoritarian forces elsewhere do. To make my point, I first examine three sets of “evolving standards” death penalty decisions in which the Court implicitly or explicitly reversed itself, attacking the legal justification for the Court’s change of position and offering an extralegal explanation for why those cases came out the way they did. I then use political science models of Supreme Court decisionmaking to explain how broader social and political forces push the Court toward majoritarian death penalty rulings for reasons wholly independent of majoritarian death penalty doctrine. Finally, I bring the analysis full [*pg 2] circle, showing how broader sociopolitical forces even led to the development of the “evolving standards” doctrine. In the realm of death penalty decisionmaking, problematic doctrine is not to blame for majoritarian influences; rather, majoritarian influences are to blame for problematic doctrine. The real obstacle to countermajoritarian decisionmaking is not doctrine, but the inherently majoritarian tendencies of the Supreme Court itself.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
A New Profession for an Old Need: Why a Mitigation Specialist Must be Included on the Capital Defense Team
By Pamela Blume Leonard / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
United States
More details See the document
The fundamental task of the mitigation specialist is to conduct a comprehensive social history of the defendant and identify all relevant mitigation issues. The 2003 revised edition of the American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases recognizes the mitigation specialist as an “indispensable member of the defense team throughout all capital proceedings.” What are the particular responsibilities and contributions of a mitigation specialist and what makes them so essential to the capital defense team as to warrant this long overdue recognition by the ABA Guidelines?
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Lesotho: The Law and Practice
By Moses O A Owori / British Institute of International and Comparative Law, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
More details See the document
The first part of the paper looks at the national law governing the death penalty vis-à-vis international standards; the second part of the paper identifies the problems one encounters at the pretrial, trial and post trial stages and examines the attempts to solve some of these problems; the final part looks at present trends in the application of the death penalty and draws tentative conclusions as to the future prospects of the death penalty in Lesotho.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process ,
Document(s)
17 Indians Tortured, Sentenced to Death
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2010
2010
Legal Representation
esMore details See the document
Seventeen Indian migrant workers have been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after an unfair trial, for the murder of a Pakistani national.Some of the 17 are said to have been tortured to make them “confess.” They may be at risk of further torture.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Torturados y Condenados a Muerte 17 Indios
Document(s)
The Logical Framework Approach
By Greta Jenson / Bond - For International Development, on 1 January 2010
Campaigning
More details See the document
The logframe is a tool for concisely describing the results of an LFA project design process, as it summarises in a standard format: What the project is going to achieve, what activities will be carried out, what means/resources/inputs (human, technical, infrastructural, etc.) are required, what potential problems could affect the success of the project, how the progress and ultimate success of the project will be measured and verified.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Monitoring and Evaluation
By Louisa Gosling / Bond - For International Development, on 1 January 2010
Campaigning
More details See the document
Monitoring is the routine tracking of the key elements of programme/project performance, usually inputs and outputs and some of the outcomes, through record-keeping, regular reporting and surveillance systems as well as observation and studiesyour. Evaluation attempts to link a particular output or outcome directly to an intervention after a period of time has passed. An evaluation is usually carried out at some significant stage in the project’s development, e.g. at the end of a planning period, as the project moves to a new phase, or in response to a particular critical issue. This guide explains how to conduct monitoring and evaluation of your projects.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Advocacy and Campaigning
By Ian Chandler / Bond - For International Development, on 1 January 2010
Campaigning
More details See the document
This guide describes the functions of advocacy and campaigning and provides instructions on how to approach and who participates in advocacy and campaigning.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
So You Want to Start an Innocence Project
By Sheila Martin Berry / Truth in Justice, on 1 January 2011
2011
Campaigning
More details See the document
This document gives advice and help to those wishing to create an innocence project. The topics covered are varied and detail what is required in terms of office space, professional skills, etc.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Fundraising from Trusts, Foundations and Companies
By Billy Bruty / Bond - For International Development, on 1 January 2010
2010
Working with...
More details See the document
Each trust has a legally binding trust deed that defines the beneficiaries, objectives and geographical area for its charitable activities. The more narrowly defined trusts may only support a certain age group, cause or locality. Those trusts with a wide remit will often be legally defined with objectives that are for “General Charitable Purposes” with “Worldwide Beneficiaries”. Many trusts will also change their policies to focus on topical or specific geographical priorities. It’s important to know where the heart of decision making lies and it can be very different across a number of trusts, and change according to the different stages of their ‘lifecycle’.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Fundraising from Institutions
By Angela James / Bond - For International Development, on 1 January 2010
Working with...
More details See the document
Donor funds are under intense pressure and receive applications from many more civil society organisations than they are able to fund. When you have identified your project and are ready to look for funding, you will want to present it to the most appropriate donor in the most effective way. This guide gives you the essential information about institutional donors who operate a two stage application process.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Zhao Zuohai: Beaten, Framed and Jailed for a Murder that Never Happened
By Clifford Coonan / The Independent, on 1 January 2010
Legal Representation
More details See the document
The first act took place in 1999, when the dirt-poor farmer from Henan province had a violent argument with a fellow peasant, Zhao Zhenshang. His opponent, no relation despite a shared surname, disappeared into thin air. Later a headless, decomposed corpse was found in a well, and produced as evidence of Zhao Zuohai’s murderous deed. He was tortured, forced to confess and received the inevitable death sentence, before eventually winning a reprieve from the firing squad and having his sentence commuted to a 29-year jail term.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Ross, Colin Campbell Eadie (1892 – 1922)
By Australian Dictionary of Biography , on 8 September 2020
2020
Academic report
Australia
More details See the document
The raped, strangled and naked body of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke was found in a right-of-way off nearby Gun Alley. The press, notably the Herald under (Sir) Keith Murdoch, fanned public outrage, pressured police for an arrest and matched the government’s initial reward, which was quickly raised from £250 to £1000. Ross, one of many people routinely interviewed, was arrested and remanded. The police, relying on the information of dubious characters, including the fortune-teller ‘Madame Ghurka’, claimed that Ross had confessed to violating and choking the girl. The Herald prejudiced his trial by publishing his photograph and printing the names and addresses of the jury. George Maxwell, appearing for Ross with T. C. Brennan, described the Crown witnesses as ‘disreputables’, mercenaries whose evidence was contradictory and untrustworthy.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Australia
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Witness to Innocence – from death row to freedom
By Witness to Innocence, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
United States
More details See the document
Errors have been made repeatedly in death penalty cases because of: poor legal representation, racial prejudice, prosecutorial misconduct, the presentation of erroneous evidence, false confession, junk science, eyewitness error. Once convicted, a death row prisoner faces enormous obstacles in convincing any court that he or she is innocent.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger on the campaign against the Death Penalty
By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2011
2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This podcast is interview with the Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger. She talksabout murder victims’ families, deterrence, a moratorium on executions and the trend towards abolition.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Iran must halt execution of web programmer
By Amnesty International - Canada, on 1 January 2012
2012
Legal Representation
More details See the document
Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death in December 2010 following what appears to have been an unfair trial, without access to his lawyer, and amid allegations that he was tortured and forced to confess to crimes which he did not commit. Iran must not execute this web programmer sentenced to death after one of his web programs was used to post pornographic images without his knowledge, Amnesty International said today, as the Iranian authorities continue their crackdown on bloggers and other users of the internet.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
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)
Akmal Shaikh
By Reprieve, on 1 January 2009
2009
Legal Representation
More details See the document
It was during this time Akmal met a man who claimed to be in the music industry; he told Akmal he could help him realise his dream of becoming a pop, When Akmal landed in China on 12 September 2007 the police stopped him, searched his bag, where they alleged they found around 4 kg of heroin, and arrested him on drug charges sensation and sent him to Kyrgyzstan to meet with his “colleagues”. In Kyrgyzstan Akmal was asked to accompany one of the men to China. The man claimed to own a nightclub there and said he wanted Akmal to sing in his club. Excited at the prospect, Akmal agreed to travel to China with him; Before boarding the plane Akmal was asked to carry this mans suitcase, he did so without knowing that there were drugs in it.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Summaries of Key Supreme Court Cases Related to the Death Penalty
By Capital Punishment in Context, on 1 January 2012
2012
Legal Representation
More details See the document
Summary of key supreme court cases in the United States, these cases deal with juror problems, the constitutionality of the death penalty and juveniles amongst key cases discussed.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Wrongful Convicitions in Californian Capital Cases
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2008
2008
Legal Representation
More details See the document
This report details the cases of thirteen men and one woman who were convicted of first degree murder in California and later freed after a court concluded that they had been wrongfully convicted.
- Document type Legal Representation
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
An Introduction to Advocacy Training Guide
By Ritu R. Sharma / SARA Project, on 1 January 1997
1997
Lobbying
More details See the document
The Guide should be useful to people in all sectors who wish to improve policies and programs through advocacy.
- Document type Lobbying
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
How to Lobby
By California People of Faith Working Against the death penalty, on 8 September 2020
2020
Lobbying
More details See the document
Lobbying your elected officials is one of the most important actions you can take to bring about the end of the death penalty. Here are some tips for communicating effectively with government officials.
- Document type Lobbying
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Capital Punishment in Context
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 8 September 2020
Campaigning
More details See the document
Capital Punishment in Context contains several cases of individuals who were sentenced to death in the United States. Each case presents a narrative account of the individual’s crime, trial and punishment, along with guidelines for analysis, discussion and further research on issues raised by the case. The narratives are supplemented by resources such as original police reports from the homicide investigation and transcripts of testimony from witnesses. After reading the case, you can further explore issues by following a series of links to new information. Each case, along with the related materials, delineates a path through the criminal justice system. At every stage of the process, questions are raised about how the system works. These questions can lead to an analysis of key topics, such as the quality of legal representation for criminal defendants, the risk of wrongful convictions, the role of capital jurors, judicial independence, and the role that race may play in the criminal justice system.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Stop the Death Penalty: Worldwide Abolition Now
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
arfresMore details See the document
This video by Amnesty International talks about how the administration of the death penalty is cruel, often sought after unfair trials and how innocent people have been wrongfully convicted. Voice over by Colin Firth.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Available languages فيديو حول عقوبة الاعدام يسردها الممثل كولن فيرثDiaporama animé sur la peine de mort dans le mondeFotogalería: historias de todo el mundo sobre la pena capital
Document(s)
Death Penalty Debate
By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2009
2009
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
During a televised panel discussion on the death penalty on 9th October, Slovenian law professor Dragan Petrovec said victims should play no role in the sentencing of offenders. ”The victim is never objective,” he said. ”Victims can’t be judges.” The discussion, organised by the Council of Europe to mark the European day against the death penalty, also featured Sweden’s Human Rights Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander. Council of Europe’s Head of Department Jeroen Schokkenbroek said the organisation was critical of the United States and Japan over their use of the death penalty . He added that ”dialogue was continuing” with both countries towards ending the practice.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
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)
Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa: A Human Rights Perspective
By Lilian Chenwi / Pretoria University Law Press, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
More details See the document
In “Towards the abolition of the death penalty in Africa – a human rights perspective”, the author shows that international law increasingly recognises that the imposition and execution of the death penalty constitute violations of human rights. The author locates an emerging international trend towards the abolition of capital punishment in the African context. In doing so, she provides a particular African perspective on the issue. In this rich and informative text, she reflects on the role and impact of relevant UN instruments on African states, and analyses related African regional instruments, domestic law and case-law.
- Document type Book
Document(s)
Litigating in the Shadow of Death
By Lawrence C. Marshall / University of Pittsburgh Law Review, on 1 January 2006
2006
Article
United States
More details See the document
One gets the strong sense that Professor White believed that the key to changing or abolishing the death penalty in the United States was to educate policymakers and the public about its practical operation. This, of course, was Justice Thurgood Marshall’s hypothesis in Furman v. Georgia: that the widespread support that the death penalty enjoys in the country is a product of mass ignorance about how it is applied. Professor White did not simply posit the theory, he dedicated much of his life to the mission of educating the public about the inequities of the American death penalty. This final book does that in an extraordinarily effective way by combing together studies of illustrative cases, analysis of the lawyers’ roles and dilemmas, and cogent explanations of the state of the law.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Executing the Mentally Ill: When Is someone Sane Enough to Die?
By Michael Mello / Criminal Justice, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
Mental illness is a phenomenon that knifes across the entire corpus of our criminal justice system. From interrogations and waivers of Miranda rights, to consent to searches and seizures, to plea negotiations and the capacity to stand trial, to calculating sentences and participating in appellate and postconviction proceedings, mental illness warps the machinery of our criminal law and challenges its most cherished assumptions about free will, decisional competence, and culpability. This is so regardless of whether or not life hangs in the balance. But when the stakes are life and death, the structural distortions caused by mental illness become magnified, and the contradictions can rise to constitutional magnitude.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Mental Illness,
Document(s)
The Defense Team in Capital Cases
By Jill Miller / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
United States
More details See the document
Fairness for those defendants facing the ultimate punishment of death requires that they be afforded zealous advocacy by competent counsel, and that counsel be provided with the resources necessary to effectively represent their clients. Stating that “[o]ur capital system is haunted by the demon of error, error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die,” Governor Ryan cited many deficiencies in the justice system in Illinois, including poor lawyering and inadequate resources for defense counsel, in arriving at his decision to commute all death sentences. Over the years the imposition of the death penalty has too often been a function of unqualified counsel or counsel who lacked the resources, including time, funding, and provision of investigative, expert and supportive services, to competently represent their clients, rather than a reasoned decision based on the circumstances of the crime and the background and character of the defendant.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Preventing the Execution of the Innocent: Testimony Before the House Judiciary Committee.
By Peter Neufeld / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
2001
Article
United States
More details See the document
There have been at least sixty-seven postconviction DNA exonerations in the United States. Our Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law has either assisted or been the attorney of record in thirty-nine of those cases, including eight men who served time on death row. For all of these men, existing appellate remedies failed to catch the mistakes and correct the injustice. In one third of the exonerations, bad lawyering contributed to their convictions yet in only one case was ineffective assistance of counsel recognized by an appellate court. Mistaken eyewitness identification was a critical factor in almost 90% of the unjust convictions yet not a single trial or appellate court found the eyewitness testimony to be unreliable.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Why an Independent Appointed Authority Is Necessary to Choose Counsel for Indigent People in Capital Punishment Cases
By Ronald J. Tabak / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
United States
More details See the document
The revised ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases require that an agency “independent of the judiciary” be responsible for “ensuring that each capital defendant in the jurisdiction receives high quality legal representation.” This independent agency “and not the judiciary or elected officials should select lawyers for specific cases.” These mandates reflect two realities that have become overwhelmingly clear: (1) judges—whether initially elected, subject to retention elections, or appointed—are subject to political pressures in connection with capital punishment cases; and (2) lawyers whom judges have appointed in capital punishment cases have frequently been of far lower quality than could have been selected.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Errors and Ethics: Dilemmas in Death
By Penny J. White / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
2001
Article
United States
More details See the document
In the last five years, the death penalty has become a frequent topic of discussion. While discussion of such an emotive topic is not unusual for any period in history, the tenor of the recent dialogue is unusual. For the most part, the discussion centers around the problems with capital punishment, particularly its inaccuracy and unfairness. This Article begins in Part II with a discussion of recent claims about the frequency of errors in capital cases. Part III enumerates and discusses the factors generally thought to be the cause of the errors. Part IV details new rules recently adopted in one jurisdiction in an effort to eliminate the errors. Part IV also suggests that these new rules, though worthwhile, are actually a reiteration of long-standing ethical obligations of judges and lawyers, the breach of which is responsible for many of the errors. Part V recommends additional remedies which the bench and the bar must take if there is a true commitment to providing a fair, just, and reliable system for determining who the government is entitled to kill.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
International Law Issues in Death Penalty Defense
By Richard J. Wilson / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
United States
More details See the document
This short article will explore some additional issues regarding the relationship between international law and the death penalty. First, it will discuss some additional aspects of the representation of foreign nationals in capital cases. Second, it will discuss additional instances in which defense counsel can make international law arguments, regardless of the client’s nationality. Third, because international law issues are new to most lawyers in the United States, even those who are seasoned in capital litigation, it will suggest some alternative ways in which international law arguments can be made. The conclusion will put theUnited States experience with the death penalty into the broader context of world practice on the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Congressional Power to Require DNA Testing
By Larry Yackle / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001
2001
Article
United States
More details See the document
Many states fail to conduct, or even to permit, DNA testing of biological materials in circumstances in which the results might exonerate convicts under sentence of death. Senator Patrick Leahy thinks that Congress should enact a statute requiring states to provide for testing when it promises to reveal the truth. Leahy’s idea is sensible as a matter of policy. I mean in this Article to argue that it is also constitutionally feasible.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Alternatives to the Death Penalty: The Problems with Life Imprisonment
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This briefing examines the use of life imprisonment worldwide, including the increasing trend of life imprisonment without the possibility of release, or life without parole (LWOP). Emerging trends indicate an increase in the number of offences carrying the sanction of life imprisonment, a greater prevalence of indeterminate sentencing, a reduction in the use of parole, and the lengthening of prison terms as a whole. The abolition of the death penalty has played a significant role in the increased use of life imprisonment sentences, and LWOP in particular. Conditions of detention and the treatment of prisoners serving life sentences are often far worse than those for the rest of the prison population and more likely to fall below international human rights standards.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,
Document(s)
International Views on the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011
2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America – more than 139 nations worldwide – have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice. This document goes through the death penalty status of countries world wide.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Alternatives to the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus / Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2008
2008
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
In every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets for good. The information is California specific.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,
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)
Deterrence
By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Scientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executions deter people from committing crime anymore than long prison sentences.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
Racial Disparities
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009
2009
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In 1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that “in 82 percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Discrimination,
Document(s)
Inadequete Legal Representation
By Death Penalty Focus, on 8 September 2020
2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Perhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he or she is provided. Almost all defendants in capital cases cannot afford their own attorneys. In many cases, the appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid, or lacking the trial experience required for death penalty cases.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- 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
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)
Racial Bias
By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014
2014
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This webpage provides information on the link between racism and the death penalty in the United States.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Discrimination,
Document(s)
Cost
By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This document provides information on the cost of death penalty cases in the United States.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks, Financial cost,
Document(s)
Innocence and the Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011
2011
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139 men and women have been released from death row nationally.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Tanzania Human Rights Reports 2009: Incorporating Specific Part on Zanzibar
By Clarence Kipobota / Legal and Human Rights Centre, on 1 January 2010
2010
NGO report
More details See the document
The statistical information suggests that despite the executions that were done between 1961 and 1995, incidents of offences punishable by the death penalty were increasing and are still on the rise, from 46 convicts in 1961 to 2,562 in 2007. This report briefly describes the death penalty system in Tanzania.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
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
NGO report
More details See the document
This study analyzes the Palestinian legislations in light of the UN procedures and criteria on the issuance, imposition or execution of death sentences. The study is divided into two main parts, each of which is dedicated to either the international or national legislation on death penalty. This part is divided into two main chapters. Chapter One addresses the substantive provisions on death penalty and Chapter Two is concerned with the procedural provisions. This classification is inline with the international efforts for the abolition of death penalty, particularly because the UN, in its capacity as the representative of the international community, has not banned the capital punishment but opted for the introduction of a number of legal actions for the States to consider when they include such penalty in their legislations, or when such sentences are issued by the courts or actually executed. Thus, the procedural and the substantive provisions are addressed separately in this study, both at the international and national levels.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list International law,
Document(s)
Faith in Action
By Amnesty International - USA, on 1 January 2006
2006
Campaigning
More details See the document
Using faith to combat the death penalty: This document has sermons, prayers and services, essays, views on the death penalty, resources for discussion and action, resources for next steps.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Nigeria: Waiting for the Hangman
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2008
2008
NGO report
frMore details See the document
More than 720 men and 11 women are under sentence of death in Nigeria’s prisons. They have one thing in common, beyond not knowing when they will be put to death. They are poor. From their first contact with the police, through the trial process, to seeking pardon, those with the fewest resources are at a serious disadvantage. This text describes the treatment of the death penalty in Nigeria.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process , Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Nigéria: Pour qui vient le bourreau?
Document(s)
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty – recent developments
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Viet Nam
More details See the document
This document contains information about the recent developments in Vietm Nam regarding the death penalty. Amnesty International welcomes the reduction in the number of offenses punishable by the death penalty. However, the organization remains concerned that there is still a broad range of offenses which are punishable by the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Viet Nam
Document(s)
India: Lethal Lottery: The Death Penalty in India – A study of Supreme Court judgments in death penalty cases 1950-2006
By Amnesty International / Bikram Jeet Batra, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
India
More details See the document
The report shows that contrary to the majority Bench’s views and intentions in Bachan Singh, errors and arbitrariness have not been checked by the safeguards in place, and no small role in this has been played by the judges themselveswho have rarely adhered to the requirements laid down in Bachan Singh, making it clear that it is commonly the judge’s subjective discretion that eventually decides the fate of the accused-appellant.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list India
- Themes list Due Process , Statistics,
Document(s)
Zambia: Time to abolish the death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001
2001
NGO report
More details See the document
This report aims at focusing attention on the country’s use of the death penalty, particularly as Zambia does not apply international standards for fair trials in its use of the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Mental retardation and the death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001
NGO report
More details See the document
This paper attempts to summarise the issues arising from the practice of executing prisoners who have mental retardation. It draws mainly on the US experience but makes reference to other jurisdictions.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Intellectual Disability,
Document(s)
Commonwealth of Independent States: Positive trend on the abolition of the death penalty but more needs to be done
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
ruMore details See the document
On 28 November the meeting of the heads of the states in the Commonwealth of Independent States takes place in Minsk, Belarus. On the eve of the meeting Amnesty International calls on the heads of CIS states to put the issue of the abolition of the death penalty high on their agenda and to do all within their power to make the region a death penalty-free zone. Amnesty international is concerned that the conditions on death row in the region fall far short of international standards.
- Document type NGO report
- Available languages СНГ: Смертная казнь уходит в прошлое, но сделано пока недостаточно
Document(s)
The Death Penalty V. Human Rights: Why Abolish the Death Penalty?
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007
2007
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
In this document Amnesty International calls on the UN General Assembly, 62nd session, (2007) to adopt a resolution affirming the right to life and stating that abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of human rights and to report on the implementation of the moratorium to the next session of the UNGA. It also calls on retentionist countries to establish a moratorium on executions and to respect international standards that guarantee the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages UN CHÂTIMENT CONTRAIRE AUX DROITS HUMAINS : Pourquoi il faut abolir la peine de mortLOS DERECHOS HUMANOS FRENTE A LA PENA DE MUERTE : ¿Por qué abolir la pena capital? Septiembre de 2007
Document(s)
A Thousand People Face the Death Penalty in Iraq
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009
2009
NGO report
arfresMore details See the document
Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. At least 1,000 people are believed to be under sentence of death, 150 of whom have exhausted all legal remedies available to them and are therefore at serious risk of being hanged. This document describes the use of the death penalty in Iraq, including issues of transperancy, crimes punishable by death, unfair trials, the death penalty as used in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and some individual cases are discussed.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages ألف شخص يواجهون عقوبة الإعدام في العراقIrak. Un millier de personnes encourent la peine de mort en IrakIrák: Un millar de personas se enfrentan a la pena de muerte en Irak
Document(s)
Hope and Fear: Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009
NGO report
arMore details See the document
Amnesty International received information from a number of sentenced prisoners indicating that their trials had not met international fair trial standards. Some had been tried in secret locations, rather than in properly established courts of law. Some trials had been completed within an hour. A number of prisoners complained that they had been convicted on the basis of false “confessions” which they had been forced to make under torture or other illtreatment during pre-trial detention. Detainees commonly were denied access to lawyers in the early stages of their detention, when they were usually held incommunicado, and were interrogated by the Asayish.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process , Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages الأمل والخوف حقوق الإنسان في إقليم كردستان العراق
Document(s)
Myanmar: The Administration Of Justice – Grave And Abiding Concerns
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Myanmar
More details See the document
This report discusses Amnesty International’s concern about political imprisonments in Myanmar. Arbitrary arrests; torture and ill-treatment during incommunicado detention; unfair trials; and laws which greatly curtail the rights to freedom of expression and assembly continue as major obstacles to the improvement in the State Peace and Development Council’s human rights record. The section dedicated to the death penalty talks about the death penalty system in relation to specific cases.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Myanmar
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Ghana: Briefing on death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000
2000
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
As the Presidential elections approach in Ghana, Amnesty International is renewing its call for steps towards abolishing the death penalty, after seven years without any executions. This document describes the current use of the death penalty, giving details of those currently under sentence of death and describing the death penalty under Ghanaian law and international law
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages GHANA : Rapport sur la peine de mortGHANA : Informe sobre la pena de muerte
Document(s)
Saudi Arabia: Defying world trends – Saudi Arabia’s extensive use of capital punishment
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Saudi Arabia
arfrMore details See the document
This document examines the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and how it is sustained by a mixture of legal, judicial and political factors, whose redress requires a strong political will from the Saudi Arabian government together with a consistent concern and assistance by the international community.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Saudi Arabia
- Themes list Religion , Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages السعودية :تحدي الاتجاهات العالميةالاستخدام الواسع لعقوبة الإعدام في السعوديةArabie Saoudite: Un recours massif à la peine capitale
Document(s)
USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
More details See the document
More than 1,000 men and women have been put to death in the USA since executions resumed there in 1977. Dozens of these people had histories of mental impairment, either from before the crimes for which they were sentenced, or at the time of their execution. The report discusses many cases and includes an illustrative list of 100 people. It does not attempt to answer the complex question of precisely which defendants should be exempt from the death penalty on the grounds of mental illness at the time of the crime.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2009 (and the first six months of 2010)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
enMore details See the document
THE SITUATION TODAY The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than ten years, was again confirmed in 2009 and the first six months of 2010. There are currently 154 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 96 are totally abolitionist; 8 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 6 have a moratorium on executions in place and 44 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2009 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2010)
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2008 (and the first six months of 2009)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2009
2009
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The Worldwide Situation to Date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2008 and the first six months of 2009. There are currently 151 countries and territories that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 96 are totally abolitionist; 8 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 42 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2008 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2009)
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2007 (and the first six months of 2008)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2008
2008
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The U.N. Moratorium on Executions : On December 18, 2007, with 104 votes in favour, 54 votes against and 29 abstentions, the United Nations 62nd General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a Resolution that calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to “Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2007 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2008)
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2006 (and the first seven months of 2007)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2007
2007
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2006 and the first six months of 2007. There are currently 146 countries and territories that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these, 93 are totally abolitionist, 9 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observes a moratorium on executions, 4 have a moratorium on executions in place and 39 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. – no executions have taken place in the last ten years).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU' IMPORTANTI DEL 2006 (e dei primi sette mesi del 2007)
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2005 (AND THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2006)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
enMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2005 and the first half of 2006. There are currently 142 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 90 are totally abolitionist; 10 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 37 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : I FATTI PIù IMPORTANTI DEL 2005 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2006)
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN BRIEF 2004 (and up to September 15, 2005)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2005
2005
NGO report
enfrMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2004 and the first half of 2005. There are currently 138 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 86 are totally abolitionist; 11 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 35 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years). Since the beginning of 2004, 3 countries have passed from retention to an extent of abolition, whereas 5 countries have advanced within the categories of the abolitionist group.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2004 (e dei primi mesi del 2005)LES FAITS LES PLUS IMPORTANTS DE 2004 (ET DES PREMIERS NEUF MOIS DE 2005)
Document(s)
Singapore: The death penalty – A hidden toll of executions
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Singapore
frMore details See the document
More than 400 prisoners have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, giving the small city-state possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population of just over four million people. This report examines the use of the death penalty for drug offences, murder and firearms offences. It emphasizes the cruel and arbitrary nature of the death penalty and shows how it has been imposed on the most marginalized or vulnerable members of society including drug addicts, the poorly educated, the impoverished or unemployed, and migrant workers.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Singapore
- Themes list Transparency, Foreign Nationals,
- Available languages Singapore: Taux d'exécutions : un secret bien gardé
Document(s)
The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 2000
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001
2001
NGO report
arfresMore details See the document
This paper covers events around the exercise of the death penalty during the year 2000, including such subjects as significant national and international court cases and decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the mentally ill and those with mental retardation; its use against the `innocent’ and against women; medical and religious perspectives and public opinion polls and surveys.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages العقوبة الاعدام في العالم : تطورات في العام ٢٠٠٠La peine de mort dans le monde : évolution en 2000La pena de muerte en el mundo: noticias del 2000
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
More details See the document
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)
Pakistan: Death Penalty Action on Pakistan
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
More details See the document
Amnesty International has received reports from contacts in Pakistan that there has recently been an increase in executions in Pakistan: 60 people have been executed this year in the province of Punjab alone. In addition, 10 executions are known to have taken place in the North-West Frontier Province. There are continuing concerns around the application of the death penalty in Pakistan including the execution of juveniles.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Indonesia: A briefing on the death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
enMore details See the document
This briefing follows the first executions in Indonesia in more than three years. Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, an Indian national convicted of drug-trafficking in 1994, was executed by firing squad. Two Thai nationals, Saelow Prasert (m) and Namsong Sirilak (f), who had been sentenced to death in the same case, were executed on 1 October 2004. A total of at least 54 people are currently believed to be under sentence of death in Indonesia, 30 of them for drug-related offences. Amnesty International is concerned that these recent developments reflect an increasing willingness by the authorities to use the death penalty to address crime, in particular drug-trafficking. The organization is also concerned about calls to expand the number of crimes for which the death penalty may be imposed.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Indonesian : Indonesia: Urusan tentang pidana mati
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)
Ending Executions in Europe – Towards Abolition of the Death Penalty in Belarus
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
Belarus
More details See the document
Belarus is the last country in Europe and in the former Soviet Union that is still carrying out executions. Since gaining its independence from the USSR in 1991 Belarus has taken some significant steps towards ending the use of the death penalty. The information in this report has been gathered over more than two decades of work monitoring the practice of the death penalty in Belarus.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Belarus
- Themes list Transparency, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty – inhumane and Ineffective
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
Viet Nam
fresMore 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 type NGO report
- Countries list Viet Nam
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages République Socialiste Du Viêt-Nam : La peine de port - inhumaine et inefficaceRepública Socialista de Vietnam: La pena de muerte - inhumana e ineficaz
Document(s)
TAJIKISTAN: DEADLY SECRETS – The death penalty in law and practice
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
Tajikistan
ruMore details See the document
Official secrecy surrounds the death penalty in Tajikistan. The picture that Amnesty International has been able to build is incomplete, yet alarming. With random and relentless cruelty, prisoners are executed in secret after unfair trials, with no warning to their families. According to the evidence gathered by Amnesty International, none of the prisoners sentenced to death in Tajikistan received a fair trial. Most, if not all, were tortured. Several different prisoners have given detailed accounts naming the same investigator, but no action has apparently been taken to investigate the truth of these allegations. Testimony extracted under torture has been admitted as evidence and used to condemn prisoners to death.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Tajikistan
- Themes list Transparency, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages ТАДЖИКИСТАН: СМЕРТЕЛЬНЫЕ ТАЙНЫ
Document(s)
English speaking Caribbean: State Killing in the English speaking Caribbean: a legacy of colonial times
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002
2002
NGO report
More details See the document
This report seeks to answer the arguments put forward by the proponents of capital punishment in the English Speaking Caribbean and examines the shortcomings in the administration of the death penalty in the region.The paper primarily focuses on Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the two countries with the largest death row populations in the region. However, details of other counties are given and the themes and problems illustrated in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are prevalent in the other nations of the ESC.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
Document(s)
STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS! Ending the death penalty for child offenders
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18, yet some countries continue to execute child offenders or sentence them to death. Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in the world, they represent a complete disregard by the executing states of their commitments under international law, and an affront to all notions of morality and decency when it comes to the protection of children – one of the most vulnerable groups in society. This document describes the use of the death penalty against child offenders worldwide and its prohibition under international law.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles,
- Available languages HALTE À L'EXECUTION DE MINEURS DELINQUANTS!Eliminar la pena de muerte para delincuentes juveniles
Document(s)
The Death Penalty Worldwide – Developments in 2003
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
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This document covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2003. Subjects covered in this document include significant judicial decisions; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; reductions and expansions in the scope of the death penalty; moratoria on executions and commutations of death sentences
- Document type NGO report
- Available languages La peine de mort dans le monde : évolution en 2003La pena de muerte en el mundo: noticias del año 2003
Document(s)
Japan: “Will this day be my last?” The death penalty in Japan
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
Japan
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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 type NGO report
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list Transparency, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Japanese : 今日が最期の日?“¿Será éste mi último día?” La pena de muerte en Japón
Document(s)
Death Penalty: Stop the state killing
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007
2007
NGO report
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This document focuses on the significant developments and events – both negative and positive – in the struggle against the death penalty in 2006. It includes steps towards abolition; horrific state killings; executions after unfair trials, including that of Saddam Hussein; the growing global campaign for abolition, and the political courage needed to rid the world of judicial state killing.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks, Statistics,
- Available languages Halte aux hommicides commis par l'étatPena de muerte: Poner fin al homicidio estatal
Document(s)
Uzbekistan: ‘Justice only in heaven’ – the death penalty in Uzbekistan
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Uzbekistan
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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)
Protecting the right to life against the Death Penalty. Written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Legislative or Other Measures Denying Judicial or Other Effective Recourses to Challenge the Death Penalty.
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
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This document contains Amnesty International’s written observations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on legislative or other measures denying judicial or other effective recourse to challenge the death penalty; in the matter of a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (article 64(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights) and in the matter of legislative measures concerning the mandatory imposition of the death penalty and related matters.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Right to life, Mandatory Death Penalty,
- Available languages Proteger el derecho a la vida frente a la pena de muerte. Observaciones escritas a la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos respecto de las medidas legislativas o de otra índole que niegan un recurso judicial u otro recurso efectivo para impugnar la pena de muerte
Document(s)
Children and the death penalty: Executions worldwide since 1990
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002
2002
NGO report
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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 type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Statistics,
- Available languages LES MINEURS FACE À LA PEINE DE MORT : Les exécutions recensées dans le monde depuis 1990LOS MENORES Y LA PENA DE MUERTE : Ejecuciones en el mundo desde 1990
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
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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
Document(s)
The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2002
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
This paper covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2002. Other subjects covered in this paper include significant judicial decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; reductions in the scope of the death penalty; moratoria and commutations; and moves to restrict appeals in capital cases.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages La peine de mort dans le monde : Evolution en 2002La pena de muerte en el mundo: noticias del 2002
Document(s)
Death sentences and executions in 2008
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009
2009
NGO report
arrufresMore details See the document
This document summarises Amnesty International’s global research on the death penalty. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and interviews with survivors of human rights violations.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages أحكام الإعدام الصادرة وما نُفِّذ من أحكام في عام 2008СМЕРТНЫЕ ПРИГОВОРЫ И КАЗНИ В 2008 ГОДУCONDAMNATIONS À MORT ET EXÉCUTIONS RECENSÉES EN 2008CONDENAS A MUERTE Y EJECUCIONES EN 2008
Document(s)
Japan: Hanging by a thread: Mental health and the death penalty in Japan
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 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)
The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 1999
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000
2000
NGO report
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This paper is an attempt to cover developments during 1999 and provide information current at the end of the year concerning the death penalty worldwide, different aspects of its use and attempts to abolish it or reduce its application.
- Document type NGO report
- Available languages La peine de mort dans le monde: évolution en 1999LA PENA DE MUERTE EN EL MUNDO: NOTICIAS DE 1999
Document(s)
The most important facts in 2000
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2000
NGO report
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This is the fourth consecutive year that Hands off Cain is publishing its report on the death penalty. The events registered in 2000 reveal a positive trend towards abolition.As of 31/12/2000, there were 123 abolitionist countries of various types: 77 were fully abolitionist, 12 were abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 30 were de facto abolitionist (they haven´t carried out a death sentence in at least ten years), 2 were engaged in abolishing the death penalty as members of the Council of Europe, 2 had a legal moratoria on executions. Seventy three states retained the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : Sintesi dei fatti più rilevanti del 2000
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
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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,