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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)
World Day Poster 2022
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 June 2022
2022
Campaigning
World Coalition
aresfafrruzh-hantMore details Download [ pdf - 4097 Ko ]
20th World Day on “Torture and the death penalty”.
- Document type Campaigning / World Coalition
- Available languages 2022 ملصق اليوم العال مPoster Spanish – 2022 Día Mundial contra la Pena de MuertePoster Farsi 2022 - بیستمین روز جهانی علیهمجازات مرگAffiche Journée mondiale 2022Poster Russian 2022 - 20Й ВСЕМИРНЫЙ ДЕНЬ ПРОТИВ СМЕРТНОЙ КАЗНИPoster Chinese 2022- 第20届世界反死刑日
Document(s)
Poster 2022 German – 20. Welttag gegen die Todesstrafe
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 7 July 2022
2022
More details Download [ pdf - 19959 Ko ]
Welttag gegen die Todesstrafe Poster
- Document type Array
Document(s)
Human Rights Activists in Iran Annual Report on Executions in Iran 2019-2020
on 1 January 2020
2020
NGO report
More details See the document
- Document type NGO report
Document(s)
China: Death penalty log in 1999
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000
2000
NGO report
More details See the document
The attached Log gives available details of death sentences and executions occurring in China throughout 1999.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
Document(s)
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty – inhumane and Ineffective
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
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
Member(s)
Marvi Rural Development Organization
on 15 September 2020
Marvi Rural Development Organization (MRDO) is registered under the Societies Act as a non-profit/non-government organization in 1994 envisioned to address social sufferings of marginalized and underprivileged population segments in northern Sindh, particularly disadvantaged men, women and children. Since its inception, MRDO has designed and implemented over 60 projects of diversified nature for vulnerable, disastrous, and […]
2020
Pakistan
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)
Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
More details See the document
This report catalogs the emergence of innocence as the most important issue in the long-simmering death penalty debate. The sheer number of cases and the pervasive awareness of this trend in the public’s consciousness have changed the way capital punishment is perceived around the country. The steady evolution of this issue since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 has been accelerated in recent years by the development of DNA technology, the new gold standard of forensic investigation. This science, along with a vigorous re-investigation of many cases, has led to the discovery of a growing number of tragic mistakes and freed inmates. The evidence in this report presents a compelling case for many Americans that the risks associated with capital punishment exceed acceptable bounds. One hundred and sixteen people have been freed from death row after being cleared of their charges, including 16 people in the past 20 months. These inmates cumulatively spent over 1,000 years awaiting their freedom. The pace of exonerations has sharply increased, raising doubts about the reliability of the whole system.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S.
By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 1999
1999
NGO report
More details See the document
This report examines the sequence of recent events that has increasingly placed the death penalty in the international spotlight. Some of these events are direct challenges to the practice of capital punishment in the U.S. Others are changes in the balance of death penalty practices and attitudes around the world. The report looks at the ways in which the international community has sought to limit the application of the death penalty, and the U.S.’s response to these initiatives. It also explores the world-wide trend towards complete abolition of the death penalty and the U.S. reaction. Although much of the official U.S. response to international criticism has been denial, the report looks at some local and unofficial actions, which indicate a different direction. Finally, the report notes the present and potential costs the U.S. is facing for adhering to the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Iraq: The Death Penalty, Executions, and “Prison Cleansing”
By Human Rights Watch, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Iraq
More details See the document
This briefing paper examines Iraq’s arbitrary and widespread use of the death penalty and extrajudicial executions. For more than three decades, the government of President Saddam Hussein has sanctioned the use of the death penalty and extrajudicial executions as a tool of political repression, both in order to eliminate real or suspected political opponents and to maintain a reign of terror over the population at large. The executions that have taken place over this period constitute an integral part of more systematic repression – characterized by widespread arbitrary arrests, indefinite detention without trial, death in custody under torture, and large-scale “disappearances” – through which the government has sustained its rule.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Iraq
- Themes list Due Process ,
Document(s)
Beyond Reason: The Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental Retardation
By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2001
2001
NGO report
More details See the document
Twenty-five U.S. states still permit the execution of offenders with mental retardation and should pass laws to ban the practice without delay. The United States appears to be the only democracy whose laws expressly permit the execution of persons with this severe mental disability.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Intellectual Disability,
Document(s)
World Report 2010
By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2010
2010
NGO report
More details See the document
This report is does not specificly concern the death penalty but examines the use of the death penalty on juveniles and those with mental illness in many retentionist countries. It contains information gathered in 2009.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Mental Illness,
Document(s)
World Report 2011
By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2011
2011
NGO report
More details See the document
This report is does not specificly concern the death penalty but examines the use of the death penalty on juveniles and those with mental illness in many retentionist countries. It contains information gathered in 2009.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Mental Illness,
Document(s)
Promises Unfulfilled: An Assessment of China’s National Human Rights Action Plan
By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2011
NGO report
More details See the document
In August 2010, the Chinese government announced a draft amendment to China’s criminal law which would eliminate the death penalty for a total of 13 “economy-related nonviolent offenses,” including the smuggling of precious metals and cultural relics out of the country. However, the government has provided no indication regarding if or when the draft amendment might be approved, and, in September 2010, Chen Sixi, member of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and vice chairman of the NPC’s Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs, announced that the government would not in fact pursue these reforms.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Overview of the Capital Trial Process
By Capital Punishment in Context, on 8 September 2020
2020
Working with...
More details See the document
This document briefly goes through the steps involved in a death penalty case, from the point of arrest to judge sentences.
- Document type Working with...
- 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)
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)
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)
Witness to Innocence – from death row to freedom
By Witness to Innocence, on 8 September 2020
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)
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)
Poster 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty
By World coalition against the death penalty, on 12 June 2023
2023
Campaigning
World Coalition
aresfafrruzh-hantMore details Download [ pdf - 4027 Ko ]
- Document type Campaigning / World Coalition
- Available languages 2023 ملصق اليوم العال مPoster Spanish – 2023 Día Mundial contra la Pena de MuertePoster Farsi 2023 – بیستمین روز جهانی علیهمجازات مرگPoster 21ème Journée Mondiale contre la peine de mortPoster Russian 2023 — 21-Й ВСЕМИРНЫЙ ДЕНЬ БОРЬБЫ ПРОТИВ СМЕРТНОЙ КАЗНИPoster Chinese 2023- 第21个世界反对死刑日
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)
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)
Capital Punishment in Context
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 8 September 2020
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)
Death isn’t Justice
By Poster for Tomorrow, on 8 September 2020
Academic report
More details See the document
Poster for tomorrow is an independent, non-profit international project whose goal is to encourage people, both in and outside the design community, to make posters to stimulate debate on issues that affect us all.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Compensating the Wrongfully Convicted
By The Innocence Project, on 1 January 2012
2012
Working with...
More details See the document
Those proven to have been wrongfully convicted through postconviction DNA testing spend, on average, 12 years behind bars. The agony of prison life and the complete loss of freedom are only compounded by the feelings of what might have been, but for the wrongful conviction. Deprived for years of family and friends and the ability to establish oneself professionally, the nightmare does not end upon release. With no money, housing, transportation, health services or insurance, and a criminal record that is rarely cleared despite innocence, the punishment lingers long after innocence has been proven. States have a responsibility to restore the lives of the wrongfully convicted to the best of their abilities. This document describes how a state can try to recompensate an exonerated person.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Host a Speaking Event
By Witness to Innocence, on 8 September 2020
2020
Working with...
More details See the document
Are you stressing about finding that perfect speaker for your next event? Worried that the speaker be inspirational, educational, and entertaining all at the same time? Look no further. We are awaiting your call to help you organize an unforgettable and unique experience for your audience.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Execution in Saudi Arabia 2023: Ongoing Bloodshed with Unusual Sentences
By The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), on 23 January 2024
2024
NGO report
Saudi Arabia
More details See the document
Published on 22 January، 2024.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views 2023 as a year that demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s inconsistency in using the death penalty. Besides the unexplained shift in the types of executed sentences, the implementation of death sentences for drug-related charges, and the disregard for international legal opinions, the high numbers indicate Saudi Arabia’s determination to use the death penalty without restraint.
In Saudi Arabia in 2023, 172 executions were carried out according to data from the Ministry of Interior published by the official news agency. The number of executions increased by 15% compared to the figure announced by the Ministry of Interior in 2022, where 147 sentences were reported, despite the mass execution of 81 individuals in 2022.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Saudi Arabia
Document(s)
False Confessions and Recording of Custodial Interrogations
By The Innocence Project, on 8 September 2020
2020
Working with...
esMore details See the document
Many of the nation’s 249 wrongful convictions overturned by DNA evidence involved some form of a false confession. Yet it’s virtually impossible to fathom wh a person would wrongly confess to a crime he or she did not commit. The causes behind false confessions is explored in this text.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Confesiones Falsas Y Grabación De Interrogatorios En Custodia Policial
Document(s)
Facts on Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations
By The Innocence Project, on 8 September 2020
Working with...
More details See the document
This fact sheet gives facts on post DNA exonerations and provides information on the main causes of wrongful conviction including eyewitness misidentification, false confessions and snitches.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Cost
By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014
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)
He Called Me Sister
By Suzanne Craig Robertson, on 24 February 2023
2023
Book
Death Row Conditions
United States
More details See the document
The fascinating, moving story of a friendship with an inmate on death row. It was a clash of race, privilege, and circumstance when Alan Robertson first signed up through a church program to visit Cecil Johnson on Death Row, to offer friendship and compassion. Alan’s wife Suzanne had no intention of being involved, but slowly, through phone calls and letters, she began to empathize and understand him. That Cecil and Suzanne eventually became such close friends—a white middle-class woman and a Black man who grew up devoid of advantage—is a testament to perseverance, forgiveness, and love, but also to the notion that differences don’t have to be barriers. This book recounts a fifteen-year friendship and how trust and compassion were forged despite the difficult circumstances, and how Cecil ended up ministering more to Suzanne’s family than they did to him. The story details how Cecil maintained inexplicable joy and hope despite the tragic events of his life and how Suzanne, Alan, and their two daughters opened their hearts to a man convicted of murder. Cecil Johnson was executed Dec. 2, 2009.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Conditions
Document(s)
Poster 2022 Houssa – 20TH RANAR YAKI DA HUKUMCIN KISA TA DUNIYA
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 7 July 2022
2022
More details Download [ pdf - 19959 Ko ]
- Document type Array
Document(s)
Poster 2022 Turkish – 20.CI ÖLÜM CEZASINA KARŞI DÜNYA GÜNÜ
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 5 August 2022
2022
World Coalition
More details Download [ pdf - 5076 Ko ]
World Day 2022 Poster in Turkish – ÖLÜM CEZASI: İŞKENCEYLE DÖŞELI BIR YOLDUR
- Document type World Coalition
Document(s)
Poster Italian – 20 GIORNATA MONDIALE CONTRO LA PENA DI MORTE
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 7 July 2022
2022
World Coalition
More details Download [ pdf - 19959 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
Document(s)
Myth #5 – Death penalty trials are a fair process
By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020
2020
Academic report
More details See the document
MYTH: Death penalty trials are a fair process. Trials and appeals are closely scrutinised. The defendant’s basic rights are protected. FACT: People are executed around the world every day because they did not have a fair trial.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Fair Trial,
Document(s)
Poster Singhala 2022 – 20 වන ජගත් මරණ දඬුවමට එෙරහි දිනය
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 July 2022
2022
World Coalition
More details Download [ pdf - 19959 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
Document(s)
Poster Swahili 2022 – MIAKA 20 YA MAADHIMISHO YA KUPINGA ADHABU YA KIFO DUNIANI
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 July 2022
World Coalition
More details Download [ pdf - 19960 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
Document(s)
Poster Tamil 2022 – மரண தண்டைனக்ெகதிரான இருபதாவது உலக நாள்
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 July 2022
World Coalition
More details Download [ pdf - 5049 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
Document(s)
Poster Urdu 2022 – سزائے موت کے خلاف بیسواں عالمی دن
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 July 2022
More details Download [ pdf - 19959 Ko ]
- Document type Array
Document(s)
Courtroom Contortions: How America’s application of the death penalty erodes the principle of equal justice under law
By Anthony G. Amsterdam / American Prospect, on 8 September 2020
2020
Article
United States
More details See the document
One cost this country pays for the death penalty is that its courts are constantly compelled to corrupt the law in order to uphold death sentences. That corruption soils the character of the United States as a nation dedicated to equal justice under law.This is not the only price we pay for being one of the very few democracies in the world that retains capital punishment in the 21st century. But it is a significant item on the cost side of the cost-benefit ledger, something that each thinking person ought to balance in deciding whether he or she supports capital punishment. And it warrants discussion because this cost is little understood. I have spent much of my time for the past 40 years representing death-sentenced inmates in appeals at every level of the state and federal judicial systems, and I am only lately coming to realize how large a tax the death penalty imposes on the quality of justice in those systems.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Death Penalty Lessons from Asia
By David T. Johnson / Franklin E. Zimring / Asia-Pacific Journal, on 1 January 2009
2009
Article
China
More details See the document
Part one of this article summarizes death penalty policy and practice in the region that accounts for 60 percent of the world’s population and more than 90 percent of the world’s executions. The lessons from Asia are then organized into three parts. Part two describes features of death penalty policy in Asia that are consistent with the experiences recorded in Europe and with the theories developed to explain Western changes. Part three identifies some of the most significant diversities within the Asian region – in rates of execution, trends over time, and patterns of change – that contrast with the recent history of capital punishment in non-Asian locations and therefore challenge conventional interpretations of death penalty policy and change. Part four discusses three ways that the politics of capital punishment in Asia are distinctive: the limited role of international standards and transnational influences in most Asian jurisdictions; the presence of single-party domination in several Asian political systems; and the persistence of communist versions of capital punishment in the Asia region.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Death Penalty,
Document(s)
The Global Debate on the Death Penalty
By Sandra Babcock / Human Rights Magazine, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
Many human rights organizations and intergovernmental organizations, such as the European Union, see the death penalty as one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time and have taken an active role in persuading countries to halt executions. The debate over capital punishment in the United States—be it in the courts, in state legislatures, or on nationally televised talk shows—is always fraught with emotion. The themes have changed little over the last two or three hundred years. Does it deter crime? If not, is it necessary to satisfy society’s desire for retribution against those who commit unspeakably violent crimes? Is it worth the cost? Are murderers capable of redemption? Should states take the lives of their own citizens? Are current methods of execution humane? Is there too great a risk of executing the innocent?
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
Geometrical Justice: The Death Penalty in America
By Scott Phillips and Mark Cooney, on 12 October 2022
2022
Book
United States
More details See the document
In their new book, released in the Summer of 2022, University of Denver criminology and sociology professor Scott Phillips and University of Georgia sociologist Mark Cooney apply the concept of “social geometry,” developed in the 1970s by sociologist Donald Black, to analyze outcomes of capital cases. After reviewing extensive data collected in connection with the landmark Baldus Study of capital sentencing in Georgia and from the national Capital Jury Project, they conclude that the sentencing outcomes in the cases in those databases support key principles of Black’s theory: the higher the social status of the victim and the lower the social status of the defendant, the more likely a death sentence will be imposed.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
When Law and Ethics Collide — Why Physicians Participate in Executions
By Atul Gawande / New England Journal of Medecine 354(12), 1-13., on 1 January 2006
2006
Article
United States
More details See the document
Evidence from execution logs showed that six of the last eight prisoners executed in California had not stopped breathing before technicians gave the paralytic agent, raising a serious possibility that prisoners experienced suffocation from the paralytic, a feeling much like being buried alive, and felt intense pain from the potassium bolus. This experience would be unacceptable under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. So the judge ordered the state to have an anesthesiologist present in the death chamber to determine when the prisoner was unconscious enough for the second and third injections to be given — or to perform the execution with sodium thiopental alone.The California Medical Association, the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) immediately and loudly opposed such physician participation as a clear violation of medical ethics codes. “Physicians are healers, not executioners,” the ASA’s president told reporters. Nonetheless, in just two days, prison officials announced that they had found two willing anesthesiologists. The court agreed to maintain their anonymity and to allow them to shield their identities from witnesses. Both withdrew the day before the execution, however, after the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit added a further stipulation requiring them personally to administer additional medication if the prisoner remained conscious or was in pain. This they would not accept. The execution was then postponed until at least May, but the court has continued to require that medical professionals assist with the administration of any lethal injection given to Morales. This turn of events is the culmination of a steady evolution in methods of execution in the United States.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Lethal Injection,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2022
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, on 7 October 2022
2022
Regional body report
More details See the document
This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2021. 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 the issue. It covers the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
- Document type Regional body report
Document(s)
Shattered Justice – Crime Victims’ Experiences with Wrongful Convictions and Exonerations
By Kimberly J. Cook, on 12 August 2022
2022
Book
United States
More details See the document
Shattered Justice presents original crime victims’ experiences with violent crime, investigations and trials, and later exonerations in their cases. Using in-depth interviews with 21 crime victims across the United States, Cook reveals how homicide victims’ family members and rape survivors describe the painful impact of the primary trauma, the secondary trauma of the investigations and trials, and then the tertiary trauma associated with wrongful convictions and exonerations. Important lessons and analyses are shared related to grief and loss, and healing and repair. Using restorative justice practices to develop and deliver healing retreats for survivors also expands the practice of restorative justice. Finally, policy reforms aimed at preventing, mitigating, and repairing the harms of wrongful convictions is covered.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis
By Jason T. Carmichael / David Jacobs / American Sociological Review, on 1 January 2002
2002
Article
United States
More details See the document
Despite the interest in the death penalty, no statistical studies have isolated the social and political forces that account for the legality of this punishment. Racial or ethnic threat theories suggest that the death penalty will more likely be legal in jurisdictions with relatively large black or Hispanic populations. Economic threat explanations suggest that this punishment will be present in unequal areas. Jurisdictions with a more conservative public or a stronger law and order Republican party should be more likely to legalize the death penalty as well. After controlling for social disorganization, region, period, and voilent crime, panel analyses suggest that minority presence and economic inequality enhance the likelihood of a legal death penalty. Conservative values and Republican strength in the legislature have equivalent effects; A supplement time-to-event analysis supports these conclusions. The results suggest that a political approach has explanatory power because threat effects expressed through politics and effects that are directly political invariable account for decisions about the legality of capital punishment.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2017
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2017
2017
International law - Regional body
More details See the document
OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments regarding the death penalty, including considering the potential abolition of capital punishment, to exchange information toward that end and to make information on the use of the death penalty available to the public.1 Where the death penalty is still in use, participating States have agreed that it could be imposed only for the most serious crimes and only in line with international commitments.2 In light of these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The background paper is based on the information provided by participating States, in the form of responses to ODIHR questionnaires. The information from their responses has been included in the present report, to the extent possible, and is supplemented with information from international and regional human rights bodies, non-governmental organizations and media reports.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list International law, Death Penalty, 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)
Prison guards and the death penalty
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015
NGO report
More details See the document
How are prison guards affected by overseeing prisoners on death row or even participating in executions? What effects does it have in the short and the longer term?This short paper draws on research and interviews with prison guards to outline the psychological impact that guards who have worked with prisoners for many years on death row can experience when a prisoner is put to death.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon,
Document(s)
Unfair trials report II: the death penalty is not the common value of Asia
By Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015
Article
zh-hantMore details See the document
This report highlights the death penalty situation and executions in Asian countries between 2010 and 2013. It also gives an overview over the legal protection measures for the mentally impaired and intellectually disabled in Asian countries where the death penalty is used. Furthermore, we have listed Asian countries that have acceded to the ICCPR and its Second Optional Protocol. We have also collected excerpts from international human rights documents. By using these documents for mutual reference, death penalty activists in Asia will be able to get a more comprehensive picture of the use of the death penalty and executions in Asian countries.
- Document type Article
- Themes list International law, Public debate, Most Serious Crimes,
- Available languages 亞洲不公平審判報告 II : 死刑並非亞洲的共同價值
Document(s)
SHAMS Center issues a report on the status of death penalty in the Palestinian territories: in 2017
By Human Rights & Democracy Media Center (SHAMS), on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
State of Palestine
arMore details See the document
In this report, SHAMS emphasizes that in Palestine they apply inconsistent legal combination of laws that punish with death penalty, which are not Palestinian laws basically.The problem is that capital punishment violates against an essential human right, and it is irreversible once executed. It doesn’t represent a public deterrent so; it is nothing but a form of violence not a solution for it.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list State of Palestine
- Themes list Death Penalty,
- Available languages مركز “شمس” يصدر تقريراً حول واقع عقوبة الإعدام في الأراضي الفلسطينية في العام 2017
Document(s)
Oral Statement: 56th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights
By FIACAT, on 8 September 2020
Article
More details See the document
During the 56th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul, Gambia, 21 April – 7 May 2015, the FIACAT made an oral statement as they would like to would like to congratulate on the actions taken by the Committee for the prevention of torture in Africa since the 55th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR. Nevertheless, FIACAT remains greatly concerned by the number of cases of torture documented by its members (ACATs) and the impunity which torturers enjoy.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Death sentences and executions 2014
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
rufresMore details See the document
This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2014. As in previous years, information is collected from a variety of sources, including: official figures; information from individuals sentenced to death and their families and representatives; reporting by other civil society organizations; and media reports. Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages СМЕРТНЫЕ ПРИГОВОРЫ И КАЗНИ 2014Condamnations à mort et exécutions en 2014Condenas a muerte y ejecuciones 2014
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)
Female executions 2000 to date
By Capital Punishment U.K., on 1 January 2015
2015
Multimedia content
More details See the document
Listing of women executed worldwide reported per year, between 2000 and 2015. The majority have been hanged or beheaded, whilst others have been shot or executed by lethal injection. Two have suffered electrocution in America and at least five have been stoned to death in Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Women,
Document(s)
FREE MEN
By Anne-Frédérique Widmann / International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, on 1 January 2018
2018
Multimedia content
United States
More details See the document
How can a human being stand up, under conditions of unjust imprisonment on death row, alone and without hope of being released? In this documentary film, Anne-Frédérique Widmann draws the portrait of Kenneth Reams, who wakes up every day with an unwavering desire to live, and succeeds in writing, testifying, painting and loving a woman. A film about the art, resistance and dignity of every human life.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Final declaration of the African Congress
By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2018
Article
frMore details See the document
On 9 and 10 April, more than 300 abolitionists, activists, diplomats, politicians, parliamentarians, lawyers, former death row inmates and citizens gathered in Abidjan for the first African Congress against the death penalty. After two days of debating and sharing experiences, the delegates adopted a final declaration at the closing ceremony.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Congrès Africain: déclaration finale pour une Afrique abolitionniste
Document(s)
Capital Clemency Resource Initiative
By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2018
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This ressource provided by the American Bar Association permits to help fill clemency petitions in the United States.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Clemency, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Death sentences and executions in 2015
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2016
2016
NGO report
rufresMore details See the document
This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2015. As in previous years, information is collected from a variety of sources, including: official figures; information from individuals sentenced to death and their families and representatives; reporting by other civil society organizations; and media reports. Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages СМЕРТНЫЕ ПРИГОВОРЫ И КАЗНИ 2015Condamnations à mort et exécutions en 2015Condenas a muerte y ejecuciones 2015
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2014: infographic
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
More details See the document
DPIC’s 2014 Year-End Report. Death sentences were at a 40-year low and executions were at a 20-year low. Texas, Missouri, and Florida accounted for 80% of all the executions in the United States. There were 7 exonerations this year and it took an average of 30 years to discover their innocence.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Innocence, Statistics,
Document(s)
Killing in the Name of Justice. The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia
By Amnesty International / Amnesty International UK, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Saudi Arabia
More details See the document
The 2015 Amnesty International’s Report on Saudi Arabia gravely confirms that Saudi Arabia remains one of the most prolific executioners in the world. Between January 1985, the earliest year from when information on executions is available, and June 2015 it executed at least 2,200 persons, almost half of whom were foreign nationals. Over one third of these executions were carried out for offences that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty can be imposed under international law. Most of these crimes, such as drug-related offences, are not mandatorily punishable by death according to the authorities’ interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Saudi Arabia
- Themes list Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Most Serious Crimes, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness
By NPR Books , on 1 January 2008
2008
Working with...
More details See the document
Hector Black’s daughter was murdered after she surprised an intruder in her Atlanta home. In this powerful recording, Black discusses how he found peace in forgiving the man who murdered his child.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Unjust and Unwanted: Malaysia’s Mandatory Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Project, on 8 September 2020
2020
Multimedia content
Malaysia
More details See the document
Malaysia is one of only a handful of countries around the world that continues to retain a mandatory death penalty. The newly elected Malaysian government has promised to abolish mandatory death sentences and other “oppressive laws”. This short animation sheds light on what the mandatory death penalty is, what the Malaysian public think about it and why it is time to consign this abhorrent punishment to history.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Malaysia
- Themes list Public opinion, Drug Offences, Mandatory Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Locked up and Forgotten: The Need to Abolish the Death Penalty in Ghana
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2017
2017
NGO report
More details See the document
Death sentences in Ghana continue to be imposed. At the end of 2016, 148 people were on death row, all sentenced to death for murder. While the last executions were carried out in July 1993, there is no official moratorium on executions in Ghana. Research carried out by Amnesty International in Ghana has highlighted concerns with the use of the death penalty, access to fair trial rights and poor prison conditions. Amnesty International calls on the Ghanaian authorities to commute the death sentences of all people on death row and to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
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)
MADP 2015 Annual Report: Infographics
By Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015
2015
Multimedia content
United States
More details See the document
Missouri has had a surge in executions since 2008. The following data shows just how arbitrary and discriminatory Missouri’s death penalty system is. Such disparities in race, geography, and gender, are causes for concern that this system is broken and applied capriciously.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Discrimination, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the U.S. in 2016: infographic
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016
2016
NGO report
More details See the document
Figures on the application of the death penalty in the US in 2016: Another record decline in death penalty use
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
DPIC Year End Report: Death Sentences, Executions Drop to Historic Lows in 2016
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016
Article
United States
More details See the document
A press release on the DPIC Year End Report 2016: Use of the death penalty fell to historic lows across the United States in 2016. States imposed the fewest death sentences in the modern era of capital punishment, since states began re-enacting death penalty statutes in 1973. New death sentences are predicted to be down 39% from 2015’s 40-year low. Executions declined more than 25% to their lowest level in 25 years, and public opinion polls also measured support for capital punishment at a four-decade low.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the U.S. in 2015: infographic
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2015
2015
Multimedia content
United States
More details See the document
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
High-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty
By United Nations / Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2019
2019
International law - United Nations
rufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The Report of the UN Hugh Commissioner for human Rights provides a summary of the high-level discussion on the question of the death penalty, held on 4 March 2015, at the twenty-fifth session of the Council. The aim of the panel discussion was to exchange views on the question of the death penalty, and to address regional efforts aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and the challenges faced in that regard.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Death Penalty,
- Available languages Обсуждение вопроса о смертной казни в рамках дискуссионной группы высокого уровня. Доклад Верховного комиссара Организации Объединенных Наций по правам человекаRéunion-débat de haut niveau sur la question de la peine de mort. Rapport du Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme死刑问题高级别小组讨论会. 联合国人权事务高级专员的报告Mesa redonda de alto nivel sobre la cuestión de la pena de muerte. Informe del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos
Document(s)
China’s deadly secret
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
China
zh-hantMore details See the document
The Chinese government continues to conceal the extent to which capital punishment is being used in China, despite more than four decades of requests from UN bodies and the international community and despite the Chinese authorities’ own pledges to bring about increased openness in the country’s criminal justice system. This report focuses on the extent to which the authorities maintain near absolute secrecy over the death penalty system, while using partial and generally unverifiable disclosures to claim progress and reject demands for greater transparency.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list China
- Themes list Drug Offences, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages 中国的致命秘密
Document(s)
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on a gender-sensitive approach to arbitrary killings
By United Nations, on 8 September 2020
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
In the report, the Special Rapporteur considers key elements of a gender-sensitive perspective to the mandate, in the interests of strengthening an inclusive application of critical norms and standards related to the right to life. These elements include consideration of the impact of gender identity and expression, intersecting with other identities, on the risks factors to killings or death, the degree of predictability of harm and States’ implementation of its due diligence obligations. Applying gender lenses to the notion of arbitrariness, the Special Rapporteur highlights that gender-based killings — when committed by non-State actors — may constitute arbitrary killings. It also shows that violations of the right to life stem not only from an intentional act of deprivation of life by the State or a non-State actor, but also from the deprivation of basic conditions that guarantee life, such as access to essential health care
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list International law, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Torture, Arbitrariness, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty: Not the Solution to Drug-Related Crimes
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
More details See the document
Drug-related offences are still punishable with the death penalty in more than 30 countries despite clear restrictions set out in international law to limit use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”. The 2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October) draws attention to the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a human rights violation.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Drug Offences,
Document(s)
Singapore: Cooperate or die: Singapore’s flawed reforms to the mandatory death penalty
By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Singapore
More details See the document
Singapore has recorded a significant reduction in its use of the death penalty in recent years, with executions dropping from more than 70 per year in the mid-1990s to single figures in the subsequent decade. Despite this progress, the death penalty in the country continues to be used in violation of international law and standards, particularly with respect to its mandatory application and use for drug-related offences.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Singapore
- Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty, Member organizations, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty
By United Nations, on 1 January 2017
2017
United Nations report
More details See the document
The present report is submitted pursuant to resolution 30/5 of the Human Rights Council. The report examines the consequences arising at various stages of the imposition and application of the death penalty on the enjoyment of the human rights of those facing the death penalty. It pays specific attention to the right to equality and non-discrimination in the context of the use of the death penalty. The report also highlights the discriminatory application of the death penalty to foreign nationals.
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list International law, Right to life, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Halting the Death Penalty in Divine Hodud Punishments from a Practical Expediency Perspective
By Human Rights & Democracy for Iran, on 1 January 2017
NGO report
More details See the document
Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation and Various Iranian Religious AuthoritiesAbdorrahman Boroumand FoundationNovember 16, 2017Report
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
These families lost loved ones to violence. Now they are fighting the death penalty;
By The America Magazine , on 1 January 2017
Working with...
More details See the document
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Choosing Mercy: A Mother of Murder Victims Pleads to End the Death Penalty
By Antoinette Bosco, on 1 January 2001
2001
Working with...
More details See the document
Written in the spirit of “Dead Man Walking,” this book by Antoinette Bosco conveys both the powerful personal experience of a mother whose son was murdered and a wealth of information about the criminal justice system in America. (Orbis Books, 2001)
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Public opinion, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty – Yearly supplement of the Secretary-General to his quinquennial report
By United Nations / Human Rights Council, on 8 September 2020
2020
United Nations report
rufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The Report examines the possible consequences of the imposition and application of the death penalty on the enjoyment of various human rights, including human dignity, the right to life, the right to freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to a fair trial and the right to equality and non-discrimination. It further examines the human rights consequences of the lack of transparency in the imposition and application of the death penalty.
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list Fair Trial, Right to life, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,
- Available languages Смертная казнь и осуществление мер, гарантирующих защиту прав лиц, приговоренных к смертной казни. Ежегодное дополнение Генерального секретаря к его пятилетнему докладу по вопросу о смертной казниPeine capitale et application des garanties pour la protection des droits des personnes passibles de la peine de mort. Supplément annuel au rapport quinquennal du Secrétaire général sur la peine capitale死刑和保护死刑犯权利的保障措施的执行情况 秘书长关于死刑问题的五年一度报告的年度补编La pena capital y la aplicación de las salvaguardias para garantizar la protección de los derechos de los condenados a la pena de muerte. Suplemento anual del Secretario General de su informe quinquenal sobre la pena capital
Document(s)
Flawed Justice: Unfair Trial and the Death Penalty in indonesia
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
enfrMore details See the document
Despite strong protests from local and international human rights organisations, the new Indonesian administration under President Joko Widodo has executed 14 people, including Indonesian and foreign nationals, in 2015. All of them had been convicted of drug trafficking. In other occasions President Widodo also stated publicly that the government would deny any application for clemency made by people sentenced to death for drug-related crimes. This report, which builds on Amnesty International’s past work over three decades documenting the use of death penalty in Indonesia, includes research carried out during a March 2015 visit to the country. The report highlights 12 individual cases of death row prisoners, out of a total of 131 people on death row, which point to systemic problems in Indonesia’s administration of justice that resulted in violations of international human rights law and standards.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Fair Trial, Drug Offences, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Indonesian : Kaedilan ang Cacat. Peradilan Yang Tidak Adil Dan Hukuman Mati di IndonesiaUne justice déficiente. Procès iniques et recours à la peine de mort en Indonésie
Document(s)
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
By University of Pittsburgh Law Review / Christof Heyns , on 1 January 2014
2014
International law - United Nations
arrufresMore details See the document
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of hisactivities and considers four topics relating to the protection of the right to life:(a) the role of regional human rights systems; (b) less lethal and unmanned weaponsinlaw enforcement; (c) resumptions of the death penalty; and (d) the role ofstatistical indicators.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list International law, Statistics,
- Available languages تقريـــر المقـــرِّر الخـــاص المعـــني بحـــالات انعـــداج نـــارا نـــان القـــا ون وو انعداج جرا ات موجزة وو انعداج التعسُّفيДоклад Специального докладчика по вопросу о внесудебных , суммарных или произвольных казняхRapport du Rapporteur spécial sur le s exécutions extrajudiciaires, sommaires ou arbitrairesInforme del Relator Especial sobre las ejecuciones extrajudiciales, sumarias o arbitrarias
Document(s)
Public Opinion on the Death Penalty
By Cornell Law School, on 1 January 2018
2018
Article
More details See the document
Public officials in retentionist or de facto abolitionist countries often invoke public support for the death penalty as one of the reasons why they do not promote abolition. A closer look at this justification, however, reveals some common flaws. This note offers a critical assessment of public opinion polls on the death penalty and suggests tools to properly gauge the level of public support for the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Themes list Public opinion, Public debate, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Prison conditions for women facing the death penalty: A factsheet
By Penal Reform International / Cornwell Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018
Campaigning
frMore details See the document
There are at least 500 women currently on death row around the world. While exact figures are impossible to obtain, it is estimated that over 100 women have been executed in the last 10 years – and potentially hundreds more. Little empirical data exists about the crimes for which women have been sentenced to death, the circumstances of their lives before their convictions, and the conditions under which they are detained on death row. This Factsheet focuses on the latter topic, with some introductory remarks on the profiles of women under sentence of death. It draws on research published by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2018, which has shed light on this much-neglected population.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Women,
- Available languages Conditions de détention des femmes condamnées à mort : Une fiche détaillée
Document(s)
Last 100 executed: Who are they?
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2014
2014
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
Some defendants who commit murder are automatically excluded from the death penalty in the U.S., such as juveniles and the intellectually disabled. Others with similar deficits are regularly executed. A new study by Robert Smith (l.), Sophie Cull, and Zoe Robinson examined the mitigating evidence present in 100 recent cases resulting in execution, testing whether the offenders possessed mitigating qualities similar to those spared from execution. This infographic presents some of their findings.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Mental Illness, Arbitrariness,
Document(s)
Iran Annual Report Oct ’17 – Oct ’18
By Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on 1 January 2018
2018
NGO report
More details See the document
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) has published its annual report, in efforts to sensitize the public about the situation of the death penalty in Iran.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Sentencing in Capital Cases
By Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018
Book
More details See the document
This book provides practical assistance to members of the judiciary, defence lawyers, prosecutors and others working on capital cases on the sentencing principles and procedures that have been adopted in common law jurisdictions following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
- Document type Book
- Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition, Mandatory Death Penalty, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Philippines: March 2018 National Survey on Public Perceptions on the Death Penalty
By Social Weather Stations (SWS), on 1 January 2018
NGO report
More details See the document
This is the main finding of the March 2018 National Survey on Public Perception on the Death Penalty, conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) for the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP). This is the first survey in the Philippines to explore thought processes and disentangle layers of perceptions about the death penalty. It did face-to-face interviews of 2,000 respondents aged 15 and above nationwide during the period March 22 to 27, 2018.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Public opinion, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Failed Justice: Innocent on Death Row
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2018
Multimedia content
United States
More details See the document
This video tells the story of one prisoner, Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on death row in Alabama for a crime he did not commit.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Innocence, Death Row Conditions,
Document(s)
Stakeholder report for Iraq UPR
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights / Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
More details See the document
The Advocates for Human Rights, in collaboration with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty, submitted a joint stakeholder report to the U.N. Human Rights Council for its October-November 2014 Universal Periodic Review of Iraq. This submission describes Iraq’s international human rights obligations with regard to its use of the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Minorities, Due Process , Fair Trial, International law, Transparency, Torture, Discrimination, Legal Representation, Most Serious Crimes, Hanging, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
2018 Death Penalty report: Saudi Arabia’s False Promise
By European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, on 1 January 2019
2019
NGO report
More details See the document
The European Saudi organisation for Humans Rights published its 2018 report on the use of the death penalty in the Saudi Kingdom. It points an authoriatiran drift within the increase of the political use of the capital sentence against activists, women and clerics.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Arbitrariness, Death Penalty,
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
The 2014 Background Paper covers the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June2014. It highlights changes in the status of the death penalty in the OSCE areathat have taken place since the publication of the 2013 Background Paper.8As inprevious years, the background paper provides information on two participatingStates – Belarus and the United States of America – that continue to impose thedeath penalty, and on four participating States – Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia andTajikistan – that are de facto abolitionist, but retain the death penalty in law. It alsoprovides an overview of relevant developments in some of the 51 OSCE participatingStates that have an abolitionist status.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Statistics,
Document(s)
Growing up on death row. The death penalty and juvenile offenders in Iran
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2016
2016
NGO report
frMore details See the document
Two decades after Iran ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the authorities continue to show contempt for one of its core principles – the prohibition of the death penalty for juvenile offenders (people younger than 18 at the time of the crime). Indeed, Iran tops the grim global table of executioners of juvenile offenders.The report analyses the Iranian Penal System with regard to juvenile offenders, acknowledges the reforms, presents the recent trends and points out the major shortcomings that still need to be addressed in view of a full compliance of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the international standards.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Iran: Synthèse et les conclusions du rapport sur la peine de mort en Iran.
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2018
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
More details See the document
OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments regarding the death penalty, including to consider the potential abolition of capital punishment. In light of these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The background paper is based on the information provided by participating States, in the form of responses to ODIHR questionnaires.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Counting the Condemned
By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2018
2018
NGO report
More details See the document
Counting the Condemned contains some shocking revelations. There has been almost a 35 percent reduction in Pakistan’s death row population, but we still account for 26 percent of the world’s death row. Every 8th person executed in the world is a Pakistani. And convictions are often so wrongful, an appellate bench of the Supreme Court has overturned a whopping 85 percent of death sentences since 2014.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics,
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General 2014
By United Nations, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
fresarruzh-hantMore details See the document
Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submittedin order to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. The reportconfirms that the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty is continuing.However, numerous concerns remain with regard to the lack of respect for internationalhuman rights norms and standards in States that still impose the death penalty. Asrequested in Human Rights Council resolution 22/11, the report also includes informationon the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages Question de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général 2014La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General 2014مسألةعقوبةالإعدامتقريرالأمينالعام2014Вопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаря 2014死刑问题 秘书长的报告 2014