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Document(s)

Tunisia – Committee Against Torture (LOIPR) – Death Penalty – June 2022

on 21 July 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Tunisia


More details See the document

Tunisia carried out its last execution in 1991, over 30 years ago. Despite this de facto moratorium on executions, Tunisian courts continue to sentence people to death. Courts sentence people to death every year for a variety of crimes, especially terrorism. The current administration is undoing many of the positive changes to the Tunisian judicial system brought about by the 2011 revolution, and public opinion is divided over whether to move forward with abolition, maintain the status quo, or even resume executions, a course of action that some politicians and officials within the government support. Tunisia continues to support the UN resolutions aiming to establish a global moratorium on executions but has refused to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This report recommends that Tunisia maintain its commitment to the UN moratorium and move to ratify the Second Optional Protocol, while also working to restore the independence of its judiciary and reducing the total number of crimes punishable by death in the short term. In the long-term Tunisia should completely and unconditionally abolish the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Tunisia
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Document(s)

FHRI and PRI submission to the UN Sec-Gen report on the status of the death penalty in East Africa – Kenya and Uganda April 2012

By Penal Reform International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Kenya


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Sentenced to Death: A Report on Washington Supreme Court Rulings In Capital Cases

By American Civil Liberties Union / Washington, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report


More details See the document

The ACLU conducted an analysis of court rulings in the 25 Washington cases in which the death sentence has been imposed since 1981, when the current death penalty statute took effect. That analysis of almost two decades of death sentences and executions makes it clear that the system by which we impose and review death sentences in Washington is fundamentally flawed.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Children of parents sentenced to death

By Helen F. Kearney / Quaker United Nations Office, on 1 January 2012


2012

NGO report


More details See the document

This paper will raise awareness of some of the issues facing the child. It will consider and elaborate on each of these issues in as much detail as the current literature permits.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Illusion of Heightened Standards in Capital Cases

By Anna VanCleave, University of Connecticut - School of Law, on 25 January 2024


2024

Article

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

Published on April 3, 2023.

The death penalty has gained its legitimacy from the belief that capital prosecutions are more procedurally rigorous than noncapi-tal prosecutions. This Article reveals how a project of heightened capital standards, set in motion when the Supreme Court ended and then revived the death penalty, was set up to fail.

In establishing what a constitutional death penalty would look like, the Court in 1976 called for heightened standards of reliability in capital cases. In the late 1970s and early 80s, the Supreme Court laid out specific constitutional procedures that must be applied in capital cases, and left the door open for the Eighth Amendment to do even more. In the decades that followed, state and federal courts have fueled a perception of heightened procedural rigor in capital cases by referring repeatedly to the heightened standards applica-ble in capital cases.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Fair Trial

Document(s)

Ripoti Ya Kimataifa Ya Amnesty International Hukumu Za Kifo Na Watu Walionyongwa 2022

By Amnesty International, on 16 May 2023


2023

NGO report


More details See the document

Utafiti wa Amnesty International kuhusu matumizi ya adhabu ya kifo mwaka wa 2022 ulionyesha kwambakulikuwa na ongezeko kubwa la idadi ya watu wanaojulikana kuwa walinyongwa duniani, likiwemo ongezekokubwa la watu walionyongwa kutokana na makosa yanayohusiana na dawa za kulevya

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

The Court is Satisfied with the Confession: Bahrain Death Sentences Follow Torture, Sham Trials

By Human Rights Watch, on 10 October 2022


2022

Article

Bahrain

ar
More details See the document

In a February 2019 letter to the United Nations Office in Geneva, the government of Bahrain claimed that its courts “actually hand down very few death sentences.” In fact, since 2011, courts in Bahrain have sentenced 51 people to death, and the state has executed six since the end of a de facto moratorium on executions in 2017. As of June 2022, 26 men were on death row, and all have exhausted their appeals. Under Bahraini law, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has the power to ratify these sentences, commute them, or grant pardons.

Document(s)

Gender, Violence, and the Death Penalty

By Sandra Babcock and Nathalie Greenfield, California Western International Law Journal , on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

Gender

Women


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

This article is the first in a series that will systematically explore how gender has affected the criminal proceedings of women currently on death row. For this inaugural article, we have undertaken the first—and, to our knowledge, only comprehensive analysis of gender-based violence (“GBV”) in the lives of all women currently on death row, examining the prevalence of GBV and how it has shaped the lives and affected the criminal prosecutions of women facing execution. Our research reveals, for the first time, that almost every woman on death row in the United States has experienced GBV. Indeed,the great majority have experienced more than one incident of GBV in their lifetime. Our findings align with previous studies demonstrating that women’s pathways to incarceration are paved with physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Our research further shows that both in the United States and around the world, defense attorneys frequently fail to present evidence of GBV in women’s capital trials. When they do introduce such evidence, they fail to fully explain the nature of their clients’ victimization and the harm they have suffered as a result. Moreover, prosecutors frequently rely on gendered tropes to discredit women’s accounts of violence such as childhood sexual abuse, rape, and intimate partner violence. Consequently, those who sentence women to die rarely comprehend the extensive trauma that the women have endured throughout their lives, and how that trauma relates to their legal and moral culpability.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Themes list Gender / Women

Document(s)

Gender Matters: Women on Death Row in the United States

By Sandra Babcock, Nathalie Greenfield, Kathryn Adamson, Cardozo Law Review , on 24 April 2024


2024

Academic report

Gender

United States

Women


More details See the document

This article presents a comprehensive study of 48 persons sentenced to death between 1990 and 2023 who presented as women at the time of their trials. This research is the first of its kind to conduct a holistic and intersectional analysis of the factors driving women’s death sentences. It reveals commonalities across women’s cases, delving into their experiences of motherhood, gender-based violence and prior involvement with the criminal legal system. This report also explore the nature of the women’s crimes of conviction, including the role of male co-defendants and the State’s use of aggravating factors. Finally, it reveals for the first time the extent to which capital prosecutions are dominated by men—including judges, elected District Attorneys, defense attorneys, and juror forepersons—and explain why gender matters in determining who lives and who dies

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Gender / Women

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet 2010

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010


2010

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 479 Ko ]

Detailed Factsheet 2010

Document(s)

ICDP Launches How States abolish the Death Penalty: A Supplement of Case-Studies

By International Commission against the Death Penalty, on 17 November 2022


2022

NGO report


More details See the document

An increasing number of countries have recognized that state killing undermines human dignity and respect for human rights, such as the discriminatory use of the death penalty, the use of forced confession that increases the possibility of executing an innocent person, and the lack of deterrence effect of capital punishment. This move towards abolition of the death penalty is being witnessed in all regions of the world regardless of political system, religion, culture or tradition. As of today, at least 110 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while at least eight countries have abolished for ordinary crimes, while less than 20 countries have reportedly
carried out executions in 2021.
This publication is a supplement to the ICDP´s 2018 work on “How States Abolish the Death Penalty: 29 Case Studies.”

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Uganda – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021

on 21 July 2021


2021

NGO report

World Coalition

Uganda


More details Download [ pdf - 336 Ko ]

This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses the current state of the death penalty in Uganda, including (1) the broad scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; (2) the lack of effective access to counsel in capital cases; (3) the occurrence of extrajudicial killings.

This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key steps to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s international human rights obligations. These steps include the following: establishing an official, de jure moratorium on the death penalty; reducing the number and scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and in compliance with international human rights standards; and other measures

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Uganda

Document(s)

Uganda – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty – January 2022

on 12 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Uganda

Women


More details Download [ pdf - 243 Ko ]

This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses Ugandan death penalty laws and cases where women are sentenced to death row in Uganda, primarily for murder.

This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key recommendations to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s obligations to women under the Convention. These steps, among other things, include: (1) abolishing the death penalty and in the interim, limiting the death penalty to only the most serious crimes of intentional killing of another human; (2) ensuring proper gender-sensitive training in the judicial system and protecting women in conflict with the law when gender-based violence is involved; (3) developing and implementing programs to prevent gender-based violence and discrimination; and (4) ensuring fair access to counsel to women sentenced to death or at risk of being sentenced to death.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Uganda
  • Themes list Women

Document(s)

Cuba – Committee Against Torture – Death Penalty – March 2022

on 21 March 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Cuba


More details Download [ pdf - 250 Ko ]

Cuba has maintained a de facto moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty since its last reported execution in 2003. In 2010, Cuba’s Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Cuba’s last remaining death row inmate. As of the date of this report, there is no record of an individual currently sentenced to death. Although a de facto moratorium is in place, Cuba has not committed to a de jure abolition of the death penalty, citing national security concerns.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Cuba
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Document(s)

Qatar – Human Rights Committee – Death Penalty – January 2022

on 31 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Qatar


More details Download [ pdf - 236 Ko ]

Qatar had been maintaining a de facto moratorium on executions since 2000, but courts continued to sentence people to death. In 2020, however, Qatar executed a Nepali migrant worker by firing squad. Qatar’s death penalty practices are not in compliance with the Covenant. Qatar does not limit the death penalty to the most serious crimes, it is not taking steps toward a de jure moratorium on executions or ratification of the Second Optional Protocol, and it does not ensure that defendants in capital cases have a fair trial. Recent history suggests that a migrant worker may be more likely to be sentenced to death and executed for killing a Qatari national, as opposed to a non-citizen. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable in the context of the country’s criminal legal system.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Qatar

Document(s)

The politics of capital punishment for foreign nationals in Iran

By Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU), University of Oxford, on 5 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

Iran (Islamic Republic of)


More details See the document

Published in December 2023.

This paper seeks to map the political economy of capital punishment in Iran, in particular in relation to dual and foreign nationals, and examines its external and internal functions. The external functions include suppressing the ‘cultural threat’ of cross-border drug trafficking, achieving more power in sanctions negotiations, seeking reciprocal prisoner swaps or demanding recompense for outstanding multinational debt. The internal functions include quashing protests against the regime, supressing separatist movements, or even just ‘otherness’. It is evident that those facing disadvantage across foreign national and intersectional lines face the death penalty disproportionately. In addition, although only representing a fraction of the overall population of death row, the arbitrary detention of dual nationals has a disproportionate political function.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2010

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010


2010

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition


More details Download [ pdf - 138 Ko ]

Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give the global abolition claim
an international boost.
This Day is aimed at both political leaders and public
opinion in countries where the death penalty has or
has not yet been abolished: people have to remember
the meaning of abolition and pass it down through the
generations.
They must be aware that justice without the death
penalty is possible

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Lethal injection in the modern era: cruel, unusual and racist

By Reprieve , on 24 April 2024


2024

NGO report

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

United States


More details See the document

Published on April 2024.

Researchers at Reprieve conducted an in-depth comparative study of botched lethal injection executions in the modern era of the U.S. death penalty, cross-referenced against the 1,407 lethal injection executions carried out or attempted during that period.

This report examines the phenomenon of botched executions by lethal injection, exploring the trends and contributing factors leading to botched executions through an analysis of 73 botched executions in the 1,407 lethal injection executions since 1977 (known as the modern era of the death penalty in the U.S.). This analysis used a process called multi-variable logistic regression, a type of analysis that assesses the odds of something happening considering multiple variables, to assess how identifiable characteristics (gender, age, and race) were associated with botched executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Document(s)

Reducing Facial Stereotype Bias in Consequential Social Judgments: Intervention Success With White Male Faces

By Youngki Hong, Kao-Wei Chua, & Jonathan B. Freeman, Columbia University, on 25 January 2024


2024

Article

United States


More details See the document

Published on December 18, 2023.

Initial impressions of others based on facial appearances are often inaccurate yet can lead to dire outcomes. Across four studies, adult participants underwent a counterstereotype training to reduce their reliance on facial appearance in consequential social judgments of White male faces. In Studies 1 and 2, trustworthiness and sentencing judgments among control participants predicted whether real-world inmates were sentenced to death versus life in prison, but these relationships were diminished among trained participants. In Study 3, a sequential priming paradigm demonstrated that the training was able to abolish the relationship between even automatically and implicitly perceived trustworthiness and the inmates’ life-or-death sentences. Study 4 extended these results to realistic decision-making, showing that training reduced the impact of facial trustworthiness on sentencing decisions even in the presence of decision-relevant information. Overall, our findings suggest that a counterstereotype intervention can mitigate the potentially harmful effects of relying on facial appearance in consequential social judgments.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Proven With(out) Certainty: How Judges Sentence Defendants to Death for Drug Offences in Iran

By Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, Monash University and ELEOS Justice, on 6 February 2024


2024

NGO report

Drug Offenses


More details See the document

Published in April 2023.

Despite the reduction in the number of executions for drug offences during 2018-2020, a sudden increase in executions was recorded during 2021-2023: at least 131 known executions were recorded for drug offences in 2021, 253 executions in 2022, and 82 executions during the first 3 months of 2023 (Table). However, information concerning the death penalty in Iran is notoriously difficult to obtain because of the secrecy surrounding the country’s criminal justice process. This note provides a rare glimpse into the application of capital drug laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It exposes the idiosyncratic practices of the judiciary and its decision-making, using cases concerning the death penalty for drug offences—its imposition prohibited long under international standards. These judgments repeatedly use the language of ‘certainty’ in convicting the accused. In reality, to those familiar with basic fair trial standards, they raise serious concerns about miscarriages of justice that could potentially result in the erosion of legitimacy of the criminal ‘justice’ system in Iran.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

Doomed to Repeat: The Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 16 June 2023


2023

NGO report

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

This report explores the current issues with capital punishment in Tennessee through a historical lens, tracing the origins of the use of the death penalty from lynchings and other forms of racial violence directed at Black Tennesseans. The stories of individuals and communities that have interacted with different facets of Tennessee’s justice system throughout history suggest that, in many ways, even though centuries have passed, the experiences of discrimination toward Tennessee’s communities of color continue. A meaningful understanding of the state’s history and its legacy of violence and racism is essential to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Fair Trial

Document(s)

Broken Promises: How a History of Racial Violence and Bias Shaped Ohio’s Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center , on 14 May 2024


2024

NGO report

Fair Trial

Innocence

Trend Towards Abolition

United States


More details See the document

In January 2024, Ohio lawmakers announced plans to expand the use of the death penalty to permit executions with nitrogen gas, as Alabama had just done a week earlier. But at the same time the Attorney General and the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association are championing this legislation, a bipartisan group of state legislators has introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty based on “significant concerns on who is sentenced to death and how that sentence is carried out.” The competing narratives make it more important than ever for Ohioans to have a meaningful, accurate understanding of how capital punishment is being used, including whether the state has progressed beyond the mistakes of its past.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Fair Trial / Innocence / Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty 2023

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 146 Ko ]

Document(s)

World Coalition Activity Report 2022

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 323 Ko ]

Document(s)

TESTIMONIES- 21 st World Day Against the Death Penalty

on 10 July 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 759 Ko ]

This document has been compiled by the Secretariat of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty with substantial aid from member organizations, including Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Amnesty International, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Free Mumia ! French Support Group (Collectif français “Libérons Mumia !”), German Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Justice Project Pakistan, […]

Document(s)

Isolation and desolation conditions of detention of people sentenced to death Malaysia

By Carole Berrih, Ngeow Chow Ying, ECPM, ADPAN, on 27 May 2021


2021

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Malaysia

fr
More details See the document

Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death in Malaysia is the first ever fact-finding mission report on the conditions of detention of death row prisoners in Malaysia.

It examines the use of death penalty in Malaysia as well as the actual situation of people on death row.

This report is not meant to point fingers but rather to put the facts on the table in a transparent manner and work from there. It is mainly an advocacy tool for all abolitionist stakeholders, from civil society actors to the parliamentarians who will keep fighting for the abolition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Leaflet – World Day 2023

on 12 June 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]

Leaflet for the 21th World Day against the death penalty (2023), on torture and the death penalty.

Document(s)

Children who are Impacted by a Family Member’s Death Sentence or Execution: Information for Mental Health Professionals

By National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), Texas after violence project, Clinical and Support Options, on 11 December 2021


2021

Working with...

Juveniles


More details See the document

This tip sheet provides some guidelines for mental health professionals who may encounter or work with children and families related to individuals who have been sentenced to death or executed.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Juveniles

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions 2020

By Amnesty International , on 26 May 2021


2021

NGO report

aresfafrru
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2020. As in previous years, information is collected from a variety of sources, including:
– official figures;
– judgements;
– information from individuals sentenced to death and their families and representatives;
– media reports;
– and, for a limited number of countries, other civil society organizations.

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. In many countries governments do not publish information on their use of the death penalty. In China and Viet Nam, data on the use of the death penalty is classified as a state secret. During 2020 little or no information was available on some countries – in particular Laos and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) – due to restrictive state practice.

Document(s)

Investigating Attitudes to the Death Penalty in Indonesia Part One – Opinion Formers: An Appetite for Change

By Carolyn Hoyle - The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, on 28 June 2021


2021

NGO report

Drug Offenses

Indonesia

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

In 2019-20, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, commissioned Professor Carolyn Hoyle, of The Death Penalty Research Unit at the University of Oxford to conduct research investigating attitudes towards the death penalty in Indonesia.
The findings have been presented in a two-part report; the first details the findings of a nuanced public survey and the second details the findings of interviews conducted with opinion formers.

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

Document(s)

Death in the time of Covid-19: Efforts to restore the death penalty in the Philippines

By Jose M.Jose and Maria Corazon A.De Ungria, on 10 August 2021


2021

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Philippines


More details See the document

The Philippine Congress recently passed a bill amending the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and reimposing the penalty of life imprisonment to death for specific-drug related offenses. House Bill No. 7814 also allows the presumption of guilt in certain drug-related crimes unless otherwise proven, thereby overturning the long-standing constitutional presumption of innocence.

The bill has been sent to the Senate for its concurrence and could only be several steps away before being signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte. This paper discusses the ramifications of the new bill and the questioned timeliness of its passage when the country continues to have a large and overcrowded prison population and a significant number of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 in Southeast Asia.

The government’s lapses in following the 2021 national vaccination plan became apparent in the 31 March 2021 assessment made by the congressional health panel on the government’s response to the pandemic.

From the authors’ perspective, the urgency of using the country’s limited resources to help medical frontliners and local government units prevent further infections and save lives should have outweighed the efforts exerted to pass a law that legalized the death penalty for the third time in the Philippines.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Philippines
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

Bylaws 2021

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 97 Ko ]

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty As Amended by the 18 June 2021 General Assembly

  • Document type World Coalition
  • Available languages Statuts 2021

Document(s)

Add Resources and Apply Them Systemically: Governments’ Responsibilities Under the Revised ABA Capital Defense Representation Guidelines

By Eric M. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

The mainstream legal community, including the ABA, has long understood the importance of system-building, but the revised Guidelines state the point especially forcefully. In articulating “the current consensus about what is required to provide effective defense representation in capital cases,” they set high performance standards not just for lawyers, but for death penalty jurisdictions. As the problems are systemic, it is “imperative” that the solutions be.The Guidelines accordingly not only call on governments to deliver capital defense resources that are sufficient in amount, but also furnish the states with a user-friendly blueprint for using those resources wisely to create structures that will function well in the present and evolve effectively over time. This mandate for institution-building is welcome, and the states should lead it. Indeed, they must do so if the Guidelines are to achieve their ameliorative purposes and avoid becoming just a collection of lofty aspirations “‘that palter with us in a double sense, that keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope”.

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

Document(s)

Myths and Facts about the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009


2009

Arguments against the death penalty

es
More details See the document

8 Myths about the death penalty are explored in this text: 1. the death penalty is needed to keep society safe, 2. the death penalty is applied fairly, 3. the death penalty is used worldwide, 4. the death penalty deters crime, 5. execution is cheaper than permanent imprisonment, 6. the death penalty offers justice to victims’ families, 7. only the truly guilty get the death penalty, 8. religious teachings support the death penalty.

Document(s)

International Network of Academics Against the Death Penalty

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


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Report of the Secretary General: Question of the death penalty 2021 (A/HRC/48/29)

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on 15 September 2021


2021

United Nations report

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

The present report is submitted pursuant to decision 18/117 and resolution 42/24 of the Human Rights Council. The report focuses on consequences arising from the lack of transparency in the application and imposition of the death penalty on the enjoyment of human rights.

  • Document type United Nations report
  • Themes list Public Opinion 

Document(s)

Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021

on 21 March 2022


2022

NGO report

Drug Offenses


More details See the document

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our eleventh on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021 found that: 1) 35 countries still retain the death penalty for drug offences 2) At least 131 people were executed for drug offences in 2021 – a 336% increase from 2020. However, due to a severe lack of transparency, if not outright censorship, this is only a partial picture. This figure likely represents only a fraction of all drug-related executions carried out globally.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

Explaining the Invidious: How Race Influences Capital Punishment in America

By Sheri Lynn Johnson, James and Mark Flanagan, Cornell Law School, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

This article primarily focuses on how racial bias creates nearly ubiquitous racial disparities in the imposition of the death penalty; it does so both to amass further reasons McCleskey was wrongly decided, and to point the way forward. Part I provides the necessary foundation by summarizing the history of race and the death penalty in the United States, with a focus on the Supreme Court’s treatment of racial discrimination claims in capital sentencing. Part II, the heart of this Article, examines the multiple psychological mechanisms that create racially biased decision making in capital cases. Understanding those mechanisms further undercuts the Supreme Court’s reasoning in McCleskey and argues for overturning the holding. However, recognizing the reluctance with which today’s Court would view overturning McCleskey, Part III considers whether and how alternative, case-specific uses of the data described in Part II might ameliorate the influence of racial bias in capital sentencing.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

on 21 August 2021


2021

NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

fr
More details See the document

The signatory organizations are convinced that the death penalty is incompatible with the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which is a peremptory norm of international law (jus cogens) and should thus be abolished. The death penalty is only tolerated by international law and standards to the extent that it may only be imposed for the most serious crimes and applied in a way that causes the least possible suffering. However, the signatory organizations believe that from the sentencing to the execution, the death penalty inevitably causes physical harm and psychological suffering amounting to torture or ill-treatments.

The present position paper documents the extent to which international and regional organisation have already recognised a violation of the absolution prohibitionof torture in the application and imposition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados

on 15 December 2020


2020

Lobbying

Barbados

Trend Towards Abolition


More details Download [ pdf - 2611 Ko ]

Greater Caribbean for Life has launched its educational toolkit to assist activists and organisations as they work toward abolishing the death penalty in the Greater Caribbean. The production of this toolkit forms part of GCL’s activities under its EU partnered project to educate on death penalty abolition in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados.

The launch of the toolkit is timely as a few of these target countries recently voted against adopting the UN Moratorium on the use of the death penalty and countries that had previously chosen to abstain have now firmly voted against the resolution.

GCL members condemn the rise of violent crime in our region and express solidarity and compassion with the victims of crime, however, we reject the notion that capital punishment will act as a deterrent or foster respect for life in our communities.

It is our hope that this toolkit will assist in promoting respect for the right to life for all human beings in the Caribbean region.

  • Document type Lobbying
  • Countries list Barbados
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Strengthening death penalty standards

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Where the death penalty is applied, international law, jurisprudence and practice require that certain minimum standards are applied. The standards include international and regional treaties that are legally binding on states that have ratified them, customary international law that is binding on all states without exception, and non-binding standards and resolutions that nonetheless command the support of the majority of states. International understanding of these minimum standards has continued to evolve in the years since they were drafted, but the documents themselves do not always keep pace. This paper brings together international, regional and national standards, the most recent understandings of relevant experts and appropriate insights from other connected disciplines. It explores possible ways in which international minimum standards could be further strengthened at this time, whether through ECOSOC, the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, regional bodies or national amendments to laws and policies. In each section, the issue and current practice is described, followed by examples of good practice or suggestions for improvement, finishing with a short list of recommendations for strengthening existing standards. These issues and recommendations are not final, but are intended to provide a point from which discussion can begin.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Responsible Business Engagement on the Death Penalty. A Practical Guide

By Responsible Business Initiative on the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2019


2019

Working with...

fr
More details See the document

Business engagement in the death penalty is critical because of the impact it can have. Putsimply: the power is in your hands. If your business is looking for a human rights issue whereit can achieve measurable change, advocacy on the death penalty must be considered.Global support for the death penalty is declining. Meanwhile, competition for investment isfierce. Governments and the public at large care more about job creation and a healthy economythan a system of executions. Therefore, the voices of businesses and business leaders havea huge role to play in shaping public dialogue about whether to keep – or end – the use ofcapital punishment.

Document(s)

Felony Murder: An On-Ramp for Extreme Sentencing

By The Sentencing Project, Fair and Just Prosecution, on 23 March 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Although other countries have largely rejected the felony murder doctrine, 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government still use these laws. Felony murder laws compel harsh decades-long – or even life – sentences even when the individual charged did not directly cause or intend the loss of life.

This report evaluates the legal and empirical foundation, and failings, of the felony murder rule, profiles impacted individuals, and highlights recent reform efforts in 10 jurisdictions. Key findings include:

1. Felony murder laws widen the net of extreme sentencing and are counterproductive to public safety.
2. Felony murder laws have particularly adverse impacts on people of color, young people, and women.
3. Existing reforms must be expanded to achieve justice.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Leaflet – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 24 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]

Leaflet for the 20th World Day against the death penalty (2022), on torture and the death penalty.

Document(s)

Death Penalty Politics: The Fragility of Abolition in Asia and the Pacific

By Mark Finnane, Mai Sato and Susan Trevaskes, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report


More details See the document

Despite a steady increase worldwide in the number of states that have abolished the death penalty, capital punishment remains a troubling presence in the international order. The world’s leading powers in terms of economics and population include the retentionist states of China, India, Japan and the United States of America (USA). It seems there is no linear path to abolition, and its achievement is indeterminate. Yet, in international human rights law, death penalty abolition is a powerful norm embraced by half the countries across the world. While the majority of death penalty research has emanated from and focuses on the USA, well over 90 per cent of global executions occur in Asia, which lags behind the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty. Our symposium and this collection seek to bring perspectives from a variety of disciplines and methods—historical, legal, sociological, comparative— to bear on the questions of retention and abolition in a variety of jurisdictions and time periods.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119

  • Document type Academic report

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2022: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 16 December 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

In a year awash with incendiary political advertising that drove the public’s perception of rising crime to record highs, public support for capital punishment and jury verdicts for death remained near fifty-year lows. Defying conventional political wisdom, nearly every measure of change — from new death sentences imposed and executions conducted to public opinion polls and election results — pointed to the continuing durability of the more than 20-year sustained decline of the death penalty in the United States.
The Gallup crime survey, administered in the midst of the midterm elections while the capital trial for the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida was underway, found that support for capital punishment remained within one percentage point of the half-century lows recorded in 2020 and 2021. The 20 new death sentences imposed in 2022 are fewer than in any year before the pandemic, and just 2 higher than the record lows of the prior two years. With the exception of the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the 18 executions in 2022 are the fewest since 1991.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

ISOLATION AND DESOLATION CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH MALAYSIA – Bahasa Melayu

By Carole Berrih, Ngeow Chow Ying, ECPM, ADPAN, on 27 May 2021


2021

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Malaysia


More details See the document

Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death in Malaysia is the first ever fact-finding mission report on the conditions of detention of death row prisoners in Malaysia.

It examines the use of death penalty in Malaysia as well as the actual situation of people on death row.

This report is not meant to point fingers but rather to put the facts on the table in a transparent manner and work from there. It is mainly an advocacy tool for all abolitionist stakeholders, from civil society actors to the parliamentarians who will keep fighting for the abolition of the death penalty.

—————————————
Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death di Malaysia adalah satu-satunya laporan berasaskan misi mengkaji fakta (fact-finding mission) mengenai keadaan-keadaan penahanan bagi banduan-banduan hukuman mati di Malaysia.

Laporan ini mengkaji pelaksanaan hukuman mati di Malaysia dan juga keadaan sebenar orang-orang yang dijatuhkan hukuman mati.

Laporan ini bukan bertujuan untuk menunding jari terhadap mana-mana pihak, tetapi bertujuan untuk memberi pencerahan kepada fakta-fakta yang ditemui dan berusaha ke atasnya. Laporan ini bertujuan utama sebagai alat advokasi kepada semua pihak yang mempunyai kepentingan dalam pemansuhan, bermula dari ahli persatuan kemasyarakatan sehingga ahli parlimen yang akan berusaha berterusan untuk memansuhkan hukuman mati.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Malaysia
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

MOBILIZATION KIT World Day Against the Death Penalty 2024 – 2025 Security and the death penalty

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 12 June 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 2534 Ko ]