Your search “Keep the Death Penalty Abolished fin the philippines %20e ”

2146 Document(s) 369 Member(s) 8 Country 1849 Article(s) 37 Page(s)

Document(s)

Protection of the Rights of Children of Parents Sentenced to Death or Exectued: An Expert Legal Analysis

By Quaker United Nations Office / Stephanie Farrior, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The QUNO’s report offers an updated review of differents elements of international law on the human rights of the child.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Death Row Fall 2014

By Criminal Justice Project / NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., on 1 January 2014


2014

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Death Row, USA showed a continuing decline in the size of the death row population. The new total of 3,035 represented a 13% drop from 10 years earlier, when the death row population was 3,471. The racial demographics of death row have been steady, with white inmates making up 43% of death row, black inmates composing 42%, and Latino inmates 13%. California continued to have the largest death row, with 745 inmates, followed by Florida (404), Texas (276), Alabama (198), and Pennsylvania (188). Arkansas, which last carried out an execution nearly nine years ago, had a 13% decrease in its death row population since last year. The report also contains information about executions. Since 1976, 10% (143) of those executed were defendants who gave up their appeals.

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

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak

By United Nations / Manfred Nowak, on 1 January 2009


2009

International law - United Nations

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More details See the document

In chapter III, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the compatibility of the death penalty with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. He concludes that the historic interpretation of the right to personal integrity and human dignity in relation to the death penalty is increasingly challenged by the dynamic interpretation of this right in relation to corporal punishment and the inconsistencies deriving from the distinction between corporal and capital punishment, as well as by the universal trend towards the abolition of capital punishment.

Document(s)

REPORT ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

By Bar Human Rights Committee, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report


More details See the document

The purpose of the Report is to assist the Honourable Court by describing the criminal justice process in Trinidad as it applies to those accused of murder. As a criminal defence and constitutional law attorneys in Trinidad, we have been asked to address, in particular, some of the shortcomings apparent in the Trinidadian criminal justice system and certain related constitutional issues. The Report deals with the following issues: a. The constitutional history and sources of law in Trinidad; b. The law of murder in Trinidad; c. An overview of criminal procedure; d. The stages of the criminal process in murder cases; e. The mandatory death penalty; f. The prerogative of mercy.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

When the Wall has Fallen: Decades of Failure in the Supervision of Capital Juries

By Jose Felipe Anderson / Ohio Northern University Law Review, on 1 January 2000


2000

Article

United States


More details See the document

Although there is no constitutional requirement that a jury participate in the death penalty process, most states do provide, through their capital punishment statutes, that a jury will participate in the decision. The preference for jury sentencing in these circumstances reflects a reluctance to leave power over life solely in the hands of one judge. Still, some scholars have long criticized juries for administering punishment.

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

Document(s)

The Failed Failsafe: The Politics of Executive Clemency

By Cathleen Burnett / Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article discusses the role of executive clemency in light of the current political environment. Attending to the political aspects of the capital litigation process gives insight into the trends in the use of executive clemency

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

Member(s)

Coordination Eveil et cause pour l’Unité nationale et la lutte contre l’esclavage

on 30 April 2020

The Coordination Eveil et cause pour l’Unité nationale et la lutte contre l’eclavage is a non-governmental organization focused on the fight against slavery and its aftereffects. Created on 22 February 2012, it promotes a culture of Human rights and strenghten the national unity and and the bonds of love and brotherhood between every part of  […]

2020

Mauritania

Document(s)

Bangladesh: Mandatory death penalty declared void after 14-year legal battle

By Child Rights International Network, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

Sentenced to death for a crime allegedly committed when he was just 14, a Bangladeshi boy’s case became the centre of a lengthy legal battle which ultimately led to mandatory executions being declared unconstitutional.

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

Document(s)

Annual Report: Death Penalty in Iran 2012

By Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2013


2013

Article

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

fafrenfafr
More details See the document

Document(s)

UPR death penalty stakeholder report template

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2015


2015

Working with...


More details See the document

Template for civil society submissions to the Universal Periodic Review of human rights organised by the United Nations.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list International law,

Document(s)

Fault Lines: Politics of Death Penalty

By Fault Lines / YouTube, on 1 January 2010


2010

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

FaultLines explores the death penalty in the United States. Interviews with murder victim families, politicans and the exonerated are included.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Networks,
Transitional Justice Working Group

Member(s)

Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)

on 15 December 2023

As a human rights documentation NGO, TJWG has published biennial reports on public executions in North Korea based on interviews with North Korean defectors in 2017, 2019 and 2021. TJWG has also been calling for the complete abolition of the death penalty in North and South Korea, which has maintained it in the laws even […]

2023

Republic of Korea

Member(s)

Michigan Committee Against Capital Punishment

on 30 April 2020

The Michigan Committee Against Capital Punishment was organized in 1972 for research, publication, testimony and education on the evils of the death penalty. Nowadays, its main actions are legislative testimony, research, publications, film production, public speaking, literature and film distribution and abolitionist activities.

2020

United States

Document(s)

Activity Report 2014

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details Download [ pdf - 772 Ko ]

The 2014 Activity Report displays the overall situation of the death penalty in different geographical areas of the world: Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe. The report shows the developments, as well as the challenges, in the struggle against the death penalty. Finally, it presents the new strategies that the World Coalition against the Death Penalty is going to develop in the next years.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,

Page(s)

Member organizations

on 22 June 2020

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is made of member organizations with diverse backgrounds. To find out more about each of our members, click on their name in the list below.

2020

Member(s)

Norden Directions

on 30 April 2020

Norden Directions is an Australian non-government organisation founded in 2009. It focuses on policy in relation to social justice and human rights issues both within Australia and overseas. It has contributed to the abolition of the death penalty internationally in public debate over the past decade. Its Director, Professor Peter Norden AO, is an experienced […]

2020

Australia

Document(s)

Overview on death row inmates: Taiwan’s Experience

By Lin Hsinyi, on 8 September 2020


2020

Multimedia content

Taiwan


More details Download [ pdf - 1863 Ko ]

Presentation of Lin Hsinyi, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty for the Fact-finding workshop focused on the socioeconomic status of people on death row which took place during the 2017 General Assembly of the World Coalition

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Taiwan
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

Socio-economic fact-finding: prisoners on death row

By Madalyn Wasilczuk and Sharon Pia Hickey, on 1 January 2017


2017

Multimedia content


More details Download [ pdf - 1136 Ko ]

Presentation of Madalyn Wasilczuk and Sharon Pia Hickey, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, for the Fact-finding workshop focused on the socioeconomic status of people on death row which took place during the 2017 General Assembly of the World Coalition

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics,

Member(s)

Society for Human Rights and Development Organisation (SHRDO)

on 30 April 2020

The Society for Human Rights and Development Organisation (SHRDO) – Formally MRU youth parliament – purpose is for peace &  development and its activities are base on Sub Regional Peace Consolidations, Peace Promotion & Peace Maintenance across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea & Ivory Coast by the Youngsters/ Youth Leaders themselves that agitates for regional reintegration, […]

2020

Sierra Leone

Document(s)

Designed to break you: Human Rights Violations in Texas’ Death Row

By The Human Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, on 1 January 2017


2017

Academic report


More details See the document

The State of Texas stands today as one of the most extensive utilizers of the death penalty worldwide. Consequently, inmate living conditions on Texas’ death row are ripe for review. This report demonstrates that the mandatory conditions implemented for death row inmates by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice(TDCJ) are harsh and inhumane. Particular conditions of relevance include mandatory solitary confinement, a total ban on contact visits with both attorneys and friends and family, substandard physical and psychological health care, and a lack of access to sufficient religious services.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Justice Denied : A Global Study of Wrongful Death Row Convictions January 2018

By Sandra Babcock / Cornell Law School / Madalyn Wasilczuk and Sharon Pia Hickey / Delphine Lourtau / Katie Campbell / Julie Bloch, on 1 January 2018


2018

Academic report

fr
More details See the document

On March 7, 2018, the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide launched its new report entitled Justice Denied: A Global Study of Wrongful Death Row Convictions at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The report is a first-of-its-kind comparative study of the risk factors that increase the likelihood of wrongful convictions. The report illuminates the similarities in wrongful conviction risk factors in six countries across the geographical and political spectrum: Cameroon, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Document(s)

Infinite Hope: How Wrongful Conviction, Solitary Confinement, and 12 years on Death Row Failed to Kill My Soul

By Anthony Graves / Beacon Press, on 1 January 2018


Book

United States


More details See the document

Autobiography of Anthony Graves, an innocent exonerated from death row in the USA. In the summer of 1992, a family was beaten and stabbed to death in Somerville, Texas. The perpetrator set the house on fire to cover his tracks, deepening the heinousness of the crime and rocking the tiny community to its core. Authorities were eager to make an arrest. Five days later, Anthony Graves was in custody.Graves was indicted, convicted of capital murder, sentenced to death, and, over the course of twelve years on death row, given two execution dates. He was not freed for eighteen years, two months, four days.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Capital Punishment & Social Rights Research Initiative – Texas

By Barbara Laubenthal, on 12 February 2023


2023

Multimedia content

Death Row Conditions 

United States


More details See the document

The Capital Punishment and Social Rights Research Initiative assesses and analyzes the access of men and women on U.S. death rows to social rights such as health care, social contacts, visitation, communication, recreation and spiritual support. CPSR’s info series on living conditions on death row, state by state. Part 1: Texas

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

Explaining Death Row’s Population and Racial Composition

By Theodore Eisenberg / John Blume / Journal of Empirical Legal Studies / Martin T. Wells, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

Twenty-three years of murder and death sentence data show how murder demographics help explain death row populations. Nevada and Oklahoma are the most death-prone states; Texas’s death sentence rate is below the national mean. Accounting for the race of murderers establishes that black representation on death row is lower than black representation in the population of murder offenders. This disproportion results from reluctance to seek or impose death in black defendant-black victim cases, which more than offsets eagerness to seek and impose death in black defendant-white victim cases. Death sentence rates in black defendant-white victim cases far exceed those in either black defendant-black victim cases or white defendant-white victim cases. The disproportion survives because there are many more black defendant-black victim murders, which are underrepresented on death row, than there are black defendant-white victim murders, which are overrepresented on death row.

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

Document(s)

Death Sentencing in Black and White: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Jurors’ Race and Jury Racial Composition

By William J. Bowers / Marla Sandys / Benjamin D. Steiner / University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

Do black jurors view a crime or its appropriate punishment differently than their white counterparts? Are their perspectives influenced by the race of the defendant or victim? Are blacks on white-dominated capital juries intimidated or coerced into voting for the death penalty?

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

Advisory on the Increased Vulnerabilty of Women Migrant Workers on Death Row

on 3 December 2021

2021

Document(s)

Black Deaths Matter: The Race-of-Victim Effect and Capital Punishment

By Daniel Medwed / Northeastern, on 1 January 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

The racial dimensions of the death penalty are well-documented. Many observers assume this state of affairs derives from bias—often implicit and occasionally explicit—against black defendants in particular. Research points to an even more alarming factor. The race of the victim, not the defendant, steers cases in the direction of death. Regardless of the perpetrator’s race, those who kill whites are more likely to face capital charges, receive a death sentence, and die by execution than those who murder blacks. This short Essay adds a contemporary gloss to the race-of-victim effect literature, placing it in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement and showing how it relates to the broader, systemic devaluation of African-American lives.

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

Document(s)

General comment No. 36 on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) , on 1 January 2018


2018

United Nations report


More details See the document

General comment No. 36 on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life.

  • Document type United Nations report
  • Themes list International law, Right to life, Death Penalty,

Article(s)

Call for interns

By Project 39A, on 14 June 2018

Project 39A offers a minimum of four-week long internships to students of law and related fields.

2018

India

Document(s)

How the European Union Works: Your guide to the EU institutions

By European Union, on 1 January 2007


2007

Working with...

fres
More details See the document

The European Union (EU) is a family of democratic European countries working together to improve life for their citizens and to build a better world. The following chapters describe the Treaties, the EU institutions and the other bodies and agencies, explaining what each entity does and how they interact.

Kurdpa's logo

Member(s)

Kurdpa Human Rights Organization

on 29 November 2023

KURDPA is a human rights organization and independent news agency, and is a leading source for the latest information on Kurdistan in Iran, with daily coverage in three languages. Founded in 2011, KURDPA’s on-the-ground reporting highlights human rights concerns affecting the Iranian Kurdish community. Kurdpa Organization intends to compensate the existing shortcomings in identifying and […]

2023

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Member(s)

Leaders Organization

on 30 April 2020

Leaders Organization is a Palestinian youth led non-governmental organization that was established in 2002.The Organization prides itself in its principles and unique approach to development in the Palestinian territories. At the time, it was established to allow youths to participate in serving their society. Since then, Leaders have established a reputation for working with, serving, […]

2020

State of Palestine

Document(s)

Give up Tomorrow

By Michael Collins / Thoughtful Robot Production, on 1 January 2011


2011

Legal Representation


More details See the document

Reflecting schisms of race, class, and political power at the core of the Philippines’ tumultuous democracy, clashing families, institutions, and individuals face off to convict or free Paco, accused of the rape and murder of two chinese-philipino women.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

DPIC Study Finds No Evidence that Death Penalty Deters Murder or Protects Police

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2017


2017

Article

United States


More details See the document
  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Deterrence , Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Deterrence Podcast – Death Penalty Information Center

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 8 September 2020


2020

Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document
  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Deterrence , Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

: Last Chance for Life: Clemency in Southeast Asian Death Penalty Cases

By Oxford University Press / Daniel Pascoe, on 8 September 2020


Book


More details See the document
  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India: 2018 Annual Statistics Report

By Project 39A, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The number of death sentences reached a new peak in 2018 in India.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Laws in states

By Capital Punishment in Context, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

This document provides state by state information in the United States regarding laws that govern the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

Juvenile Death Penalty: Is It Cruel and Unusual in Light of Contemporary Standards

By American Bar Association / Adam Caine Ortiz, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report


More details See the document

Reviews the use of the death penalty on juveniles in light of contemporary standards.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

APYN Death Penalty Quizz

By Asia Pacific Youth Network, on 1 January 2009


2009

Campaigning


More details See the document

Quizz on the death penalty by the Asia Pacific Youth Network

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Networks,

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)

on 1 January 2020


2020

Book

India


More details See the document

In Abolishing the Death Penalty: Why India Should Say No to Capital Punishment, Gopalkrishna Gandhi asks fundamental questions about the death penalty. Is taking another life a just punishment or an act as inhuman as the crime that triggered it? Does having capital punishment in the law books deter crime? His conclusions are unequivocal: Cruel in its operation, ineffectual as deterrence, unequal in its application in an uneven society, liable like any punishment to be in error but incorrigibly so, these grievous flaws that are intrinsic to the death penalty are compounded by yet another—it leaves the need for retribution unrequited and simply makes society more bloodthirsty.Examining capital punishment around the world from the time of Socrates onwards, the author delves into how the penalty was applied in India during the times of Asoka, Sikandar Lodi, Krishnadevaraya, the Peshwas and the British Raj, and how it works today.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list India
  • Themes list Public debate, Deterrence , Trend Towards Abolition, Right to life, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit World Day 2021

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 10 June 2021


2021

Campaigning

Women

arfrzh-hant
More details Download [ pdf - 847 Ko ]

The World Day Against the Death Penalty is aimed at political leaders and public opinion in both retentionist and abolitionist countries.

For the 19th year in a row, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is calling for local initiatives and world-wide actions that shine a spotlight on the abolition of the death penalty.

The goal of this Mobilization Kit is to inform of this year’s objectives as well provide ideas of activities that boost the global abolitionist goal. This year the World Day is dedicated to women who risk being sentenced to death, who have received a death sentence, who have been executed, and to those who have had their death sentences commuted, have been exonerated or pardoned.

Document(s)

Factsheet for the Media

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


2018

Working with...

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 390 Ko ]

Factsheet for the media – World Day Against the Death Penalty 2018.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty,
  • Available languages Fiche pratique pour les médias

Document(s)

Grace and Justice on Death Row

By Brian W. Stolarz / Skyhorse Publishing, on 1 January 2016


2016

Book

United States


More details See the document

This book tells the story of Alfred Dewayne Brown, a man who spent over twelve years in prison (ten of them on Texas’ infamous Death Row) for a high-profile crime he did not commit, and his lawyer, Brian Stolarz, who dedicated his career and life to secure his freedom. The book chronicles Brown’s extraordinary journey to freedom against very long odds, overcoming unscrupulous prosecutors, corrupt police, inadequate defense counsel, and a broken criminal justice system. The book examines how a lawyer-client relationship turned into one of brotherhood.Grace And Justice On Death Row also addresses many issues facing the criminal justice system and the death penalty – race, class, adequate defense counsel, and intellectual disability, and proposes reforms.Told from Stolarz’s perspective, this raw, fast-paced look into what it took to save one man’s life will leave you questioning the criminal justice system in this country. It is a story of injustice and redemption that must be told.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

A Comparative Analysis of Capital Punishment: Statutes, Policies, Frequencies, and Public Attitudes the World Over

By Dagny Dlaskovich / Rita Simon / Lexington Books, on 1 January 2002


2002

Book


More details See the document

A Comparative Analysis of Capital Punishment provides a concise and detailed history of the death penalty. Incorporating and synthesizing public opinion data and empirical studies, Simon and Blaskovich’s work compares, across societies, the types of offenses punishable by death, the level of public support for the death penalty, the forms the penalty takes, and the categories of persons exempt from punishment.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Death by Design: Capital Punishment As a Social Psychological System

By Craig Haney / Oxford University Press, on 1 January 2005


2005

Book

United States


More details See the document

In Death by Design, research psychologist Craig Haney argues that capital punishment, and particularly the sequence of events that lead to death sentencing itself, is maintained through a complex and elaborate social psychological system that distance and disengage us from the true nature of the task. Relying heavily on his own research and that of other social scientists, Haney suggests that these social psychological forces enable persons to engage in behavior from which many of them otherwise would refrain. However, by facilitating death sentencing in these ways, this inter-related set of social psychological forces also undermines the reliability and authenticity of the process, and compromises the fairness of its outcomes. Because these social psychological forces are systemic in nature –built into the very system of death sentencing itself –Haney concludes by suggesting a number of inter-locking reforms, derived directly from empirical research on capital punishment, that are needed to increase the fairness and reliability of the process.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Experimenting with Death: An Examination of Colorado’s Use of the Three-Judge Panel in Capital Sentencing

By Lutz, Robin / University of Colorado Law Review, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

United States


More details See the document

Mr. Page committed an atrocious crime. He did not know his victim, Peyton Tuthill, a young woman who had recently graduated from college and moved to Denver. But he was in her house, looking for money and items to sell, when she returned from a job interview. Instead of leaving her home, Mr. Page stayed to beat Peyton Tuthill, tie her up, stab her, slit her throat, rape her repeatedly, and eventually, kill her. Clearly, Ms. Tuthill did not deserve to die such a tortured death. Clearly, her death resulted from an egregious crime. However, the answer to the question of whether Mr. Page should be executed for committing this murder is not as clear. Some would answer affirmatively, others negatively. An important question is: who should decide?

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

Document(s)

The Phantom

By Patrick Forbes, on 10 August 2021


2021

Multimedia content

Innocence

Public Opinion 

United States


More details See the document

THE PHANTOM tells the story of one of the darkest episodes in the long history of American justice. A story of how the State of Texas knowingly sent an innocent man to his death and left a serial killer at large. A case in which – for the first time – it can be conclusively proven that the US courts executed a blameless man.

This film uncovers the shocking truth behind a tale of murder, corruption and lies that unfolded in the dusty, desperate streets of a Texas oil town nearly thirty years ago.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence / Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Video: watch and think

on 7 January 2008

As the debate about lethal injections and the presidential election campaign are raging in the United States, a short film by two young directors establishes a link between the two.

2008

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

United States

Document(s)

The Truth About False Confessions and Advocacy Scholarship

By Richard A. Leo / Criminal Law Bulletin, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

In 1998 Richard A. Leo and Richard J. Ofshe published a study of false confession cases entitled, The Consequences of False Confessions: Deprivations of Liberty and Miscarriages of Justice in the Age of Psychological Interrogation, which drew a response from Paul Cassell (1999), The Guilty and the Innocent : An Examination of Alleged Cases of Wrongful Conviction from False Confessions. In this article, the authors demonstrate that Cassell s article misreports the research and analysis contained in Leo and Ofshes 1998 article, and that Cassell s attempt to challenge Leo and Ofshes classifications of nine out of sixty false confessions is erroneous because Cassell excludes or presents an incomplete picture of important facts in his case summaries, selectively ignores enormous inconsistencies, implausibilities and/or contradictions in the prosecution s cases, and fails to acknowledge the existence of substantial exculpatory, if not dispositive, evidence. To illustrate the problems and biases in Cassell s commentary, this article discusses at length one of Cassell s challenges, the Barry Lee Fairchild case, in the main body of the article and in a detailed appendix analyzes the eight other cases (Joseph Giarratano, Paul Ingram, Richard Lapointe, Jessie Misskelley, Bradley Page, James Harry Reyos, Linda Stangel, and Martin Tankleff). Leo and Ofshe provide a point by point refutation of Cassell s assertions in all nine cases, demonstrating that all nine individuals were, as originally classified, almost certainly innocent of the crimes to which they had confessed.

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

Document(s)

From seventy-eight to zero: Why executions declined after Taiwan’s democratization

By Fort Fu-Te Liao / Punishment and Society, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

Taiwan


More details See the document

This article examines, from a legal perspective, why executions in Taiwan declined from 78 in 1990 to zero in 2006. The inquiry focuses on three considerations: the number of laws that authorized employment of the death penalty; the code of criminal procedure; and the manner in which executions were carried out, including the manner in which amnesty was granted. The article argues that the ratification of international covenants and constitutional interpretations did not play a significant role in the decline, and that several factors that did play a role included the annulment or amendment of laws, changes in criminal procedure, establishment of and further amendments to guidelines for execution and two laws for reducing sentences. This article maintains that the absence of executions in 2006 is a unique situation that will not last because some inmates remain on death row, meaning that executions in Taiwan will continue unless the death penalty is abolished. However, the article concludes that the guarantee of the utmost human right, the right to life, can be sustained in Taiwan through the demands of democratic majority rule.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Taiwan
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2017

By NLU Delhi , on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Legal Representation, Death Penalty, Statistics,

Document(s)

Stephen Bright v. Death Penalty

By Moblogic TV / YouTube, on 1 January 2008


2008

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

Renowned capital defense attorney Stephen Bright discusses the death penalty in light of recent Supreme Court decisions.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

EU Policy on Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2014


2014

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This page contains videos and documents on issues dealing with the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

Death Penalty – Mistake (Leonel Herrera)

By Amnesty International / YouTube, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

United States

es
More details See the document

This video explores the story of Leonel Herrera who was sentenced to death for the murder of a police man. A statement from his nephew came many years later that shed light on Leonels innocence.

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions in 2016

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2016. 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(s)

Arcs of Global Justice

By Oxford University Press / Margaret M. Guzman / Diane Marie Amann, on 1 January 2018


2018

Book


More details See the document

This work honours William A. Schabas and his career with essays by luminary scholars and jurists from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The essays examine contemporary, historical, cultural, and theoretical aspects of the many arcs of global justice with which Professor Schabas has engaged, in fields including public international law, human rights, transitional justice, international criminal law, and capital punishment.Table of Contents (regarding information on the death penalty)II. Capital PunishmentChapter 5: International Law and the Death Penalty: A Toothless Tiger, or a Meaningful Force for Change?Sandra L. BabcockChapter 6: The UN Optional Protocol on the Abolition of the Death PenaltyMarc BossuytChapter 7: The Right to Life and the Progressive Abolition of the Death PenaltyChristof Heyns and Thomas Probert and Tess BordenChapter 8: Progress and Trend of the Reform of the Death Penalty in ChinaZhao Bingzhi

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list International law, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The most important facts in 2000

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report

en
More details See the document

This is the fourth consecutive year that Hands off Cain is publishing its report on the death penalty. The events registered in 2000 reveal a positive trend towards abolition.As of 31/12/2000, there were 123 abolitionist countries of various types: 77 were fully abolitionist, 12 were abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 30 were de facto abolitionist (they haven´t carried out a death sentence in at least ten years), 2 were engaged in abolishing the death penalty as members of the Council of Europe, 2 had a legal moratoria on executions. Seventy three states retained the death penalty.

Document(s)

Capital Punishment Views in China and the United States: A Preliminary Study Among College Students

By Eric G. Lambert / International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology / Shanhe Jiang, on 1 January 2007


2007

Article

China


More details See the document

There is a lack of research on attitudes toward capital punishment in China, and there is even less research on cross-national comparisons of capital punishment views. Using data recently collected from college students in the United States and China, this study finds that U.S. and Chinese students have differences in their views on the death penalty and its functions of deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. This study also reveals that the respondents’ perspectives of deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution, and incapacitation all affect their attitudes toward the death penalty in the United States, whereas only the first three views affect attitudes toward capital punishment in China. Furthermore, retribution is the strongest predictor in the United States, whereas deterrence is the strongest predictor in China.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Document(s)

Striving to Eliminate Unjust Executions: Why the ABA’s Individual Rights & Responsibilities Section Has Issued Protocols on Unfair Implementation of Capital Punishment

By Ronald J. Tabak / Ohio State Law Journal, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

The ABA concluded in 1997 that pervasive unfairness in capital punishment regimes warranted a halt to executions unless all of the systemic problems the ABA identified were corrected. Four years later, with those problems still pervasive, the ABA’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities issued protocols designed to facilitate the evaluation of the fairness—or lack thereof—of a jurisdiction’s capital punishment system. The protocols are particularly timely because many state legislative bodies are authorizing, or considering authorizing, studies of death penalty implementation. The protocols provide an overview, a list of questions to consider, and recommendations with regard to each topic area they cover. While these are not exhaustive, and are not fully applicable in every death penalty jurisdiction, they should prove invaluable to any group seeking to seriously evaluate the manner in which capital punishment is actually administered today.

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

Document(s)

DO EXECUTIONS LOWER HOMICIDE RATES?: THE VIEWS OF LEADING CRIMINOLOGISTS*

By Michael L. Radelet / Tracy Lacock / The journal of criminal law and criminology, on 1 January 2009


2009

Article


More details See the document

This study is about the question of whether the death penalty is a more effective deterrent than long-term imprisonment has been debated for decades or longer by scholars, policy makers, and the general public. In this Article the authors report results from a survey of the world’s leading criminologists that asked their expert opinions on whether the empirical research supports the contention that the death penalty is a superior deterrent.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN BRIEF 2004 (and up to September 15, 2005)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report

enfr
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2004 and the first half of 2005. There are currently 138 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 86 are totally abolitionist; 11 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 35 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years). Since the beginning of 2004, 3 countries have passed from retention to an extent of abolition, whereas 5 countries have advanced within the categories of the abolitionist group.

Document(s)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston

By United Nations / Philip Alston, on 1 January 2007


2007

International law - United Nations

arrufrzh-hantzh-hantes
More details See the document

In addition to reporting on the principal initiatives undertaken in 2006 to address the scourge of extrajudicial executions around the world, this report focuses on four issues of particular importance: (a) the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in armed conflicts; (b) “mercy killings” in armed conflict; (c) the “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed; and (d) the international law status of the mandatory death penalty.

Document(s)

A Matter of Life and Death: The Effect of Life Without-Parole Statutes on Capital Punishment

By Harvard Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


More details See the document

Activists have embraced the life-without-parole alternative because the availability of parole is often a key factor for jurors deciding whether of not to impose a sentence of life or death.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,

Document(s)

The Last Verdict

By Jamie Arpin-Ricci, on 1 January 2016


2016

Book

Canada


More details See the document

What would you do if your child was murdered?
What would you do if your child was convicted of murder?

Alice Goodman has known great loss. Since the brutal murder of her daughter Madeline decades earlier, she has tirelessly fought to see the killer pay for his crime. Now, after twenty years, the day has arrived that she will witness his long-delayed execution. Will justice finally be done? Will she finally find the peace that has long eluded to her?

Lori Williams knows she was not the perfect mother, but she never believed her son Mark could be guilty of the crime that placed him on death row. Confronting every challenge along the way, she refused to give up her pursuit of the truth—a truth she believed would set her son free. Will it be enough?

Both women are fighting for a justice they believe has been denied their children. Now, their lives are on a collision course with each other. Is either woman prepared for the truth?

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list Canada
  • Themes list Right to life, Clemency, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

A New Profession for an Old Need: Why a Mitigation Specialist Must be Included on the Capital Defense Team

By Pamela Blume Leonard / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

The fundamental task of the mitigation specialist is to conduct a comprehensive social history of the defendant and identify all relevant mitigation issues. The 2003 revised edition of the American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases recognizes the mitigation specialist as an “indispensable member of the defense team throughout all capital proceedings.” What are the particular responsibilities and contributions of a mitigation specialist and what makes them so essential to the capital defense team as to warrant this long overdue recognition by the ABA Guidelines?

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

Document(s)

The 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)

A Life in the Balance: The Billy Wayne Sinclair Story, A Journey from Murder to Redemption Inside America’s Worst Prison System

By Jodie Sinclair / Billy Wayne Sinclair / Arcade Publishing, on 8 September 2020


2020

Book

United States


More details See the document

Life in the Balance: a book on the Billy Wayne Sinclair Story, A Journey from Murder to Redemption Inside America’s Worst Prison System. The New York Times Book Review called it a “numbing tale of crime, punishment, and redemption.”

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

Document(s)

The Court in Brief (the European Court of Human Rights)

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2011


2011

Working with...

enfr
More details See the document

The European Court of Human Rights is an international court set up in 1959. It rules on individual or State applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1998 it has sat as a full-time court and individuals can apply to it directly.

Document(s)

The Prevalence and Potential Causes of Wrongful Conviction by Fingerprint Evidence.

By Simon A. Cole / Golden Gate University Law Review, on 1 January 2006


2006

Article

United States


More details See the document

As the number of post-conviction DNA exonerations mounted and the Innocence Project undertook to treat these exonerations as a data set indicating the principal causes of wrongful conviction, the absence of fingerprint cases in that data set could have been interpreted as soft evidence that latent print evidence was unlikely to contribute to wrongful convictions. That situation changed in 2004 when Stephan Cowans became the first – and thus far the only – person to be exonerated by DNA evidence for a wrongful conviction in which fingerprint evidence was a contributing factor. Cowans’s wrongful conviction in Boston in 1997 for the attempted murder of a police officer was based almost solely on eyewitness identification and latent print evidence. The Cowans case not only provided dramatic additional support for the already established proposition that wrongful conviction by fingerprint was possible, it also demonstrated why the exposure of such cases, when they do occur, is exceedingly unlikely. These points have already been made in a comprehensive 2005 study of exposed cases of latent print misattributions. In this article, I discuss some additional things that we have learned about the prevalence and potential causes of wrongful conviction by fingerprint in the short time since the publication of that study.

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

Document(s)

The Needs of the Wrongfully Convicted: A Report on a Panel Discussion

By Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority's Research & Analysis Unit / Northwestern University School of Law, on 1 January 2002


2002

Working with...


More details See the document

This report has been prepared for Governor Ryan’s Commission on Capital Punishment to provide additional information on those who have been wrongfully convicted of murder and subsequently incarcerated. It is hoped that this information is useful in the Commission’s consideration of possible improvements in the way criminal justice agencies and allied entities meet the needs of those who have been wrongfully convicted.

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

Document(s)

SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2002

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The practice of the death penalty has drastically diminished in the past few years. Today the countries or territories that have abolished it or decline to apply it number 130. Of these: 78 are totally abolitionist; 14 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 2 are committed to abolition as members of the Council of Europe and in the meanwhile observe a moratorium; 6 countries are currently observing a moratorium and 30 are de facto abolitionist, not having executed any death sentences in the past ten years.

Uganda UPR Death Penalty Final

on 21 April 2022

2022

Malawi CEDAW Death Penalty FINAL

on 21 April 2022

Cameroon CERD Death Penalty

on 21 April 2022

Zimbabwe UPR death penalty Final

on 21 April 2022

Kenya CAT Death Penalty

on 21 April 2022

Cuba CAT death penalty

on 21 April 2022

Iraq CAT Death Penalty FINAL

on 21 April 2022

Iraq CAT Death Penalty FINAL

on 21 April 2022

Uganda Death Penalty CEDAW Final revised

on 21 April 2022

CERD USA Death Penalty FINAL

on 21 July 2022

2022

CEDAW86-side-event-gender-and-death-penalty-2

on 8 November 2023

2023

Women-and-Death-Penalty-Factsheet_World-Day-2023

on 15 August 2023

Women-and-Death-Penalty-Factsheet_World-Day-2023

2023

LGBTQIA_ rigths_and_Death_Penalty_World_Day_2023

on 15 August 2023

LGBTQIA_ rigths_and_Death_Penalty_World_Day_2023

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)

Clemency Procedures in Death Penalty States

By Capital Punishment in Context, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

This file is relevant to the US, giving a list of states where governors can grant clemency, where the governor must have recommendations of clemency and where governors recieve a non-binding recommendation of clemency.

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

Document(s)

2017 World Day report

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


2018

NGO report

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 2252 Ko ]

On 10 October 2017, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty along with abolitionist activists worldwide marked the 15th World Day against the Death Penalty by drawing attention to the death penalty and its link with poverty. This report presents the activities organised for the 15th world day and the media coverage it received.

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)

Poster World Day 2003

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2003


2003

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition


More details See the document

Poster for the world day against the death penalty 2003

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Words beyond death row

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2013


2013

Multimedia content

fr
More details See the document

English version starts at 15 minutes and 59 seconds. ‘Words beyond death row’, extracts from testimonies of death row prisoners illustrated by a photo screening, in partnership with PhotoEspaña. This movie was presented during the 5th World Congress against the death penalty in Madrid in June 2013, by Ensemble contre la peine de mort – ECPM (Together against the death penalty) #Abolition201

Document(s)

How a chronically shy child ended up on death row

By Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty in ASEAN (CADPA), on 1 January 2017


2017

Multimedia content


More details See the document

As a young girl Rita was so self-conscious she would only sweep the floor inside the house. Nonetheless, poverty drove her to work overseas. Learning she was coming home one day, an acquaintance – Eka – pressed her to bring back a suitcase with some clothes. Rita was too afraid to refuse. The bag was lined with drugs. Eka is still out there. Rita’s only hope is that Malaysia revises its death penalty policy.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Juveniles, Death Row Phenomenon, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions 2013

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2014


2014

NGO report

arfarufres
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2013. Amnesty International records figures on the use of the death penalty based on the best available information.

Document(s)

3 questions to Susan Kigula, former death row prisoner

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2018


2018

Working with...


More details See the document

Sentenced to death in Uganda for murder, Susan Kigula never stopped to claim her innocence. Creator of a death row inmates’ choir and law graduate from the University of London, she finally obtained her release after 15 years in prison. In Uganda, she became a real symbol of the fight against the death penalty. She continues the fight with us, and created the Susan Kigula African Child Foundation.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Outliers and Outcomes: How 9 of 10 Death Cases End with a Life Sentence & Why That Matters

By Ohioans to Stop Executions, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

OTSE is a coalition of individuals and organizations working to reduce use of and ultimately end capital punishment in Ohio. The purpose of the report is to provide information and analysis to the media, members of the general public, legislators and state leaders.The death penalty in Ohio has become increasingly rare and is relegated to just a few high-use,outlier counties.Indeed, although Ohio has set an execution schedule unmatched by any state in the country up to the year 2023, it seems doubtful, based on its history of litigation and execution drug shortages, that Ohio will execute all those individuals.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

My Life As a Death Row Executioner

By YouTube / Real Stories, on 1 January 2020


2020

Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document

Published on Real Stories YouTube channel, this documentary casts a penetrating look at the consequences of the death penalty through three powerful stories – the rare perspective of a former state executioner who comes within days of executing an innocent person; a Boston Marathon bombing victim who struggles to decide what justice really means; and the parents of a murder victim who choose to fight for the life of their daughter’s killer. As the battle to overturn capital punishment comes to a head in the U.S., this provocative film challenges viewers to question their deepest beliefs about justice.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public debate, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

How to answer the deterrence argument

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015


2015

Arguments against the death penalty

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1642 Ko ]

It was created to help all abolitionists answer the deterrent argument. It gives a definition of the deterrent theory, concrete reasons why academic studies have failed to prove the deterrent effect of the death penalty and compares figures about criminal rates in relation to abolition. It does not provide simple and easy answers, but explain, step by step, what to answer to those who believe that the death penalty has a deterrent effect.

Document(s)

The Last Defense

By Death Penalty Information Center / Viola Davis / Julius Tennon, on 1 January 2018


2018

Working with...


More details See the document

The Last Defense is a new documentary series premiering for the first time at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival on April 27. The seven-episode documentary series exposes flaws in the U.S. justice system through the personal narratives of death row prisoners Darlie Routier and Julius Jones, both whom maintain their innocence.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Innocence, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Japanese : The Chaplain

By Japan Society Film, on 8 September 2020


2020

Multimedia content

Japan


More details See the document

The late, great Ren Osugi (Hana-bi) stars as a prison chaplain working on death row in this thought-provoking chamber drama—his final film as an actor and first as a producer. Visiting with a regular roster of inmates who await their final sentence—including a converted ex-yakuza and a philosophy-spouting mass murderer—the newly appointed clergyman gradually learns of their circumstances and is forced to confront his own understanding of life, death and salvation. Featuring unforgettable characters and a restrained visual style, Dai Sako’s searching film takes on the rarely-addressed topic of Japan’s death penalty in order to question the state of the country’s soul.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Japan
  • Themes list Retribution, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,