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2948 Document(s) 1043 Member(s) 8 Country 1938 Article(s) 41 Page(s)

Document(s)

Injustice: Life and Death in the Courtrooms of America

By Clive Stafford Smith / Harvill Secker, on 1 January 2012


2012

Book

United States


More details See the document

A new book by Clive Stafford Smith, a British lawyer who has defended death row inmates in the U.S., offers an in-depth view of capital punishment in America. In Injustice: Life and Death in the Courtrooms of America, Stafford Smith examines the case of Kris Maharaj, a British citizen who was sentenced to death in Florida for a double murder, to expose problems in the justice system.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Innocence,

Document(s)

The inevitability of error: experiences from former death row exonerees

By Witness to Innocence, on 1 January 2017


2017

Multimedia content

United States


More details Download [ pdf - 302 Ko ]

Death row exonerees bios

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Right to life, Death Row Conditions, Death Row Phenomenon, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Preventing the Reinstatement of Capital Punishment in the Maldives

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Nasheen Kalkat - Reprieve, on 10 August 2021


2021

Campaigning

Maldives

Public Opinion 

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 261 Ko ]

Findings from a preliminary study concerning the local abolitionist movement, risksto related civilsociety organizations and the identification of capacity building opportunities.

Document(s)

Let’s Make a Deal: Waiving the Eighth Amendment by Selecting a Cruel and Unusual Punishment

By Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier / Connecticut Law Review, on 1 January 2000


2000

Article

United States


More details See the document

This Article addresses the issue of whether a criminal defendant may waive the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments by selecting an unconstitutional punishment over a constitutional punishment. The Article begins with a discussion of the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, followed by a discussion of areas where the Court has allowed defendants to waive Eighth Amendment protections in various contexts. Then, the Article discusses court decisions that have addressed whether one may waive Eighth Amendment protections by choosing a cruel and unusual punishment. Generally, this issue has arisen in three contexts: (1) where defendants are given the punishment option of banishment; (2) where sex offenders are given the punishment option of castration; and (3) where capital defendants are given an execution method option that violates the constitution. The Article explains that at least in the context of punishment type, a defendant’s choice should not waive Eighth Amendment protections. First, the ban on cruel and unusual punishments is a right that differs significantly from other constitutional criminal rights because it serves a broad societal purpose. Second, the waiver of this right differs from the waiver of other criminal rights because such waivers do not benefit the individual or society. Finally, to allow such waivers would strip the Eighth Amendment of meaning by permitting legislatures to create any punishment options it desired. Therefore, the Article concludes that the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments cannot be waived by an individual.

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

Document(s)

Compliance with ICJ Provisional Measures and the Meaning of Review and Reconsideration Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mex. v. U.S.)

By Linda E. Carter / Michigan Journal of International Law, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

Mexico


More details See the document

For the third time in a span of five years, a country has brought suit against the United States in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) in capital cases. 1 And, for the third time, the ICJ has issued an order of provisional measures. The most recent order indicates that: “the United States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that [three named Mexican defendants] are not executed pending final judgment in these proceedings.” (Avena case)

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Mexico
  • Themes list Foreign Nationals,

Article(s)

Speaking out in favour of a global moratorium on executions

on 25 October 2007

Together with filmmaker Tim Robbins, abolitionists launched an appeal from New York to support the proposed UN resolution imposing a freeze on executions. Five million people signed the petition supporting this initiative. Watch the video.

2007

Moratorium

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)

Malaysia: On Death Row

By Al Jazeera, on 1 January 2019


2019

Multimedia content

Malaysia


More details See the document

In Malaysian jails, more than 1,200 prisoners are on death row. For them, news that the government was planning to abolish the death penalty provided a much-needed glimmer of hope. But many Malaysians want to keep the law as it is, saying capital punishment deters criminals and helps keep citizens safe. Families of murder victims say the only way to get justice for their loved ones is by hanging the perpetrators. 101 East meets the people on either side of this emotional life-and-death debate and investigates if Malaysia is ready to abolish the death penalty.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Malaysia
  • Themes list Moratorium , Murder Victims' Families, Death Row Phenomenon,

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 MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide situation concerning the death penalty has once again registered a trend towards abolition in the past year. The countries or territories that to different extents have decided to give up the practice of capital punishment total 133, including the first months of 2004. Of these 81 have abolished the death penalty completely; 14 have abolished it for ordinary crimes; 1, Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe is committed to abolish it and in the meanwhile apply a moratorium on executions; 5 are observing moratoriums and 32 countries are de facto abolitionist, not having carried out executions for at least 10 years.

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2001

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The year 2001 has confirmed the accelerated trend towards the abolition of the death penalty on course for the past ten years. In 2001 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became totally abolitionist, Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, Ireland removed all references to the death penalty from its constitution, Burkina Faso joined the group of de facto abolitionists not having carried out any executions for more than ten years, and Lebanon has imposed a moratorium on executions.

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)

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)

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)

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,

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,

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)

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.

Member(s)

We Believe in Second Chances

on 30 April 2020

We Believe in Second Chances was founded as a reaction to Yong Vui Kong’s condemnation to death, and are advocating for the abolishment of the death penalty in Singapore.

2020

Singapore

Document(s)

Death penalty in India Presentation

By Shreya Rastogi, on 1 January 2017


2017

Multimedia content


More details Download [ pdf - 1008 Ko ]

Presentation of Shreya Rastogi, from the University of New Dehli, for the plenary session on poverty and the death penalty which took place during the 2017 General Assembly of the World Coalition

  • Document type Multimedia content

Document(s)

Pictures at an execution: The condemned in art

By BBC / Jason Farago, on 1 January 2014


2014

Article

United States


More details See the document

This article discusses a new art exhibition in Los Angeles which aims to humanise condemned prisoners. It continues to situate the exhibition in the greater context of the depiction of the death penalty in art history. The conversation this article raises is the link the death penalty in art history has with creating a public discussion. From the sword to the electric chair, the death penalty has inspired challenging art, writes Jason Farago.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public debate,

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet – World Day 2023

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 2 October 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 855 Ko ]

Detailed factsheet on the link between torture and the death penalty, to mark the 21st World Day against the Death Penalty.Detailed factsheet on the link between torture and the death penalty, to mark the 21st World Day against the Death Penalty.

Document(s)

Felony-Murder in Ohio: Felony-Murder or Murder-Felony?

By Dana K. Cole / Ohio State Law Journal, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

United States


More details See the document

Ohio’s aggravated felony-murder rule and felony-murder death penalty specification provisions apply where a death occurs “while committing or attempting to commit” certain enumerated felonies. In a line of cases beginning in 1996, the Ohio Supreme Court broadly interpreted this statutory language to include situations where the intent to commit the underlying felony was formed subsequent to the death, as a complete afterthought. With these cases, the Ohio Supreme Court departed from the majority view that the intent to commit the underlying felony must precede or co-exist with the death. The author argues that this new statutory interpretation represents an unwarranted expansion of the felony-murder rule that disregards the statutory language, ignores the underlying purpose of the rule, and dispenses with traditional safeguards designed to ameliorate its harshness. The author further argues that applying this new statutory interpretation to the felony-murder death penalty specification potentially selects for death those who are not necessarily the most deserving of this ultimate punishment. The author suggests that the solution must be a legislative one.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Capital offences, Arbitrariness,

Document(s)

South Korea’s changing capital punishment policy: The road from de facto to formal abolition

By Byung-Sun Cho / Punishment and Society, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

Republic of Korea


More details See the document

The most recent executions in South Korea took place in December 1997, when 23 people were executed at short notice on the same day. Similarly, nineteen executions occurred in 1995 and 15 in 1994, in each instance occurring all on the same day. These group executions seem to reflect cultural factors that monthly statistics alone do not capture. No executions have occurred since 1998, but this de facto suspension has not been reinforced by law. Since 1999, lawmakers have thrice endorsed a bill favoring life imprisonment without parole in place of the death penalty, but each time the proposal has stalled and failed to move forward. The need remains to develop a culturally appropriate pro-abolition argument that could persuade the Korean public that the death penalty is unworkable and wrong. On 21 January 2007, in the Inhyeokdang case, the Korean Court acquitted 8 persons who had been executed 32 years earlier. The hope is that, in light of strong arguments based on the risk to innocent persons and the irreversibility of capital punishment, Korea will effectively transition from de facto to formal abolition.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Republic of Korea
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

Abortion, Capital Punishment, and the Politics of “God’s” Will

By Kimberly J. Cook / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 8 September 2020


Article

United States


More details See the document

In her paper, Professor Kimberly J. Cook uses statistics to illustrate the role the Christian Right plays in the public discourse over two issues permeated with religious overtones: abortion and the death penalty. She shows how the Christian Right’s approach to these issues is based on an ideological notion of ‘Justice ” that is primarily focused on vengeance and punishment, to the exclusion of forgiveness. Professor Cook’s exploration of the modern roots of this ideology leads to a movement dating from the 1960s known as Christian Reconstructionism, which advocates using state action to enforce its unique interpretation of “God’s Will.” This interpretation not only advocates an expansive view of the death penalty, but also patriarchal gender roles backed by force of law, religious intolerance, and the manifest goal of establishing a global Christian theocracy. Though it has been publicly disavowed by mainstream Christian Fundamentalists, Professor Cook argues that Reconstructionism has become the cornerstone of the Christian Right. To support this assertion, she compares current Christian Right socio-political goals with Reconstructionist theology. Professor Cook concludes with a warning that the Christian Right’s political power, coupled with its Reconstructionist influenced ideology, places our constitutional protections at risk.

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

Document(s)

Myth #5 – Death penalty trials are a fair process

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 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)

Death Penalty Laws in states

By Capital Punishment in Context, on 8 September 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)

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 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)

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,

Document(s)

Detailed Fact Sheet – Death Penalty and Mental Health

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1671 Ko ]

Detailed information on the death penalty and mental health.

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,

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)

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


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 
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)

Document(s)

Towards an Islamic Critique of Capital Punishment

By Robert Postawko / Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article

Iran (Islamic Republic of)


More details See the document

In general, Muslim nations recognize the validity of the death penalty, and many frequently impose it. According to Amnesty International, between 1985 and mid-1988, Saudi Arabia executed 140 prisoners for the crimes of murder, robbery with violence, drug smuggling or distribution, and adultery. During the same period, Pakistan executed 115, primarily for the crime of murder. Hundreds every year faced the firing squad in Iraq for murder, desertion, treason, sabotage, and economic corruption. At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed more than 743 inmates for murder, drug crimes, political offenses, prostitution, adultery and other “moral offenses,” including “being corrupt on earth” and “being at enmity with God.” In face of the widespread acceptance of the death penalty within the Muslim world, this essay explores the contours of an Islamic argument against capital punishment. The argument is not, and cannot be, an appeal for the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. It does call into question, however, the legitimacy – indeed, the legality in accordance with the principles of classical Islamic law, or the Shari’ah – of capital punishment as it is practiced in the era of Islamization.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
  • Themes list Religion , Capital offences, Most Serious Crimes,

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)

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)

Sentenced to oblivion. Fact-finding mission on death row. Cameroon

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Nestor Toko / Carole Berrih, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

The report “Sentenced to oblivion. Fact-finding mission on death row. Cameroon”, which was officially launched on 21 June at the Delegation of the European Union from Yaoundé to Cameroon, is the result of an unprecedented fact-finding mission, conducted from May to October 2018 in five Cameroonian prisons by the Cameroonian Lawyers’ Network against the Death Penalty (Racopem) and the association ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort).

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 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)

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)

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)

International Affairs Forum. Capital Punishment Around the World

By Center for International Relations, on 1 January 2015


2015

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The summer issue of International Foreign Affaires focuses on the topic of capital punishment around the world. It collects articles and interviews dealing with the issues of death penalty, the path towards abolition, and the situation of capital punishment in the world.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

More than 1,000 men and women have been put to death in the USA since executions resumed there in 1977. Dozens of these people had histories of mental impairment, either from before the crimes for which they were sentenced, or at the time of their execution. The report discusses many cases and includes an illustrative list of 100 people. It does not attempt to answer the complex question of precisely which defendants should be exempt from the death penalty on the grounds of mental illness at the time of the crime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society

By United Nations, on 1 January 2008


2008

Working with...

rufrzh-hantes
More details See the document

Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society is addressed to the civil society actors who, every day in every part of the world, contribute to the promotion, protection and advancement of human rights. Developed following a survey among users of the first edition of the Handbook—Working with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: A Handbook for NGOs (2006)—this comprehensively updated and revised second edition puts United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms at its centre. Speaking to all civil society actors, including but not only non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Handbook explains how civil society can engage with various United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms. It is the hope of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that this Handbook will enable more people to enjoy and make claim to their human rights through these bodies and mechanisms.

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)

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)

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)

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)

The Peculiar Forms of American Capital Punishment

By David Garland / Social Research: An International Quarterly, on 1 January 2007


2007

Article

United States


More details See the document

There are two puzzles that confront observers of American capital punishment at the start of the 21st century. One concerns the legal and administrative arrangements through which it is enacted, which strike many commentators as irrational, or at least poorly adapted to the traditional ends of criminal justice. The other concerns the persistence of capital punishment in the USA in a period when comparable nations have decisively abandoned its use. In this essay, I will address both of these two questions, beginning with the first and offering conclusions that bear upon the second.The historical struggles around issues of capital punishment, structured as they have been by the American polity with its distinctive mix of federalism, sectionalism, and democratic populism, form the necessary basis for understanding the American present and for comparing America’s current practices with those of other western nations. Any explanation of American capital punishment ought to begin by focusing attention on these structures and these struggles.

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

Document(s)

The 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)

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)

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)

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 

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

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)

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)

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,

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)

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)

جماربو حنِملاو ق

By She was convicted for infanticide in 1895 and became the only woman ever hanged in New Zealand. He was a young lad from Bluff who was shot for desertion in World War I. Now Minnie Dean and Victor Spencer share their stories with you—just hours before their planned executions by the state., on 1 January 2013


2013

Working with...


More details Download [ - 0 Ko ]

يق |ناسنلإا قوقحل ةيماسلا ةدحتملا مملأا ةيضوفم بتكم / | |2013||externe | | http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/AboutUs/CivilSociety/OHCHRFundsGuide_ar.pdf|OHCHR-2013|Academic report|International law, Networks, |
en12671|OHCHR Practical Guide for Civil Society: Human Rights Funds, Grants and Fellowships|This Practical Guide – the fourth in the series of practical guides for civil society – provides a brief description of funding sources, grants and fellowships administered by or with the participation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). |Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights / | |2013||externe | | http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/AboutUs/CivilSociety/OHCHRFundsGuide_en.pdf|OHCHR-2013|Academic report|International law, Networks, |
en12670|Fighting for Their Lives: Inside the Experience of Capital Defense Attorneys|How do attorneys who represent clients facing the death penalty cope with the stress and trauma of their work? Through conversations with twenty of the most experienced and dedicated post-conviction capital defenders in the United States, Fighting for Their Lives explores this emotional territory for the first time|Susannah Sheffer / Vanderbilt University Press / | |2013|United States|externe | | http://www.susannahsheffer.com/fighting-for-their-lives.html||Book|Country/Regional profiles, |
en12669|Invers Theatre Company presents A Cry Too Far From Heaven”

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Academic report

Document(s)

Poster World Day 2004

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2004


2004

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

esfr
More details Download [ pdf - 17 Ko ]

Poster world day against the death penalty 2004

Member(s)

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

on 30 April 2020

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL’s 12,000-plus direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations […]

2020

United States

Member(s)

Women’s Information Consultative Center

on 30 April 2020

The main goal of the Women’s Information Consultative Center is to gather, generalise and disseminate information about women’s human rights and initiatives among women inside and outside Ukraine. Another goal of the Center is to create a discussion about gender issues in the political and social life of Ukraine to achieve real equality in society. […]

Ukraine

Document(s)

Death Sentences and executions in 2012

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2013


2013

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The report covers the judicial use of death penalty for the period January to December 2012.It summarises Amnesty International’s global research on the death penalty. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and interviews with survivors of human rights violations

Document(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)

Arab Charter on Human Rights

By League of Arab States, on 1 January 2004


2004

Regional body report

arfr
More details See the document

Article 51. Every human being has the inherent right to life.2. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.Article 6Sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes inaccordance with the laws in force at the time of commission of the crime and pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.Article 71. Sentence of death shall not be imposed on persons under 18 years of age, unlessotherwise stipulated in the laws in force at the time of the commission of the crime.2. The death penalty shall not be inflicted on a pregnant woman prior to her deliveryor on a nursing mother within two years from the date of her delivery; in all cases, the best interests of the infant shall be the primary consideration.

Document(s)

What Caused The Crime Decline?

By Brennan Center for Justice / Oliver Roeder / Lauren-Brooke Eisen / Julia Bowling, on 1 January 2015


2015

Article

United States


More details See the document

A new study by the Brennan Center for Justice examined several possible explanations for the dramatic drop in crime in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s. Among the theories studied was use of the death penalty, which the report found had no effect on the decline in crime.

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

Document(s)

The Innocence Protection Act of 2001

By Senator Patrick Leahy / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

The goal of our bill is simple, but profoundly important: to reduce the risk of mistaken executions. The Innocence Protection Act proposes basic, common-sense reforms to our criminal justice system that are designed to protect the innocent and to ensure that if the death penalty is imposed, it is the result of informed and reasoned deliberation, not politics, luck, bias, or guesswork. We have listened to a lot of good advice and made some refinements to the bill since the last Congress, but it is still structured around two principal reforms: improving the availability of DNA testing, and ensuring reasonable minimum standards and funding for court-appointed counsel.

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

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)

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)

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)

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,

Document(s)

Death Penalty – Mistake (Leonel Herrera)

By Amnesty International / YouTube, on 8 September 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)

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

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


2020

Book


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

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


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)

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)

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)

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 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)

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,

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)

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.

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)

Vietnam: From “Vision” to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam under its Chairmanship of ASEAN

By Vietnam Committee on Human Rights / International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Quê Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Viet Nam


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The use of the death penalty is frequent in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In 2009, the government reduced the number of offences punishable by death from 29 to 22. Capital punishment is applied for crimes including murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, rape, sexual abuse of children, and a range of economic crimes. Execution is by firing squad. A draft law was introduced in November 2009 proposing the use of two methods of execution, either by firing squad or by lethal injection. Statistics on the number of death sentences and executions are not made public. Indeed, following criticisms by international human rights organisations, in January 2004, Vietnam adopted a decree classifying death penalty statistics as “state secrets”. According to the Vietnamese and international press, at least 100 people are executed each year in Vietnam. In 2007, 104 death sentences were pronounced, including 14 women. In 2010, the official legal magazine Phap Luat (Law) reported 11 death sentences for the month of January alone.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Viet Nam
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Firing Squad,

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

arrufres
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The present report details the activities of the Special Rapporteur in 2009 and the first four months of 2010. This is the final report to the Human Rights Council by Philip Alston in his capacity as Special Rapporteur. It analyses the activities and working methods of the mandate over the past six years, and identifies important issues for future research. Detailed addenda to this report address: (a) accountability for killings by police; (b) election-related killings; and (c) targeted killings.

Document(s)

Japan : 111 th Session of the Human Rights Committee

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights / Center for Prisoners' Rights / Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), on 1 January 2014


2014

Multimedia content

Japan


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This report examinesprison conditionsandthe imposition of the death penalty in Japan in light of international human rights standards.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Japan
  • Themes list Due Process , International law, Death Row Conditions,

Document(s)

DEATH ROW PHENOMENON VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS

By Human Rights Advocates, on 1 January 2012


2012

NGO report


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Conditions surrounding the death penalty and its application necessitate examination and recognition of the tortuous experience endured by death row inmates, as it culminates in the onset of the death row phenomenon

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Row Phenomenon,