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Document(s)

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By Anne-Frédérique Widmann / International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, on 1 January 2018


2018

Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document

How can a human being stand up, under conditions of unjust imprisonment on death row, alone and without hope of being released? In this documentary film, Anne-Frédérique Widmann draws the portrait of Kenneth Reams, who wakes up every day with an unwavering desire to live, and succeeds in writing, testifying, painting and loving a woman. A film about the art, resistance and dignity of every human life.

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

Document(s)

Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness

By NPR Books , on 1 January 2008


2008

Working with...


More details See the document

Hector Black’s daughter was murdered after she surprised an intruder in her Atlanta home. In this powerful recording, Black discusses how he found peace in forgiving the man who murdered his child.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Prison conditions for women facing the death penalty: A factsheet

By Penal Reform International / Cornwell Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018


2018

Campaigning

fr
More details See the document

There are at least 500 women currently on death row around the world. While exact figures are impossible to obtain, it is estimated that over 100 women have been executed in the last 10 years – and potentially hundreds more. Little empirical data exists about the crimes for which women have been sentenced to death, the circumstances of their lives before their convictions, and the conditions under which they are detained on death row. This Factsheet focuses on the latter topic, with some introductory remarks on the profiles of women under sentence of death. It draws on research published by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2018, which has shed light on this much-neglected population.

Document(s)

Choosing Mercy: A Mother of Murder Victims Pleads to End the Death Penalty

By Antoinette Bosco, on 1 January 2001


2001

Working with...


More details See the document

Written in the spirit of “Dead Man Walking,” this book by Antoinette Bosco conveys both the powerful personal experience of a mother whose son was murdered and a wealth of information about the criminal justice system in America. (Orbis Books, 2001)

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Public opinion, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

These families lost loved ones to violence. Now they are fighting the death penalty;

By The America Magazine , on 1 January 2017


2017

Working with...


More details See the document
  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Halting the Death Penalty in Divine Hodud Punishments from a Practical Expediency Perspective

By Human Rights & Democracy for Iran, on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document

Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation and Various Iranian Religious AuthoritiesAbdorrahman Boroumand FoundationNovember 16, 2017Report

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty

By United Nations, on 1 January 2017


United Nations report


More details See the document

The present report is submitted pursuant to resolution 30/5 of the Human Rights Council. The report examines the consequences arising at various stages of the imposition and application of the death penalty on the enjoyment of the human rights of those facing the death penalty. It pays specific attention to the right to equality and non-discrimination in the context of the use of the death penalty. The report also highlights the discriminatory application of the death penalty to foreign nationals.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2017

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2017


International law - Regional body


More details See the document

OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments regarding the death penalty, including considering the potential abolition of capital punishment, to exchange information toward that end and to make information on the use of the death penalty available to the public.1 Where the death penalty is still in use, participating States have agreed that it could be imposed only for the most serious crimes and only in line with international commitments.2 In light of these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The background paper is based on the information provided by participating States, in the form of responses to ODIHR questionnaires. The information from their responses has been included in the present report, to the extent possible, and is supplemented with information from international and regional human rights bodies, non-governmental organizations and media reports.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list International law, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Singapore: Cooperate or die: Singapore’s flawed reforms to the mandatory death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Singapore


More details See the document

Singapore has recorded a significant reduction in its use of the death penalty in recent years, with executions dropping from more than 70 per year in the mid-1990s to single figures in the subsequent decade. Despite this progress, the death penalty in the country continues to be used in violation of international law and standards, particularly with respect to its mandatory application and use for drug-related offences.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Singapore
  • Themes list Mandatory Death Penalty, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

End of its Robe: How Killing the Death Penalty can Revive Criminal Justice

By Brandon L. Garrett , on 1 January 2017


2017

Book

United States


More details See the document

Brandon Garrett hand-collected and analyzed national data, looking for causes and implications of this turnaround. End of Its Rope explains what he found, and why the story of who killed the death penalty, and how, can be the catalyst for criminal justice reform.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Due Process , Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

USA: Death in Florida

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2017


Academic report


More details See the document

In March 2017, Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, responded to a State Attorney’s decision not to pursue the death penalty because of its demonstrable flaws by ordering her replacement with a prosecutor willing to engage in this lethal pursuit. Since then the governor has transferred 27 capital murder cases to his preferred prosecutor. Two of these cases have already resulted in juries voting for death sentences.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Fair Trial, Legal Representation, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Locked up and Forgotten: The Need to Abolish the Death Penalty in Ghana

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2017


NGO report


More details See the document

Death sentences in Ghana continue to be imposed. At the end of 2016, 148 people were on death row, all sentenced to death for murder. While the last executions were carried out in July 1993, there is no official moratorium on executions in Ghana. Research carried out by Amnesty International in Ghana has highlighted concerns with the use of the death penalty, access to fair trial rights and poor prison conditions. Amnesty International calls on the Ghanaian authorities to commute the death sentences of all people on death row and to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Unjust and Unwanted: Malaysia’s Mandatory Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Project, on 8 September 2020


2020

Multimedia content

Malaysia


More details See the document

Malaysia is one of only a handful of countries around the world that continues to retain a mandatory death penalty. The newly elected Malaysian government has promised to abolish mandatory death sentences and other “oppressive laws”. This short animation sheds light on what the mandatory death penalty is, what the Malaysian public think about it and why it is time to consign this abhorrent punishment to history.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Malaysia
  • Themes list Public opinion, Drug Offences, Mandatory Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2018

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 8 September 2020


NGO report


More details See the document

OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments regarding the death penalty, including to consider the potential abolition of capital punishment. In light of these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The background paper is based on the information provided by participating States, in the form of responses to ODIHR questionnaires.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2007 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2008)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La Moratoria Onu delle esecuzioni : Il 18 dicembre 2007, la 62ª Assemblea Generale delle Nazioni Unite ha approvato con 104 voti a favore, 54 contrari e 29 astensioni una Risoluzione che chiede agli Stati membri di “stabilire una moratoria delle esecuzioni, in vista dell’abolizione della pena di morte.”

Document(s)

Fatally flawed: Why Malaysia must abolish the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report

enzh-hantesfr
More details See the document

Malaysia retains the death penalty for 33 offences and held 1,293 people on death row as of September 2019. This report highlights how the burden of the death penalty has largely fallen on those convicted of drug trafficking, who disproportionately include women and foreign nationals. These findings gain an even greater significance in the context of laws and policies that are in contravention of international human rights law and standards and which have added multiple layers of arbitrariness into the use of this punishment.

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2008 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2009)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2008 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2009. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 151. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 42.

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2009 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2010)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

LA SITUAZIONE AD OGGI : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2009 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2010. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 154. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 6; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 44.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2019

By Harm Reduction International / Giada Girelli, on 1 January 2020


2020

NGO report


More details See the document

Harm Reduction International (HRI) has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our ninth on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Failings of the Supreme Court, Human Sacrifice, Sentencing and the Death Penalty

By Anup Surendranath / Economic and Political Weekly, on 1 January 2020


Article

India


More details See the document

In the judicial discourse on the relationship between human sacrifice and punishment in criminal law, there are glaring errors. Looking closely at the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ishwari Lal Yadav v State of Chhattisgarh, the deviation from the principle of individualised sentencing and the consequences of ignoring evidence on the complex anthropological and psychological dimensions of human sacrifice are reflected upon.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list India
  • Themes list Hanging,

Document(s)

Muzzling critical voices: Politicized trials before Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Saudi Arabia

aresarfr
More details See the document

Despite the Saudi Arabian authorities’ rhetoric about reforms, they have unleashed an intense crackdown on citizens promoting change in the last few years. One of the instruments of that repression has been the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which was set up in 2008 to try individuals accused of terror-related crimes. Amnesty International has documented the cases of 95 individuals who were tried before the SCC between 2011 and 2019. It has concluded that the SCC’s judges have presided over grossly unfair trials, handing down prison sentences of up to 30 years and numerous death sentences, in an effort to silence dissent.

Document(s)

THE STATE OF AFRICAN REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES AND MECHANISMS 2018-2019

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report

fr
More details See the document

The report presents a comprehensive review of the current state and performance of the African regional human rights system in the period between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2019. It appraises the functioning, working methods, outputs and impact of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR); the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC); and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR) during the reporting period.

Document(s)

Advocacy Toolkit: Abolition Of The Death Penalty In Africa

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2019


Lobbying


More details See the document

This advocacy toolkit is for the use of activists working on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. It is intended to equip them with some key advocacy tools to effectively influence the institutions and individuals who can make abolition a reality in the region.

  • Document type Lobbying

Document(s)

Practice guide for defense counsel representing individuals facing the death penalty in Uganda

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2019


Working with...


More details See the document

This Practice guide offers guidance to defense counsel in Uganda for the accused person facing a criminal trial of a capital offence involving a death penalty. The best practices are intended to ensure effective legal representation in order to mitigate the potential of imposition of the death penalty. The best practices detailed in the Practice guide intend to enhance the performance of criminal defense counsel in all stages of the criminal trial proceeding to mitigate the adverse effect of an erroneous conviction and sentencing of the accused person to death.The Practice guide was developed in recognition of the unique nature and effect of the death penalty compared to other criminal penalties, and therefore defense counsel in a capital case should take extraordinary efforts on behalf of the accused to review and ensure compliance with these best practices throughout the proceedings.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Children, Yet Convicted as Adults

By Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, on 1 January 2019


NGO report


More details See the document

In May 2019, at least 85 alleged juvenile offenders were sitting on death row in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Last year, seven child offenders were executed, and since the year 2000, Iran has put to death at least 140 individuals for offenses they allegedly committed as children. Today, on World Day Against the Death Penalty, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (ABC) releases an original report titled, Children, Yet Convicted as Adults, which challenges Iran’s justifications for the use of capital punishment against child offenders, examines the question of maturity through the lens of empirical scientific research, and calls on the Islamic Republic to take immediate action to ensure that no individual is put to death for crimes committed as a child

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Public support for the death penalty ticks up

By Pew Research Center / J. Baxter Oliphant, on 1 January 2018


2018

Article

United States


More details See the document

Public support for the death penalty, which reached a four-decade low in 2016, has increased somewhat since then. Today, 54% of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, while 39% are opposed, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April and May.

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

Document(s)

Counting the Condemned

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document

Counting the Condemned contains some shocking revelations. There has been almost a 35 percent reduction in Pakistan’s death row population, but we still account for 26 percent of the world’s death row. Every 8th person executed in the world is a Pakistani. And convictions are often so wrongful, an appellate bench of the Supreme Court has overturned a whopping 85 percent of death sentences since 2014.

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

Document(s)

Just Mercy

By Destin Daniel Cretton / Gil Netter / Asher Goldstein / Michael B. Jordan, on 1 January 2019


2019

Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document

A powerful and thought-provoking true story, “Just Mercy” follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Executions of juveniles since 1990 (as of April 2019)

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2019


NGO report

ares
More details See the document

The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18 is prohibited under international human rights law, yet some countries still execute child offenders. Since 1990 Amnesty International has documented 145 executions of child offenders in 10 countries: China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the USA and Yemen. This is the most up to date version of this document.

Document(s)

Death Sentences and Executions 2018

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2019


NGO report

arfarufres
More details See the document

Document(s)

2018 Death Penalty report: Saudi Arabia’s False Promise

By European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, on 1 January 2019


NGO report


More details See the document

The European Saudi organisation for Humans Rights published its 2018 report on the use of the death penalty in the Saudi Kingdom. It points an authoriatiran drift within the increase of the political use of the capital sentence against activists, women and clerics.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Arbitrariness, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Failed Justice: Innocent on Death Row

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2018


2018

Multimedia content

United States


More details See the document

This video tells the story of one prisoner, Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on death row in Alabama for a crime he did not commit.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Innocence, Death Row Conditions,

Document(s)

Philippines: March 2018 National Survey on Public Perceptions on the Death Penalty

By Social Weather Stations (SWS), on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document

This is the main finding of the March 2018 National Survey on Public Perception on the Death Penalty, conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) for the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP). This is the first survey in the Philippines to explore thought processes and disentangle layers of perceptions about the death penalty. It did face-to-face interviews of 2,000 respondents aged 15 and above nationwide during the period March 22 to 27, 2018.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Sentencing in Capital Cases

By Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018


Book


More details See the document

This book provides practical assistance to members of the judiciary, defence lawyers, prosecutors and others working on capital cases on the sentencing principles and procedures that have been adopted in common law jurisdictions following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition, Mandatory Death Penalty, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Iran Annual Report Oct ’17 – Oct ’18

By Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on 1 January 2018


NGO report


More details See the document

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Center of Statistics at Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) has published its annual report, in efforts to sensitize the public about the situation of the death penalty in Iran.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Human Rights Council, 39th session – Question of the death penalty

By United Nations, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report


More details See the document

Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. In his report the Secretary-General confirms that the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty is continuing. During the reporting period, initiatives limiting the use of the death penalty and implementing the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty were also recorded in several States. A minority of States continued to use the death penalty, in contravention of international human rights law. As requested by the Council in its resolution 22/11, the report also includes information on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

China’s Death Penalty: The Supreme People’s Court, the Suspended Death Sentence and the Politics of Penal Reform

By Susan Trevaskes / British Journal of Criminology, on 1 January 2013


2013

Article

China


More details See the document

This paper examines the issue of judicial discretion and the role of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in death penalty reform since 2007. The SPC has been encouraging judges to give ‘suspended’ death sentences rather than ‘immediate execution’ for some homicide cases. Lower court judges are encouraged to use their discretion to recognize mitigating circumstances that would allow them to sentence offenders to a suspended death sentence. The SPC has used ‘guidance’ instruments which include ‘directives’ and other SPC interpretations and a new ‘case guidance’ system which provides case exemplars to follow. The study explored these guidance instruments as a way of deepening the understanding of how law, politics and judicial practices are interwoven to achieve reform goals.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Member(s)

Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR)

on 30 April 2020

The Lebanese Association for Civil Rights – LACR was founded in 2003 as a continuation of an action experienced since 1983 by two pioneers of the culture of non-violence in Lebanon and the Arab world: Walid Slaybi and Ogarit Younan. They are both writers, researchers, sociologists, pioneers of active training in Lebanon and grassroots activists. […]

2020

Lebanon

Member(s)

Observatoire burundais des prisons

on 30 April 2020

Burundi

Member(s)

International Academic Network for the Abolition of Capital Punishment (REPECAP)

on 30 April 2020

REPECAP was founded in 2009 with the aim of supporting preparations for the creation of the International Commission against the Death Penalty that was created a year later. We represent a non-governmental organization whose purpose is of academic nature for the dissemination of scientific knowledge impartially through its many nodes present at prestigious Universities around […]

Spain

Member(s)

ACAT Deutschland

on 30 April 2020

The objective of Aktion der Christen für die Abschaffung der Folter (ACAT Deutschland) is to fight against torture and the death penalty. They issue: urgent Appeals, petitions and caimpaign for raising awarness on human rights issues (schools, forums…).

Germany

Member(s)

Themis Fund / The 8th Amendment Project

on 30 April 2020

Mandate and goals : Abolition of the death penalty in the United States. Kind of actions : Strategic coordination of advocates, litigators, funders and activists throughout the U.S. We work in partnership with all the major funders of the abolition movement in the U.S., and with almost all of the activists, lawyers, and political advocates […]

United States

Member(s)

Lutte pour la Justice

on 30 April 2020

Le comité Lutte pour la Justice (LPJ) was created in 1996 by Odell Barnes, a death row prisoner in Texas who wanted to have his innocence recognised and the right to a new trial. His three French correspondents took on his cause the very same year. This informal committee aimed to provide moral support and, […]

France

Member(s)

Ordine Provinciale dei Medici-Chirurgi e degli Odontoiatri di Firenze

on 30 April 2020

The Provincial Order of Doctors, Surgeons and Dentists in Florence is a member of the World Coalition.

Italy

Document(s)

China’s deadly secret

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

China

zh-hant
More details See the document

The Chinese government continues to conceal the extent to which capital punishment is being used in China, despite more than four decades of requests from UN bodies and the international community and despite the Chinese authorities’ own pledges to bring about increased openness in the country’s criminal justice system. This report focuses on the extent to which the authorities maintain near absolute secrecy over the death penalty system, while using partial and generally unverifiable disclosures to claim progress and reject demands for greater transparency.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
  • Available languages 中国的致命秘密

Document(s)

DPIC Year End Report: Death Sentences, Executions Drop to Historic Lows in 2016

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016


2016

Article

United States


More details See the document

A press release on the DPIC Year End Report 2016: Use of the death penalty fell to historic lows across the United States in 2016. States imposed the fewest death sentences in the modern era of capital punishment, since states began re-enacting death penalty statutes in 1973. New death sentences are predicted to be down 39% from 2015’s 40-year low. Executions declined more than 25% to their lowest level in 25 years, and public opinion polls also measured support for capital punishment at a four-decade low.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Dark Room

By Amnesty International - Italy / Istituto Europeo di Design, on 1 January 2010


2010

Working with...


More details See the document

The dark room was a photography exhibition planned as part of a project lunched by Amnesty International Italy under the title “I am against the death penalty because…”. The exhibition was held in Rome at Palazzo delle Exposizioni, Sala della Fontana, from 8th to 20th June 2010.

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

Document(s)

Write a Letter to the Editor

By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty / Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2007


2007

Working with...


More details See the document

Writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or submitting a story to a local blog, is a great way to fight the continued use of the death penalty. This site gives helpful tips on how to write such a letter.

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

Document(s)

Northwestern Death Penalty Project

By Northwestern University Centre on Wrongful Convictions, on 1 January 1998


1998

Working with...


More details See the document

The Center on Wrongful Convictions is dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. The Center has three components: representation, research, and community services. Center faculty, staff, cooperating outside attorneys, and Bluhm Legal Clinic students investigate possible wrongful convictions and represent imprisoned clients with claims of actual innocence. The research component focuses on identifying systemic problems in the criminal justice system and, together with the community services component, on developing initiatives designed to raise public awareness of the prevalence, causes, and social costs of wrongful convictions and promote reform of the criminal justice system. In addition, the community services component helps exonerated former prisoners cope with the difficult process of reintegration into free society.

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

Document(s)

Working with Victims: A Guide for Activist

By Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 1 January 2009


2009

Working with...


More details See the document

The common assumption is that all victims’ family members support the death penalty. We cannot expect to abolish the death penalty without presenting an alternative view. Victims’ voices have a powerful effect – lawmakers have voted against the death penalty as a result of hearing victims’ testify for abolition. Including victims’ stories when working for abolition is strategically wise and is essential to bringing new people into the abolition movement. Here are a few suggestions. We encourage activists to consult with MVFHR for further guidance.

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

Document(s)

Facts on Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations

By The Innocence Project, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

This fact sheet gives facts on post DNA exonerations and provides information on the main causes of wrongful conviction including eyewitness misidentification, false confessions and snitches.

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

Document(s)

False Confessions and Recording of Custodial Interrogations

By The Innocence Project, on 8 September 2020


Working with...

es
More details See the document

Many of the nation’s 249 wrongful convictions overturned by DNA evidence involved some form of a false confession. Yet it’s virtually impossible to fathom wh a person would wrongly confess to a crime he or she did not commit. The causes behind false confessions is explored in this text.

Document(s)

Host a Speaking Event

By Witness to Innocence, on 8 September 2020


Working with...


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Are you stressing about finding that perfect speaker for your next event? Worried that the speaker be inspirational, educational, and entertaining all at the same time? Look no further. We are awaiting your call to help you organize an unforgettable and unique experience for your audience.

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

Document(s)

Compensating the Wrongfully Convicted

By The Innocence Project, on 1 January 2012


2012

Working with...


More details See the document

Those proven to have been wrongfully convicted through postconviction DNA testing spend, on average, 12 years behind bars. The agony of prison life and the complete loss of freedom are only compounded by the feelings of what might have been, but for the wrongful conviction. Deprived for years of family and friends and the ability to establish oneself professionally, the nightmare does not end upon release. With no money, housing, transportation, health services or insurance, and a criminal record that is rarely cleared despite innocence, the punishment lingers long after innocence has been proven. States have a responsibility to restore the lives of the wrongfully convicted to the best of their abilities. This document describes how a state can try to recompensate an exonerated person.

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

Document(s)

Death isn’t Justice

By Poster for Tomorrow, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report


More details See the document

Poster for tomorrow is an independent, non-profit international project whose goal is to encourage people, both in and outside the design community, to make posters to stimulate debate on issues that affect us all.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Akmal Shaikh

By Reprieve, on 1 January 2009


2009

Legal Representation


More details See the document

It was during this time Akmal met a man who claimed to be in the music industry; he told Akmal he could help him realise his dream of becoming a pop, When Akmal landed in China on 12 September 2007 the police stopped him, searched his bag, where they alleged they found around 4 kg of heroin, and arrested him on drug charges sensation and sent him to Kyrgyzstan to meet with his “colleagues”. In Kyrgyzstan Akmal was asked to accompany one of the men to China. The man claimed to own a nightclub there and said he wanted Akmal to sing in his club. Excited at the prospect, Akmal agreed to travel to China with him; Before boarding the plane Akmal was asked to carry this mans suitcase, he did so without knowing that there were drugs in it.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

African Court on Human and Peoples Rights Quick Facts

By African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 1 January 2006


2006

Working with...

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The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Court’s Protocol). The Court’s mission is to complement and reinforce the functions of the Commission in promoting and protecting human and peoples’ rights, freedoms and duties in African Union Member States.

Document(s)

Where is the justice for me?’ The case of Troy Davis, facing execution in Georgia

By Amnesty International / Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains he did not commit. Given that all but three of the witnesses who testified against Troy Davis at his trial have since recanted or contradicted their testimony amidst allegations that some of it had been made under police duress, there are serious and as yet unanswered questions surrounding the reliability of his conviction and the state’s conduct in obtaining it. As the case currently stands, the government’s pursuit of the death penalty contravenes international safeguards which prohibit the execution of anyone whose guilt is not based on “clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts”. Amnesty International does not know if Troy Davis is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is facing execution. As an abolitionist organization, it opposes his death sentence either way. It nevertheless believes that this is one in a long line of cases in the USA that should give even ardent supporters of the death penalty pause for thought. For it provides further evidence of the danger, inherent in the death penalty, of irrevocable error. As the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court wrote in 1993, “It is an unalterable fact that our judicial system, like the human beings who administer it, is fallible. Or as a US federal judge said in 2006, “The assessment of the death penalty, however well designed the system for doing so, remains a human endeavour with a consequent risk of error that may not be remediable.”

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Iran must halt execution of web programmer

By Amnesty International - Canada, on 1 January 2012


2012

Legal Representation


More details See the document

Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death in December 2010 following what appears to have been an unfair trial, without access to his lawyer, and amid allegations that he was tortured and forced to confess to crimes which he did not commit. Iran must not execute this web programmer sentenced to death after one of his web programs was used to post pornographic images without his knowledge, Amnesty International said today, as the Iranian authorities continue their crackdown on bloggers and other users of the internet.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Witness to Innocence – from death row to freedom

By Witness to Innocence, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

Errors have been made repeatedly in death penalty cases because of: poor legal representation, racial prejudice, prosecutorial misconduct, the presentation of erroneous evidence, false confession, junk science, eyewitness error. Once convicted, a death row prisoner faces enormous obstacles in convincing any court that he or she is innocent.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

17 Indians Tortured, Sentenced to Death

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2010


2010

Legal Representation

es
More details See the document

Seventeen Indian migrant workers have been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after an unfair trial, for the murder of a Pakistani national.Some of the 17 are said to have been tortured to make them “confess.” They may be at risk of further torture.

Document(s)

Ross, Colin Campbell Eadie (1892 – 1922)

By Australian Dictionary of Biography , on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

Australia


More details See the document

The raped, strangled and naked body of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke was found in a right-of-way off nearby Gun Alley. The press, notably the Herald under (Sir) Keith Murdoch, fanned public outrage, pressured police for an arrest and matched the government’s initial reward, which was quickly raised from £250 to £1000. Ross, one of many people routinely interviewed, was arrested and remanded. The police, relying on the information of dubious characters, including the fortune-teller ‘Madame Ghurka’, claimed that Ross had confessed to violating and choking the girl. The Herald prejudiced his trial by publishing his photograph and printing the names and addresses of the jury. George Maxwell, appearing for Ross with T. C. Brennan, described the Crown witnesses as ‘disreputables’, mercenaries whose evidence was contradictory and untrustworthy.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Australia
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Zhao Zuohai: Beaten, Framed and Jailed for a Murder that Never Happened

By Clifford Coonan / The Independent, on 1 January 2010


2010

Legal Representation


More details See the document

The first act took place in 1999, when the dirt-poor farmer from Henan province had a violent argument with a fellow peasant, Zhao Zhenshang. His opponent, no relation despite a shared surname, disappeared into thin air. Later a headless, decomposed corpse was found in a well, and produced as evidence of Zhao Zuohai’s murderous deed. He was tortured, forced to confess and received the inevitable death sentence, before eventually winning a reprieve from the firing squad and having his sentence commuted to a 29-year jail term.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

So You Want to Start an Innocence Project

By Sheila Martin Berry / Truth in Justice, on 1 January 2011


2011

Campaigning


More details See the document

This document gives advice and help to those wishing to create an innocence project. The topics covered are varied and detail what is required in terms of office space, professional skills, etc.

  • Document type Campaigning
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Stop the Death Penalty: Worldwide Abolition Now

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


2007

Arguments against the death penalty

arfres
More details See the document

This video by Amnesty International talks about how the administration of the death penalty is cruel, often sought after unfair trials and how innocent people have been wrongfully convicted. Voice over by Colin Firth.

Document(s)

Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger on the campaign against the Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This podcast is interview with the Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger. She talksabout murder victims’ families, deterrence, a moratorium on executions and the trend towards abolition.

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

Document(s)

Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organizations

By United Nations / Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organizations, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...

eszh-hantfrru
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The NGO Relations Cluster is the link to over 1,500 Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) associated with the Department of Public Information and supports their efforts to interact effectively with the United Nations in their areas of expertise.

Document(s)

Overview – Association of Southeast Asian Nations

By Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on 8 September 2020


Academic report


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This document provides a quick overview of ASEAN, going through its aims and purposes, fundamental principles, its community and its charter.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

International Views on the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America and South America – more than 139 nations worldwide – have abandoned capital punishment in law or in practice. This document goes through the death penalty status of countries world wide.

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

Document(s)

Myth #4 – Only evil people are executed

By Reprieve / Clive Stafford Smith , on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: Only evil people are executed. People on death row are truly evil. FACT: There is a lot more to a human being than his worst action.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Right to life,

Document(s)

Anthony Graves: The TT Interview

By Brandi Grissom / The Texas Tribune, on 1 January 2011


2011

Legal Representation


More details See the document

The state of Texas incarcerated him for nearly two decades — and nearly executed him twice — for murders he didn’t commit. And now, the state is balking at giving him the $1.4 million he’s owed for all the years he spent wrongfully imprisoned.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

The Night I Forgave My Daughter’s Killer

By Marietta Jaeger-Lane / Yes! Magazine / Lynsi Burton, on 1 January 2011


Legal Representation


More details See the document

How a grieving mother put compassion before vengeance, and found closure along the way.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Myth #10 – The death penalty is not political

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The death penalty is not political. FACT: The death penalty is often driven by politics rather than a desire to repair social problems and bring justice.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Fair Trial,

Document(s)

Myth #9 – The Bible supports the death penalty

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The Bible preaches retribution. Jesus supports the death penalty. FACT: People have been arguing for decades over interpretations of the Bible. The Church has officially declared its opposition to the death penalty. The concept of “mercy” is preached in the majority of religions.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Religion ,

Document(s)

Myth #8 – Executions help victims’ families to heal

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: Executions help victims’ families to heal. FACT: Whilst we cannot speak for all victims’ families, it is clear that not all families are healed after the execution. Rather, the death penalty creates more victims and more brutality.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Retribution, Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Myth #7 – Executions are humane

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: Executions are humane. The process is painless and orderly. FACT: There is no decent way to kill a prisoner. Hanging, stoning, beheading and electrocuting all constitute cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment,

Document(s)

Myth #6 – The death penalty applies to everyone equally

By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The death penalty applies to everyone equally, regardless of race, wealth or background. FACT: People who are convicted of the same crime receive vastly different penalties, across the world and within the same country or even case.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Arbitrariness,

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)

Myth #3 – The death penalty saves money

By Reprieve / Clive Stafford Smith , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The death penalty saves money. It costs less to kill people than to imprison them for life. FACT:The death penalty costs millions more than a sentence of life without parole. Taxpayers’ money could be used more efficiently on crime prevention programs and police.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Instructions: Form for Filing Petitions alleging Human Rights Violations

By Organization of American States, on 8 September 2020


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The following form, prepared by the Commission’s Executive Secretariat, is intended to make it easier for victims of violations, their family members, organizations of civil society or other persons to file complaints alleging human rights violations by OAS member States.

Document(s)

Myth #2 – The death penalty reduces crime

By Reprieve / Clive Stafford Smith , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: The death penalty acts as a deterrent to potential criminals. FACT: The death penalty does not deter crime. It stimulates it.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

Myth #1 – Innocent people are not executed

By Reprieve / Clive Stafford Smith , on 8 September 2020


Academic report


More details See the document

MYTH: Only guilty prisoners are sent to their death. FACT: Professionals in the justice system know that innocent people have been executed.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Listing of verifiable executions worldwide reported this month.

By Capital Punishment U.K., on 8 September 2020


NGO report


More details See the document

Listing of verifiable executions worldwide reported per month.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Death penalty ‘traumatises jail warders’

By Daily Nation, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The men who lead death row inmates to the gallows are traumatised on surrendering a prisoner to the hangman. This was told at a meeting of judges, commissioners of prisons and legal practitioners from East Africa on the death penalty in Nairobi.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Retribution, Death Row Conditions, Sentencing Alternatives,

Document(s)

Death Penalty Trends in Asia Have Possible Implications for China

By Dui Hua Human Rights Journal , on 1 January 2011


Article


More details See the document

This article analyses the latest controversy over the use of the death penalty that erupted not in mainland China but across the strait in Taiwan. In January, the defense ministry there was forced to issue a public apology for a wrongful execution in 1997, followed in early March by the execution of five prisoners without notifying their families.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Executed Taiwan airman Chiang Kuo-ching innocent

By Cindy Sui / BBC, on 1 January 2011


Legal Representation


More details See the document

A Taiwanese air force private executed 14 years ago for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl was innocent after all, a military court has ruled.

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Executions per Death Sentence

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

Executions per Death Sentence, with cumulative death sentences (1977 through 2010), cumulative executions (1977 through 2010) and executions per death sentence, per State.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

What is the ODIHR

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2009


2009

Working with...

enenenrufr
More details See the document

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is one of the world’s principal regional human rights bodies.It promotes democratic elections, respect for human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and the rule of law. ODIHR is the human rights institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an intergovernmental body working for stability, prosperity and democracy in its 56 participating States.

Document(s)

What is the OSCE?

By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2013


2013

Working with...

enenrufres
More details See the document

Europe faces new threats and challenges. The OSCE, with its multi-faceted approach to security, offers the region a forum for political dialogue and negotiations and a platform for multilateral partnerships that pursue practical work on the ground.

Document(s)

Death Penalty Debate

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2009


2009

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

During a televised panel discussion on the death penalty on 9th October, Slovenian law professor Dragan Petrovec said victims should play no role in the sentencing of offenders. ”The victim is never objective,” he said. ”Victims can’t be judges.” The discussion, organised by the Council of Europe to mark the European day against the death penalty, also featured Sweden’s Human Rights Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander. Council of Europe’s Head of Department Jeroen Schokkenbroek said the organisation was critical of the United States and Japan over their use of the death penalty . He added that ”dialogue was continuing” with both countries towards ending the practice.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

Innocence and the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2011


2011

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139 men and women have been released from death row nationally.

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

Document(s)

Innocence Database

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2011


NGO report


More details See the document

This database can be searched using any combination of the search filters below. All columns are sortable by clicking the title at the top of the column. To find out more about a case in the list, click on the name of the individual.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence,

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)

Promises Unfulfilled: An Assessment of China’s National Human Rights Action Plan

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

In August 2010, the Chinese government announced a draft amendment to China’s criminal law which would eliminate the death penalty for a total of 13 “economy-related nonviolent offenses,” including the smuggling of precious metals and cultural relics out of the country. However, the government has provided no indication regarding if or when the draft amendment might be approved, and, in September 2010, Chen Sixi, member of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and vice chairman of the NPC’s Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs, announced that the government would not in fact pursue these reforms.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

World Report 2011

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2011


NGO report


More details See the document

This report is does not specificly concern the death penalty but examines the use of the death penalty on juveniles and those with mental illness in many retentionist countries. It contains information gathered in 2009.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Mental Illness,

Document(s)

World Report 2010

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

This report is does not specificly concern the death penalty but examines the use of the death penalty on juveniles and those with mental illness in many retentionist countries. It contains information gathered in 2009.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Mental Illness,

Document(s)

Beyond Reason: The Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental Retardation

By Human Rights Watch, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report


More details See the document

Twenty-five U.S. states still permit the execution of offenders with mental retardation and should pass laws to ban the practice without delay. The United States appears to be the only democracy whose laws expressly permit the execution of persons with this severe mental disability.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Iraq: The Death Penalty, Executions, and “Prison Cleansing”

By Human Rights Watch, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Iraq


More details See the document

This briefing paper examines Iraq’s arbitrary and widespread use of the death penalty and extrajudicial executions. For more than three decades, the government of President Saddam Hussein has sanctioned the use of the death penalty and extrajudicial executions as a tool of political repression, both in order to eliminate real or suspected political opponents and to maintain a reign of terror over the population at large. The executions that have taken place over this period constitute an integral part of more systematic repression – characterized by widespread arbitrary arrests, indefinite detention without trial, death in custody under torture, and large-scale “disappearances” – through which the government has sustained its rule.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Iraq
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S.

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 1999


1999

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines the sequence of recent events that has increasingly placed the death penalty in the international spotlight. Some of these events are direct challenges to the practice of capital punishment in the U.S. Others are changes in the balance of death penalty practices and attitudes around the world. The report looks at the ways in which the international community has sought to limit the application of the death penalty, and the U.S.’s response to these initiatives. It also explores the world-wide trend towards complete abolition of the death penalty and the U.S. reaction. Although much of the official U.S. response to international criticism has been denial, the report looks at some local and unofficial actions, which indicate a different direction. Finally, the report notes the present and potential costs the U.S. is facing for adhering to the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Innocence and the Crisis in the American Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report


More details See the document

This report catalogs the emergence of innocence as the most important issue in the long-simmering death penalty debate. The sheer number of cases and the pervasive awareness of this trend in the public’s consciousness have changed the way capital punishment is perceived around the country. The steady evolution of this issue since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 has been accelerated in recent years by the development of DNA technology, the new gold standard of forensic investigation. This science, along with a vigorous re-investigation of many cases, has led to the discovery of a growing number of tragic mistakes and freed inmates. The evidence in this report presents a compelling case for many Americans that the risks associated with capital punishment exceed acceptable bounds. One hundred and sixteen people have been freed from death row after being cleared of their charges, including 16 people in the past 20 months. These inmates cumulatively spent over 1,000 years awaiting their freedom. The pace of exonerations has sharply increased, raising doubts about the reliability of the whole system.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Innocence,