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Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2022
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 24 June 2022
2022
World Coalition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 241 Ko ]
Find the main facts and figures regarding the death penalty worldwide in 2021 and early 2022.
- Document type World Coalition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2022
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2011
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2011
2011
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 100 Ko ]
Facts and Figures 2011
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2011
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2010
By World Day against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010
2010
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 81 Ko ]
Facts and Figures 2010
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2010
Document(s)
21st World Day – Facts and Figures 2023
By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 12 June 2023
2023
Campaigning
World Coalition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 239 Ko ]
Find the main facts and figures regarding the death penalty worldwide in 2022 and early 2023.
- Document type Campaigning / World Coalition
- Available languages 21ème Journée Mondiale - Faits et chiffres 2023
Document(s)
A/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council
on 2 June 2021
2021
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages A/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 قرار اعتمده جملس حقوق اإلنسايفA/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 Resolución aprobada por el Consejo de DerechosA/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 Résolution adoptée par le Conseil des droits de l’hommeA/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 Резолюция, принятая Советом по правам человекаA/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1 人权理事会 月 日通过的决议
Document(s)
Blaming it on the past: Usages of the Middle Ages in contemporary discourses of the death penalty in England
By Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU), University of Oxford, on 5 February 2024
2024
Academic Article
United Kingdom
More details See the document
Published in December 2023.
In popular, intellectual and political culture, the Middle Ages are intrinsically tied to violent images of public executions. To historians of the medieval period, this temporal attachment of the death penalty to a remote period is puzzling, especially since it is still widely enforced in the world today and was only relatively recently abolished in Europe. Capital punishment is not only a part of history, but a modern-day reality. Why, therefore, do we pin this punishment to the Middle Ages? This paper aims to analyse the discourses surrounding the usage of the Middle Ages in modern discussions on the death penalty, and to clarify medieval practices of capital punishment, showing how remote they are from our contemporary understanding
- Document type Academic Article
- Countries list United Kingdom
Document(s)
Efforts towards abolition of the death penalty: Challenges and prospects
By Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU), University of Oxford, on 5 February 2024
Academic Article
Trend Towards Abolition
More details See the document
Published in December 2023.
This paper reflects on the role of international human rights treaties in promoting universal abolition and progressive restriction of the death penalty. It suggests that over the past quarter of a century a ‘new human rights dynamic’ has aimed to generate universal acceptance that however it is administered, the death penalty violates the human rights of all citizens exposed to it. Nevertheless, defences of capital punishment based on principles of national sovereignty are engrained in some parts of the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. The human rights project struggles to make inroads into such jurisdictions where political will is opposed to abolition, and trenchant protection of sovereignty threatens the very universality of these rights.
- Document type Academic Article
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
Document(s)
Zimbabwe – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021
By Eleos Justice, Monash University, on 15 July 2021
2021
NGO report
World Coalition
Zimbabwe
More details Download [ pdf - 271 Ko ]
This report addresses Zimbabwe’s compliance with its human rights obligations with respect to its use of the death penalty. The United Nations considers Zimbabwe a de facto abolitionist country. It has not carried out any executions since 2005. Courts, however, continue to sentence individuals to death, with 88 people currently on death row as of December 2020, after 8 sentences were commuted in April 2020. The new Zimbabwean Constitution (the “2013 Constitution”) has replaced the mandatory death penalty with a discretionary sentence for the crime of murder committed under aggravating circumstances. The 2013 Constitution further outlaws the imposition of the death penalty on women, men over the age of 70, and men under the age of 21 at the time the offence was committed. In its 2016 Universal Periodic Review, Zimbabwe noted all recommendations related to the death penalty, partly on the ground that Zimbabwean public opinion did not support abolition of death penalty. Since 2016, developments demonstrate a more positive attitude among the public and opinion leaders toward further reform and the abolition of death penalty.
This report focuses on various issues concerning the death penalty and related international human rights instruments, and on conditions of detention and acts of torture and ill treatment of people in detention. Specifically, this report recommends that Zimbabwe abolish the death penalty, improve detention conditions, ratify relevant human rights treaties, and increase resources dedicated to improving the justice system.
- Document type NGO report / World Coalition
- Countries list Zimbabwe
Article(s)
167 Ugandan death row inmates saved from gallows
on 19 September 2010
Recent figures show that a January ruling by the Ugandan supreme court making it illegal to keep people on death row for more than three years has saved 167 lives.
2010
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Uganda
Document(s)
Killing in the Name of God: State-sanctioned Violations of Religious Freedom
By Eleos Justice, Monash University, on 10 November 2021
2021
Academic report
Brunei Darussalam
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Maldives
Mauritania
Nigeria
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
More details See the document
As of 2020, blasphemy was formally criminalised in some 84 countries. As many as 21 countries criminalised apostasy as of 2019. The legal penalties for such offences range from fines to imprisonment to corporal punishment—and in at least 12 countries, the death penalty.
This report examines the extent to which States commit, or are complicit in, killings that violate religious freedom. Focussing on the 12 States in which offences against religion are lawfully punishable by death, we examine four different types of State-sanctioned killings on the basis of religious offence (apostasy, blasphemy, or alike) or affiliation (most commonly, membership of a religious minority): judicial executions, extrajudicial killings, killings by civilians, and killings by extremist groups. We explore the relationship between the retention of the death penalty for religious offences and other forms of State-sanctioned killings motivated by alleged religious offending or by religious identity.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Brunei Darussalam / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Maldives / Mauritania / Nigeria / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / Somalia / United Arab Emirates / Yemen
Document(s)
Educational guide 2009
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2009
2009
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
esfrruzh-hantMore details Download [ pdf - 536 Ko ]
With this Educational Guide, the World Coalition
Against the Death Penalty is launching a collaborative
initiative which aims to improve the contributions of all.
This guide will be regularly supplemented by new infor-
mation and themes. It will also be frequently updated
on the Coalition’s website (www.worldcoalition.org).
On behalf of the members of the World Coalition in
more than thirty countries across the world, we thank
you for your support.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Guía pedagógica Jornada mundial 2009Guide pédagogique 2009Руководство по обучению организации мероприятий по случаю Всемирного дня борьбы против смертной казни2009 年世界反死刑日
Document(s)
Abolitionnist portrait
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2004
2004
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details See the document
Abolitionnist portrait
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Portrait d'abolitionnistes
Document(s)
Investigating Attitudes to the Death Penalty in Indonesia Part One – Opinion Formers: An Appetite for Change
By Carolyn Hoyle - The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, on 28 June 2021
2021
NGO report
Drug Offenses
Indonesia
Public Opinion
More details See the document
In 2019-20, The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with LBH Masyarakat and the University of Indonesia, commissioned Professor Carolyn Hoyle, of The Death Penalty Research Unit at the University of Oxford to conduct research investigating attitudes towards the death penalty in Indonesia.
The findings have been presented in a two-part report; the first details the findings of a nuanced public survey and the second details the findings of interviews conducted with opinion formers.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Indonesia
- Themes list Drug Offenses / Public Opinion
Document(s)
Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados
on 15 December 2020
2020
Lobbying
Barbados
Trend Towards Abolition
More details Download [ pdf - 2611 Ko ]
Greater Caribbean for Life has launched its educational toolkit to assist activists and organisations as they work toward abolishing the death penalty in the Greater Caribbean. The production of this toolkit forms part of GCL’s activities under its EU partnered project to educate on death penalty abolition in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados.
The launch of the toolkit is timely as a few of these target countries recently voted against adopting the UN Moratorium on the use of the death penalty and countries that had previously chosen to abstain have now firmly voted against the resolution.
GCL members condemn the rise of violent crime in our region and express solidarity and compassion with the victims of crime, however, we reject the notion that capital punishment will act as a deterrent or foster respect for life in our communities.
It is our hope that this toolkit will assist in promoting respect for the right to life for all human beings in the Caribbean region.
- Document type Lobbying
- Countries list Barbados
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
Document(s)
Mobilization Kit 2010
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010
2010
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
More details Download [ pdf - 138 Ko ]
Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give the global abolition claim
an international boost.
This Day is aimed at both political leaders and public
opinion in countries where the death penalty has or
has not yet been abolished: people have to remember
the meaning of abolition and pass it down through the
generations.
They must be aware that justice without the death
penalty is possible
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
Document(s)
Mobilization Kit 2008
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2008
2008
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 137 Ko ]
Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give to the global abolition
claim an international boost.
This Day is intended for both political leaders and
public opinion of countries where the death penalty
has or not been abolished yet: people have to
remember the meaning of abolition and pass it down
through generations.
They must be aware that a justice without death
penalty is possible.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Kit de mobilisation 2008
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2007
By World Coaliton against the death penalty , on 10 October 2009
2009
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 24 Ko ]
Facts and Figures 2007
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2007
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2013
on 10 October 2013
2013
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
aresMore details Download [ pdf - 115 Ko ]
Facts and Figures world day against the death penalty 2013
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2013PENA DE MUERTE HECHOS Y DATOS
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2008
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2008
2008
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details See the document
Facts and Figures 2008
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2008
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2020
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 9 October 2020
2020
Regional body report
Belarus
United States
ruMore details See the document
This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2019. It is intended to provide a concise update to highlight changes in the status of the death penalty in OSCE participating States since the previous publication and to promote constructive discussion of the issue. It covers the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. Special Focus: Is the death penalty inherently arbitrary?
- Document type Regional body report
- Countries list Belarus / United States
- Available languages Смертная казнь в регионе ОБСЕ: Справочный документ 2020 года
Document(s)
Resolution 77/274 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 August 2022
2022
United Nations report
More details See the document
The present report provides information on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 75/183. It discusses developments towards the abolition of the death penalty and the establishment of moratoriums on executions and highlights trends in the use of the death penalty, including the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The report discusses conditions of detention for persons on death row, the application of the death penalty to foreign nationals, its disproportionate and discriminatory application to women, its disproportionate impact on poor and economically vulnerable individuals, its discriminatory use relating to persons exercising their human rights, and various initiatives for advancing its abolition. The report welcomes progress made towards universal abolition in States representing different legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds. It concludes that all measures aimed towards limiting the application of the death penalty constitute progress in the protection of the right to life.
- Document type United Nations report
Article(s)
Burkina Faso has joined the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty in Africa
By International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), on 6 June 2018
On 31 May, the Burkinabe Parliament abolished the death penalty by adopting a new criminal code that excludes it from the arsenal of sentences regardless of crimes considered and circumstances in which they were committed. Thus, Burkina Faso become the 144th States in the World and the 40th African State abolitionist in law and in practice. Our organizations welcome this major step which strengthens the Burkinabe legal framework for the protection of human rights and is part of regional and international movement in favour of the abolition of this inhuman, ineffective and irreversible punishment.
2018
Burkina Faso
Article(s)
Malawi – five years after abolishing the mandatory death penalty
By Emile Carreau, on 19 September 2012
In 2007 abolitionists celebrated when the High Court of Malawi abolished the mandatory death penalty. In what become known as the Kafanteyeni ruling the mandatory death penalty was deemed by the bench as unconstitutional as it amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life, denies an accused the right to a fair trial and the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment.
2012
Malawi
Article(s)
If I do not accept that a terrorist kills me, I do not accept either to kill a terrorist
By Tiziana Trotta, on 18 October 2016
Khachig Ghosn is a 22-year-old student of social work at the Lebanese University. Three years ago, he witnessed an explosion in Beirut. Despite this dramatic experience, he is against the use of the death penalty and he is convinced that capital executions have no deterrent effect on terrorism.Ghosn is aware that changes in his country take a very long time, but he has a positive long-term vision and hopes that the death penalty will be abolished.
2016
Lebanon
Murder Victims' Families
Terrorism
Article(s)
Guatemala abolishes the death penalty for ordinary crimes
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 31 October 2017
On October 24, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala has abolished the death penalty in civil cases.
2017
Guatemala
Article(s)
“Iran kills for possession of less than 50g of drugs”
By Thomas Hubert, on 9 April 2013
Annual reports published by two World Coalition member organizations of Iranian exiles expose the disproportionate use of the death penalty in Iran, mostly against drug users and traffickers.
2013
Drug Offenses
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Article(s)
Mongolian president calls for abolition
on 18 January 2010
In a vibrant speech before the parliament on January 14, President Elbegdorj Tsakhia of Mongolia developed all the arguments put forward by the abolitionist community.
2010
Clemency
Mongolia
Moratorium
Article(s)
Groundbreaking Survey Reveals Iranians’ Attitudes Towards the Death Penalty
By GAMAAN Institute / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 23 October 2020
This survey, conducted by the GAMAAN Institute between the 3rd and the 11th of September 2020, includes responses from about twenty thousand people living inside Iran.
2020
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Public Opinion
Article(s)
Statutes of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
on 26 June 2011
Amended by the General Assembly on June 26, 2011
2011
Article(s)
FIDH report on Vietnam: an update on death penalty statistics
on 19 September 2010
The FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights released a new report, From Visions to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam under its Chairmanship of ASEAN, on 16 August 2010.
2010
Drug Offenses
Moratorium
Viet Nam
Viet Nam
Article(s)
Taiwan activists battle in death penalty-triggered political crisis
on 19 March 2010
After Taiwan’s justice minister was forced to step down for not signing execution warrants, local and international abolitionists rushed in to restore a balanced debate and protect the country’s 44 death row inmates.
2010
Moratorium
Public Opinion
Taiwan
Taiwan
Article(s)
World Congress ends with words of hope
on 28 February 2010
Powerful words by the speakers of the solemn ceremony that concluded the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty gave hope to the participants as they prepared to head home.
2010
Switzerland
Article(s)
Global outrage at Iranian juvenile execution
on 6 May 2009
Human rights organisations and governments worldwide have slammed the Iranian authorities for the illegal execution of Delara Darabi, a young woman convicted of a murder committed when she was 17.
2009
Innocence
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Article(s)
Support grows for Davis as his execution is stayed
on 26 October 2008
Troy Davis’s execution was stayed on October 23, four days before he was scheduled to die, as activists took action on his behalf all over the world.
2008
United States
Article(s)
State-sponsored report finds California’s death penalty is “dysfunctional”
on 9 July 2008
A recent report from a far-reaching commission established by the Californian senate on the administration of capital punishment in the state concluded that “the system is broken”.
2008
Innocence
United States
Article(s)
What now for Mumia?
on 28 April 2008
On 27 March, a US federal appeals court overturned Mumia Abu-Jamal’s death sentence, but not his conviction for murder. His lead counsel Robert R. Bryan gives his reaction to the ruling and the next steps in America’s most high-profile capital case.
2008
Fair Trial
United States
Article(s)
1,700-mile “Walk4Life” across the US
on 13 March 2008
American hip-hop artist Andre Latallade, also known as Capital-“X”, will walk 1,700 miles from New Jersey to Texas from March 31 to campaign against the death penalty.
2008
Drug Offenses
United States
Article(s)
Abolition in the US: what role for overseas activists?
on 3 February 2008
As part of its 2008 annual conference, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) organised a brainstorming session to explore the question: “How can the international community support us in our efforts to abolish the death penalty in the US?”
2008
Clemency
Public Opinion
United States
Article(s)
Youths must stand up against the death penalty!
on 17 September 2007
The Federation of Liberal Students (FEL), a Belgian political organisation, has just joined the World Coalition. FEL president Arnaud Van Praet explains his organisation’s mobilisation against capital punishment.
2007
Belgium
Article(s)
World Day campaign launched!
on 13 August 2007
The countdown to the fifth World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10 has begun. It will focus on the proposed resolution against capital punishment to be discussed in the UN this autumn.
2007
Moratorium
Article(s)
Notes on the Supreme Court Trial in the Chen Fu-hsiang Case: Life or Death Debates in the Style of ChatGPT
By Lin Tzu-Wei (Legal Director of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty), on 14 July 2023
Article first published in april on TAEDP’s website Return of life or death debates Following the previous oral arguments on death penalty cases at the Supreme Court in 2021, another life or death debate took place in April this year. This time, I had the opportunity to attend the oral arguments of the “Chen Fu-hsiang […]
2023
Taiwan
Article(s)
Importance of understanding phases of abolition: the danger of ‘abolitionist in practice’
By Venus Aves, Bronwyn Dudley, and Shahindha Ismail, on 6 November 2023
In July 2023, the World Coalition hosted a seminar in Malaysia in the context of its “Countries at Risk” project. This subject of informal moratoriums solicited much interest as participants considered preventative strategies for stopping a return to the death penalty, and what environmental factors need to be considered to implement those strategies. This article […]
2023
Moratorium
Article(s)
How the Death Penalty is Politicized: A Reflection on the 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty
By Dunia Schaffa, on 27 January 2023
During the 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, in Berlin Germany, the phrase “the death penalty is being used as a political tool” was used frequently – in panels, in round tables, in speeches, even amongst the participants getting a coffee in between Congress events.
2023
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
United States
Article(s)
Death Penalty in Iran: Sharp Increase in Executions
By Anissa Aguedal, on 10 June 2022
An alarming situation On 28 April 2022, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) released their 14th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, revealing an increase in the number of executions in 2021. At least 333 people were executed and 83,5% of these executions were not announced by […]
2022
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Article(s)
Highest execution numbers in Iran in 10 years
By Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, on 13 March 2012
Iran Human Rights has published its annual report on the death penalty in Iran in 2011. IHR’s international spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam says the Iranian authorities are keeping the number of executions high because they use the death penalty as a political tool.
2012
Drug Offenses
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Women
Article(s)
The Supreme Court of Kenya declares the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional
By Thalia Gerzso, on 23 January 2018
On December 14, 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional. This landmark decision puts an end to several years of uncertainties and constitutes an additional step towards the abolition of the death penalty in the country.
2018
Kenya
Article(s)
U.S. sees second fewest death sentences and executions in 25 Years
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 22 March 2018
Public support for the death penalty drops to 45-Year low as four More death-row prisoners Exonerated in 2017. “The Death Penalty in 2017: Year End Report” is now available.
2018
United States
Article(s)
Regarding the execution in Japan of seven people
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 10 July 2018
STATEMENT – WORLD COALITION AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty would like to express its sympathy and support to all courageous anti-death penalty activists who have fought bravely to try to prevent the executions of seven people in Japan on the same day, on 6 July. The World Coalition calls […]
2018
Japan
Member(s)
Act for Human Rights (ALEF)
on 30 April 2020
Act for Human Rights previously know as “Association libanaise pour l’éducation et la formation” core mandate is Monitoring and Advocacy. Its main concern are Human Rights issues, thus the organization has been advocating against death penalty. Currently our project activities are the following: Death Penalty Abolition Activities in Lebanon- ALEF – act for human rights […]
2020
Lebanon
Article(s)
NGOs join forces to tackle capital punishment at Iran’s rights review
By Thomas Hubert, on 30 October 2014
Several World Coalition members are among organisations co-ordinating their efforts to help the international community put pressure on Iran over its use of the death penalty.
2014
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Article(s)
Over 8,000 people on death row in South Asia
By Aurelie Placais, staff, on 3 May 2022
With few executions but one of the biggest death rows in the world, South Asia is at a crossroad. Recent publications explore mental health on death row and social and economic background of people sentenced to death in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
2022
Bangladesh
Death Row Conditions
India
Maldives
Mental Illness
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2023: Year End Report
By The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), on 25 January 2024
2024
NGO report
Public Opinion
United States
More details See the document
Published on December 01, 2023.
Innocence cases dominated much of the media’s attention on death penalty cases in 2023. While these prisoners were largely unsuccessful in the courts, there was unprecedented support for their claims from state legislators, prosecutors, judges, and other elected officials, some of whom declared themselves newly disillusioned with use of the death penalty in their state. This year is the 9th consecutive year with fewer than 30 people executed (24) and fewer than 50 people sentenced to death (21, as of December 1). The 23 men and one woman who were executed in 2023 were the oldest average age (tied with 2021) and spent the longest average number of years in prison in the modern death penalty era before being executed. As in previous years, most prisoners had significant physical and mental health issues at the time of their executions, some of which can be attributed to the many years they spent in severe isolation on death row. Continued difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs led some states to explore new, untested methods of execution or revive previously abandoned methods. Other states enacted or continued pauses on executions while the state’s method of execution was studied.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public Opinion
Article(s)
Reinforcing the Link Between Torture and the Death Penalty: 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty
By Venus Aves, on 17 November 2023
“There is no way in today’s world to apply the death penalty in a legal way, in a way that does not violate international law.” This was the bold and unequivocal assertion of former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez in an online discussion with UN experts and exonerees organized by the World Coalition […]
2023
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Jobs
ASIA PACIFIC
on 19 September 2024
Available grants are indicated below, with the specific target countries and the specific maximum amounts for each Worldwide Grant Grant Asia 1 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 2 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 3 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 4 Bangladesh Grant Asia 5 Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa Grant Asia 6 […]
2024
Jobs
Open Call for proposals – Financial Support to Third Parties – Global Consortium for Death Penalty Abolition
on 19 September 2024
Earlier this year, 13 abolitionist organizations1, including regional networks, grassroots organizations and international NGOs have come together to form the Global Consortium for Death Penalty Abolition. This civil society-led initiative² aims to amplify the voice and influence of the abolitionist movement on a global scale.
Article(s)
UN High Level Panel on the Death Penalty and Deterrence
By Grace O'Connor, on 25 February 2021
The UN Biennial High Level Panel on the Death penalty focused on the deterrent effect capital punishment has on crime. Representatives from member states, NGOs and NHRIs made statements to the high level panel discussing the deterrent theory.
2021
Public Opinion
Member(s)
Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
on 30 April 2020
The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) was founded in Hong Kong on the World Day against the Death Penalty in 2006. In 2014, at its first General Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) members approved ADPAN’s Constitution, and ADPAN’s first Executive Committee was elected. ADPAN, an independent Asia-Pacific network committed to working […]
2020
Malaysia
Article(s)
Women Sentenced to Death Showcased on the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty
By Elise Garel, on 3 December 2021
With the theme “Women sentenced death: an invisible reality”, the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty aimed to highlight the issues faced by women who are sentenced to death, executed, pardoned or exonerated around the world.
2021
Cameroon
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Morocco
Nigeria
Pakistan
Sierra Leone
United States
Women
Article(s)
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for a 6th resolution calling for a universal moratorium on executions
By Elise Guillot et Aurélie Plaçais, on 20 December 2016
On 19 December 2016, with 117 States voting in favour of the resolution, the UN member states reasserted their support for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
2016
Clemency
Moratorium
Article(s)
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences, A Global Overview 2017
By Harm Reduction International, on 26 March 2018
This report identifies 33 countries and territories that retain the death penalty for drug offences, including nine in which the sentence is mandatory. Hundreds of people continue to be executed for non-violent drug offences every year by a small minority of States committed to aggressively pursuing extremely harsh penalties for drug crimes, in clear violation of international law.
2018
Drug Offenses
Article(s)
Eager to learn more about the death penalty? Abolitionist civil society around the world answered your call!
By Elise Guillot, on 8 November 2016
10 October saw the release of several publications and tools to raise awareness on the death penalty in all regions of the world. Take a look!
2016
Terrorism
Article(s)
Program Manager
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 October 2018
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty recruits a program manager for a full time permanent position starting in January 2019.
2018
Article(s)
The Death Penalty in Human Rights Watch “World Report 2020”
By Majdoulin Sendadi, on 6 February 2020
HRW, a member organization of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, focused its report on human rights practices in almost 100 countries, including on abuses in civil and political rights.
2020
Article(s)
Child rights highlighted on the 17th World Day Against the Death Penalty
By Dinda Royhan, Majdoulin Sendadi, on 25 November 2019
On 10 October 2019, we celebrated the 17th World Day against the Death Penalty with various activities aimed to raise awareness on the death penalty and children as its unseen victims. Abolitionist forces in the two continents that gather most retentionist countries, Africa and Asia, were particularly active in raising awareness on the necessity to abolish the death penalty and its impacts on children this year.Through conferences, meetings, exhibitions, art installations, prison visits, radio broadcasts, flash mobs, dances and many other kinds of events, abolitionist forces in every continent took action to raise awareness about the use of death penalty in their national jurisdiction. The death penalty not only violates the fundamental right to life, but it also impacts the rights of children when the State sentences or executes a parent and has been found to have a long-term impact on the child’s best interest.
2019
Juveniles
Article(s)
Sweden and Amnesty International raise death penalty issue in New York
on 7 October 2009
Upcoming United Nations resolutions for a moratorium on executions and progress towards abolition across Africa were among the subjects discussed on the fringe of the UN General Assembly in New York.
2009
Moratorium
Sweden
United States
Article(s)
Moving away from the death penalty in Asia
By Sandra Babcock (DeathPenaltyWorldwide.org) in Bangkok, on 25 October 2013
Following up on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, successive meetings in Thailand and in China highlight decreasing support for capital punishment among Asian governments and public opinion.
2013
Brunei Darussalam
China
Japan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Moratorium
Myanmar
Public Opinion
Thailand
Document(s)
Death Penalty Politics: The Fragility of Abolition in Asia and the Pacific
By Mark Finnane, Mai Sato and Susan Trevaskes, on 1 September 2022
2022
Academic report
More details See the document
Despite a steady increase worldwide in the number of states that have abolished the death penalty, capital punishment remains a troubling presence in the international order. The world’s leading powers in terms of economics and population include the retentionist states of China, India, Japan and the United States of America (USA). It seems there is no linear path to abolition, and its achievement is indeterminate. Yet, in international human rights law, death penalty abolition is a powerful norm embraced by half the countries across the world. While the majority of death penalty research has emanated from and focuses on the USA, well over 90 per cent of global executions occur in Asia, which lags behind the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty. Our symposium and this collection seek to bring perspectives from a variety of disciplines and methods—historical, legal, sociological, comparative— to bear on the questions of retention and abolition in a variety of jurisdictions and time periods.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119
- Document type Academic report
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2022: Year End Report
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 16 December 2022
2022
NGO report
United States
More details See the document
In a year awash with incendiary political advertising that drove the public’s perception of rising crime to record highs, public support for capital punishment and jury verdicts for death remained near fifty-year lows. Defying conventional political wisdom, nearly every measure of change — from new death sentences imposed and executions conducted to public opinion polls and election results — pointed to the continuing durability of the more than 20-year sustained decline of the death penalty in the United States.
The Gallup crime survey, administered in the midst of the midterm elections while the capital trial for the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida was underway, found that support for capital punishment remained within one percentage point of the half-century lows recorded in 2020 and 2021. The 20 new death sentences imposed in 2022 are fewer than in any year before the pandemic, and just 2 higher than the record lows of the prior two years. With the exception of the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the 18 executions in 2022 are the fewest since 1991.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
22nd World Day Against the Death Penalty – FACTS AND FIGURES
By World coalition against the death penalty, on 8 July 2024
2024
Campaigning
World Coalition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 206 Ko ]
- Document type Campaigning / World Coalition
- Available languages 22e Journée mondiale contre la peine de mort - Faits et chiffres
Article(s)
EU-NGO forum: death penalty is a priority
on 6 August 2010
At a meeting in Brussels in July, European institutions and NGOs restated their commitment to a long-term partnership to oppose the death penalty worldwide.
2010
Innocence
Japan
Murder Victims' Families
Article(s)
Japan executions “a step backward for Asia”
on 30 July 2010
Activists in Japan and elsewhere have criticised Justice Minister Keiko Chiba for ordering two men to be hanged in Tokyo on July 28 despite her earlier abolitionist statements.
2010
Japan
Moratorium
Public Opinion
Taiwan
Article(s)
Recontextualizing the threat of death penalty for homosexuality in Uganda
By Méline Szwarcberg, on 2 May 2023
On Tuesday March 21, the Ugandan parliament passed a law that severely criminalizes people who have consensual same-sex relations. At the end of April, the law had still not been validated by the President Museveni. Among a range of harsh penalties, the law would allow the death penalty for the crime of « aggravated homosexuality […]
2023
Gender
Uganda
Article(s)
Strong support for US abolitionists on World Day
on 11 October 2010
On 10.10.10, the 8th World Day against the Death Penalty focused on ending the use of the death penalty in the United States of America. Since 2003, abolitionists have taken actions all over the world every 10 October to raise awareness and opposition to the death penalty.
2010
Juveniles
Mental Illness
Public Opinion
United States
Article(s)
How Likely Is the Return of the Death Penalty in Israel?
By World Coalition against the Death Penalty, on 22 May 2023
Early 2023, the newly elected government of Israel announced an ensemble of judicial reforms; including a new bill that would introduce the death penalty for acts of terrorism. As of May 2023, the judicial reforms have been put on hold by the PM Netanyahu. This article takes a historical perspective to recontextualize the issue of […]
2023
Israel
Article(s)
Kyrgyzstan becomes 73rd country to pass irreversible abolition
on 17 December 2010
Following one year of lobbying led by the World Coalition, the Central Asian country has become a party to the UN protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.
2010
Kyrgyzstan
Moratorium
Article(s)
Amnesty 2010 stats: retentionist countries increasingly isolated
on 28 March 2011
Countries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated following a decade of progress towards abolition, Amnesty International has said in its new report Death Sentences and Executions in 2010.
2011
China
Drug Offenses
Egypt
Fair Trial
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Libya
Malaysia
Moratorium
Pakistan
Sudan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United States
Yemen
Article(s)
Puerto Rico hosts a week of World Coalition events
on 16 February 2011
International abolitionists gathered on the Caribbean territory to promote their message and to show solidarity with the local authorities against capital punishment.
2011
Murder Victims' Families
Public Opinion
Puerto Rico
United States
Article(s)
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture: Understanding the link between the Death Penalty and Torture
By Wendy Adouki, on 26 June 2023
Today, 26th June 2023, the world is commemorating the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (International Day). Started in 1987, this International Day began when the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN Convention Against Torture) came into force; a crucial legal text to combat […]
2023
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Death Row Conditions
Article(s)
United Nations panel hears from innocent sentenced to death
By Maria Donatelli, on 4 July 2013
World Coalition members and a man who spent 18 years on death row for murders he did not commit joined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for a debate on capital punishment.
2013
Innocence
United States
Article(s)
More than 1,000 sentenced to death in Iraq in 8 years
By Dr Nasr Abbood, on 1 March 2012
The Iraqi institutions established after the US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein have reinstated the death penalty and extended its scope since 2004. In this op-ed article, Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty president Nassr Abood calls for alternative sentences and for a strong stance from the international community.
2012
Drug Offenses
Iraq
Iraq
Terrorism
Article(s)
How to work with international bodies?
By Maria Donatelli, on 10 June 2013
The World Coalition is taking part in a workshop on mutual work relationships between international organisations and civil society at the 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. Here are tips for activists who would like to work with UN and regional bodies.
2013
Article(s)
10 years, 132 members, 45 countries
By Florence Bellivier, on 30 June 2012
Penal Reform International welcomed the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to celebrate its tenth anniversary in Jordan with support from Justice Minister Khalifa Al Sulaiman.
2012
Drug Offenses
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Jordan
Moratorium
Singapore
Taiwan
Article(s)
Study explores variety of national paths to abolition
By Thomas Hubert, on 3 May 2013
From courageous political leaders to traditional African values, the International Commission against the Death Penalty’s analysis of the factors leading to the abolition of capital punishment in 13 countries offers advice to retentionist countries.
2013
Cambodia
Haiti
Mongolia
Norway
Public Opinion
Rwanda
Senegal
South Africa
United States
Article(s)
Japan in breach of international standards, opinion wavering – study
By Thomas Hubert, on 14 March 2013
A report published by the Death Penalty Project and the Center for Prisoners’ Rights shows that Japanese law and practice on capital punishment violate international treaties, and questions the high level of public support for the death penalty reported by the authorities.
2013
Japan
Public Opinion
Article(s)
Briton’s death sentence puts Indonesians at risk
By KontraS, on 31 January 2013
The World Coalition’s Indonesian member organization KontraS has raised the international consequences of Lindsay Sandiford’s high-profile capital case in an opinion article published by the Jakarta Globe newspaper, calling on the country to abolish the death penalty.
2013
Drug Offenses
Indonesia
Moratorium
Article(s)
American death penalty area shrank further in 2012
By Thomas Hubert, on 20 December 2012
Only nine US states carried out executions this year, the lowest number in 20 years, according to a new report released by the independent organisation Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).
2012
United States
Document(s)
Estimating the effect of death penalty moratoriums on homicide rates using the synthetic control method
By Stephen N. Oliphant, on 18 September 2022
2022
Academic report
Moratorium
United States
More details See the document
Research examining death penalty deterrence has been characterized as inconclusive and uninformative. The present analysis heeds a recommendation from prior research to examine single-state changes in death penalty policy using the synthetic control method. Data from the years 1979–2019 were used to construct synthetic controls and estimate the effects of death penalty moratoriums on homicide rates in Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Moratoriums on capital punishment resulted in nonsignificant homicide reductions in all four states.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Moratorium
Article(s)
Progress and impediments on path to abolition in U.S.
By Russ Feingold & Christopher Wright Durocher, on 3 April 2024
When President Biden won the 2020 election, he became the first successful U.S. presidential candidate to publicly oppose the death penalty.
2024
United States
Article(s)
From restrictions to abolition
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 August 2012
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has published a new report and called for abolition of the death penalty.
2012
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Article(s)
Singaporean and Malaysian activists welcome changes in their country
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 16 July 2012
In Singapore and Malaysia, governments are considering removing mandatory death penalty in some drug and murder cases. A move welcomed by activists on the ground, though they consider it “only a small step in the right direction”.
2012
Drug Offenses
Malaysia
Singapore
Article(s)
Migrant workers facing capital punishment show need for alternative sentences
By Think Centre, on 26 April 2012
Four Singapore-based organisations denounce the high risk of miscarriage of justice in recent death sentences handed down on poor immigrants and calls for the abolition of the death penalty in the city-state.
2012
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Moratorium
Singapore
Article(s)
India asked to maintain the moratorium on executions
By Emile Carreau, on 28 July 2011
After a six year moratorium on executions, India’s President Patil has rejected the mercy petition of two Indian nationals despite international outcry to maintain the moratorium.
2011
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Drug Offenses
India
Moratorium
Document(s)
More Indicators of the Falling Support for the Death Penalty
By Talia Roitberg Harmon and Michael L. Radelet, California Western International Law Journal , on 1 February 2024
2024
Academic Article
United States
More details See the document
Published on October 12, 2023.
In the seminal Furman v. Georgia case from 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court (in effect) invalidated all death penalty statutes then inforce in American jurisdictions. After many states went back to their legislative drawing boards, some of the revised statutes were approved by the Court in 1976. At that time, Gallup found that 66 percent of the American public supported the death penalty, while 26 percent stood opposed. While support grew to 80 percent in 1994, a recent Gallup Poll from October 2022 shows that this figure has dropped to 55 percent. Recently, only 36 percent of Americans still support the death penalty given the alternative punishment of life imprisonment.
- Document type Academic Article
- Countries list United States
Article(s)
Advocating for the Adoption of the Draft Protocol by the African Union: A Step in the Right Direction for Abolition in Africa
By Florence Venunye Ayivor-Vieira and Hervé Nsambimana, on 15 December 2023
Advocacy in Addis-Ababa On the 10 October 2023, the FIACAT (International Federation of ACATs), and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, represented by Ms. Florence Ayivor-Vieira of ACAT-Ghana and Mr. Hervé Nsabimana of CODHAS (Centre d’observation des Droits de l’Homme et d’Assistance Sociale), Co-Chairpersons of the World Coalition’s working group on the draft protocol […]
2023
Trend Towards Abolition
Article(s)
Ratification of abolition treaties gathers pace in 2012
By Aurelie Placais, on 20 March 2012
The ratification campaign for the international protocols on the death penalty is on a roll with three new ratifications since January.
2012
Angola
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Cambodia
Honduras
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Mongolia
Poland
Article(s)
Asia: Stop executions and unfair trials
By ADPAN, on 6 December 2011
A hard-line group of Asian countries are defying the global trend against the death penalty and putting to death thousands of people after unfair trials every year, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said today in a new report.
2011
Article(s)
Sharing best practices on ratifying the UN treaty to abolish the death penalty
By Aurélie Plaçais, on 25 September 2011
Belgium and the United Nations’ human rights office have held a panel discussion to promote efforts in favour of the strongest international instrument against capital punishment.
2011
Belgium
Mongolia
Moratorium
Russian Federation
Article(s)
Opening up the debate in countries with the death penalty
By Penal Reform International, on 19 September 2011
On 19 and 20 September, World Coalition member organisation Penal Reform International (PRI) is bringing 120 people from retentionist countries to London to discuss global trends towards abolition of the death penalty.
2011
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Public Opinion
Syrian Arab Republic
United Kingdom
Article(s)
South Korea’s 5,000th day without an execution an opportunity for abolition
By Martin Carbonell with ADPAN and MVFHR, on 8 September 2011
8th September 2011 marks the 5,000th day without executions in South Korea. Houng-oh Kim, a member of the National Assembly and former Speaker, is aiming to introduce a new bill abolishing the death penalty to mark this occasion.
2011
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Moratorium
Republic of Korea
Article(s)
Inside Tunisia’s death row
By Delphine Judith, on 4 June 2013
Following the launch of the investigative report Buried alive: a study of the death penalty in Tunisia is launched, ECPM’s Middle East and North Africa officer Nicolas Bray presents the research carried out in December 2012.
2013
Death Row Conditions
Tunisia