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701 Document(s) 90 Member(s) 845 Article(s) 14 Page(s)

This statement is co-signed by: Amnesty International Capital Punishment Justice Project FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights MADPET – Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture Parliamentarians for Global Action Taiwan Alliance Against the Death Penalty World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

Singapore: Authorities must end executions and stop targeting anti-death penalty activists to curb criticism 

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 August 2024

We, the undersigned seven organizations, are gravely concerned by developments in Singapore since the beginning of August 2024, which has seen the authorities carry out two executions in violation of international safeguards on the death penalty, as well as limiting the right to freedom of expression of the Transformative Justice Collective, a non-governmental organization who […]

2024

Singapore

Gender and Death Penalty Glossary

Article(s)

World Coalition launches glossary on gender and the death penalty

By World coalition against the deaht penalty, on 15 August 2023

As part of its efforts to mainstream a gender lens in the abolitionist movement, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty just released a glossary on gender and the death penalty. The first of its kind, this publication presents and defines terms relevant to gender-sensitive abolitionist work that recognize the various forms of gender-based discrimination […]

2023

Gender

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)

9th Resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty: the trend is growing

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 20 December 2022

On 15 December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 9th resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with 125 votes in favor (2 more than in 2020), 37 votes against, 22 abstentions and 9 absent.

2022

Moratorium

Trend Towards Abolition

14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Article(s)

Recapping the UN Crime Congress in Kyoto

By Teppei Ono, CPR, on 15 March 2021

The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was held in Kyoto, Japan from 7 to 12 March 2021.

2021

Public Opinion 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC BECOMES 24th AFRICAN STATE TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

Article(s)

Central African Republic Becomes 24th African State to Abolish the Death Penalty

By ACAT-RCA, ECPM, FIACAT, on 26 June 2022

The President of the Central African Republic promulgated the law abolishing the death penalty on June 27 2022, one month after the National Assembly passed the law. CAR is now the 24th abolitionist state in Africa and the 111th in the world.

2022

Central African Republic

Papua New Guinea's flag

Article(s)

Papua New Guinea: one step away from full abolition of the death penalty

By Aurélie Plaçais, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 21 January 2022

Papua New Guinea’s National Parliament voted to repeal the death penalty on 20 January2022. The bill has now to be signed into law and to be published in the official gazette.

2022

Moratorium

Papua New Guinea

Article(s)

117 countries vote for a global moratorium on executions

By Maria Donatelli, on 19 December 2014

The latest vote at the UN General Assembly shows wider support than ever for a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

2014

Moratorium

Article(s)

Death penalty 2018: Dramatic fall in global executions

By Amnesty International, on 10 April 2019

Despite a rise in executions in some countries, global executions fell by 31% in 2018. The universal fight for the abolition of the death penalty seems to be on the right way.

2019

Article(s)

New Hampshire: 21st State to Abolish the Death Penalty in the USA

By Aurelie Placais, on 12 June 2019

On 30 May 2019, the NH state Senate voted to override the governor’s veto. The death penalty repeal took effect immediately.

2019

United States

Article(s)

Suriname and Haiti to lead abolitionist way in the Caribbean

By Thomas Hubert (in San Juan, Puerto Rico), on 27 June 2014

The World Coalition held its 2014 AGM in abolitionist Puerto Rico and highlighted key regional developments in the fight against the death penalty, which remains on the books of many countries in the Greater Caribbean.

2014

Barbados

Haiti

Jamaica

Puerto Rico

Suriname

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Document(s)

Educational guide 2009

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2009


2009

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

esfrruzh-hant
More 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.

Iran's flag

Article(s)

Statement of international solidarity with the families of people sentenced to death in Iran

By The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 September 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty express its solidarity with the families and relatives of people who are sentenced to death in Iran and with the civil society organizations supporting them.

2022

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights: In- Person, Advocating Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights: In- Person, Advocating Against the Death Penalty

By Bronwyn Dudley & Connie Numbi, on 16 December 2022

After nearly 3 years, the ACHPR (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) met in-person in Banjul, The Gambia to hold their 73rd Ordinary Session from 21st  October – 10th  November 2022. 

2022

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

In support and solidarity with “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” abolitionist movement in Iran

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 August 2024

Every six hours, one person was executed in Iranian prisons in the first 20 days of August. Execution numbers have been rising every year since 2021, with at least 834 people executed in 2023, and 395 executions recorded by Iran Human Rights as of 26th August 2024.

2024

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Statment Iran signatories - april 2024

Article(s)

Call for joint action to stop drug-related executions in Iran

on 3 May 2024

April 10, 2024 Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and 83 Iranian and international organisations and groups have called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions”. They have announced the start of a mass international campaign in this regard.

2024

Drug Offenses

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

How to work with parliamentarians for the abolition of the death penalty

Article(s)

Publication of a New Guide on Working with Parliamentarians to Abolish the Death Penalty

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

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, in partnership with Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), has published a new how-to guide for civil society organizations (CSOs) on how to collaborate with parliamentarians to abolish the death penalty.

2021

Women

Advocacy at the 69th ACHPR Ordinary Session

Article(s)

NGO Forum and 69th Ordinary Session of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights

By Bronwyn Dudley and Corentin Mançois, on 17 December 2021

The ACHPR (the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) met again virtually for its 69th Ordinary Session from 15 November – 5 December 2021.

2021

Terrorism

Women

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

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.

2024

UN Human Rights Council

Article(s)

Abolition of the death penalty at the United Nations Human Rights Council 51st session

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 24 October 2022

The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 51st regular session from September 12 to October 7, 2022. If you missed it, here is what happened regarding the abolition of the death penalty!

2022

Trend Towards Abolition

Capitalization workshop of the project for the abolition in Africa

Article(s)

Capitalization workshop of the project for the abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa

By Elise Garel, on 4 January 2022

Member organizations of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and African ACATs (Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture) met in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) for the capitalization workshop of Phase 2 of the project for the abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa, organized on 29 and 30 November by the World […]

2022

Côte d'Ivoire

Moratorium

Public Opinion 

Iran's flag

Article(s)

Joint Statement to condemn the public executions and the surge of executions in 2022 in Iran

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 11 August 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty strongly condemn the resumption of public executions in Iran and the surge in the executions in 2022, which goes against the international trends towards abolition of the death penalty.

2022

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Article(s)

Death penalty is torture, says expert

By Nicolas Chua & FIACAT, on 29 November 2018

In celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ 70th anniversary, the 20th EU-NGO Forum was held in Brussels on 21-22 November 2018, during which a session on “International Actions against Death Penalty and Torture” took place. World Coalition Director Aurélie Plaçais was invited to participate in the panel discussion, alongside representatives from Coalition member organizations ECPM and FIACAT.

2018

Death Row Conditions 

Article(s)

Publishing the final words of the executed to restore their humanity

By Thomas Hubert, on 16 October 2014

Publisher Joshua Herman and photographer Marc Asnin want to issue thousands of American schools with a book presenting the final statements of executed prisoners in an attempt to remind supporters and opponents of the death penalty alike that it targets human beings.

2014

Public Opinion 

United States

Article(s)

Divided opinions on death penalty in Belarus

on 8 October 2013

On the occasion of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, World Coalition member organizations Penal Reform International and Belarus Helsinki Committee are releasing a rare opinion poll on what people know and think about capital punishment in the last European country with the death penalty.

2013

Belarus

Belarus

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Abolitionist NGOs lobby to educate UN member states in Geneva

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 22 April 2015

Several World Coalition members carried out intense advocacy activities during and after the March session of the Human Rights Council to prepare for the coming UPR session, during which Liberia, Malawi and the USA will be examined.

2015

Article(s)

Activists from Burundi, Rwanda and DR Congo join forces

on 3 December 2008

The Great Lakes Regional Coalition Against the Death Penalty held its first meeting on November 17 in Kinshasa. Its lobbying efforts have accelerated Burundi’s legislative process.

2008

Burundi

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Moratorium

Rwanda

Article(s)

‘Sakineh’ campaign to culminate in worldwide protests

on 25 August 2010

What started as an effort to save an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning is turning into a global movement for human rights and against capital punishment.

2010

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

ADPAN network strengthens abolitionists across Asia

By Aurélie Plaçais (in Taipei, Taiwan), on 9 December 2014

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, a coalition hosted by Amnesty International in London since 2006, has become an independent organisation registered in Malaysia and held its first AGM in Taipei, Taiwan on 4-5 December.

2014

China

Japan

Malaysia

Mongolia

Public Opinion 

Republic of Korea

Taiwan

Taiwan

Document(s)

The Mercy Workers, Death Penalty Mitigation Specialists

By Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project, on 2 March 2023


2023

Article

Legal Representation

United States


More details See the document

For three decades, a little-known group of “mitigation specialists” has helped save death-penalty defendants in the USA by documenting their childhood traumas. A rare look inside one case.

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

Article(s)

Activists and diplomats slam political executions in Iran

on 1 February 2010

The Islamic Republic finds itself more isolated than ever after it hanged to dissidents and threatened many more with execution.

2010

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Fair Trial

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Document(s)

The Illusion of Heightened Standards in Capital Cases

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


2024

Article

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

Published on April 3, 2023.

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

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

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

Document(s)

2021 OHCHR Report on Deterrence: High-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on 14 January 2022


2022

United Nations report

Public Opinion 

aresfrruzh-hant
More details See the document

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 26/2 and 42/24. It provides a summary of the high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty held on 23 February 2021 at the forty-sixth session of the Council. The panel discussion addressed the human rights violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to whether the use of the death penalty has a deterrent effect on crime rates.

Document(s)

Getting to Death: Race and the Paths of Capital Cases after Furman

By Fagan, Jeffrey and Davies, Garth and Paternoster, Raymond, Columbia Public Law Research Paper, Forthcoming, Cornell Law Review, Vol. 107, No. 1565, 2022, on 13 January 2023


2023

Academic report

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

Decades of research on the administration of the death penalty have recognized the persistent arbitrariness in its implementation and the racial inequality in the selection of defendants and cases for capital punishment. This Article provides new insights into the combined effects of these two constitutional challenges. We show how these features of post-Furman capital punishment operate at each stage of adjudication, from charging death-eligible cases to plea negotiations to the selection of eligible cases for execution and ultimately to the execution itself, and how their effects combine to sustain the constitutional violations first identified 50 years ago in Furman. Analyzing a dataset of 2,328 first- degree murder convictions in Georgia from 1995–2004 that produced 1,317 death eligible cases, we show that two features of these cases combine to produce a small group of persons facing execution: victim race and gender, and a set of case-specific features that are often correlated with race. We also show that these features explain which cases progress from the initial stages of charging to a death sentence, and which are removed from death eligibility at each stage through plea negotiations. Consistent with decades of death penalty research, we also show the special focus of prosecution on cases where Black defendants murder white victims. The evidence in the Georgia records suggests a regime marred less by overbreadth in its statute than capriciousness and randomness in the decision to seek death and to seek it in a racially disparate manner. These two dimensions of capital case adjudication combine to sustain the twin failures that produce the fatal lottery that is the death penalty.

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

Document(s)

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

By Reprieve , on 24 April 2024


2024

NGO report

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

United States


More details See the document

Published on April 2024.

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

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

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

Document(s)

Carrying out executions took a secret toll on workers — then changed their politics

By Chiara Eisner, on 16 November 2022


2022

Article

United States


More details See the document

Most of the workers NPR interviewed reported suffering serious mental and physical repercussions. But only one person said they received any psychological support from the government to help them cope. The experience was enough to shift many of their perspectives on capital punishment. No one who NPR spoke with whose work required them to witness executions in Virginia, Nevada, Florida, California, Ohio, South Carolina, Arizona, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Oregon, South Dakota or Indiana expressed support for the death penalty afterward, NPR found.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 4 July 2022


2022

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 893 Ko ]

Detailed factsheet on torture and the death penalty, for the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty (2022).

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


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)

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

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


2021

Working with...

Juveniles


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Initiatives World Day 2006

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2006


2006

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

Initiatives World Day 2006

Poster World day 2024

22nd World Day Against the Death Penalty – The death penalty protects no one.

on 12 June 2024

Observed every 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty unifies the global abolitionist movement and mobilizes civil society, political leaders, lawyers, public opinion and more to support the call for the universal abolition of capital punishment.

2024

Public Opinion 

Trend Towards Abolition

Article(s)

Europe launches diplomatic offensive against the death penalty

on 10 October 2008

Since 2007, October 10 is also the European Day Against the Death Penalty. Numerous European politicians have chosen this day to state their opposition to capital punishment.

2008

Lebanon

Uganda

Mapping Report on Women on Death Row

Article(s)

World Coalition Publishes Country Mapping Report on Women on Death Row

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 8 September 2023

To obtain a global view of existing data on women sentenced to death, the World Coalition carried out a systematization exercise of new data, compiled in a report published in August 2023.

2023

Women

Document(s)

World Coalition Activity Report 2022

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


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 323 Ko ]

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 

Article(s)

Global mobilisation against Iraq’s high-profile death sentences

on 4 December 2010

Several former associates of Saddam Hussein have been sentenced to death. The Iraqi President, NGOs and international diplomats are now fighting to save their lives.

2010

Clemency

Iraq

Iraq

Document(s)

The Use of the Death Penalty as a Bargaining Chip in Innocence Cases

By Claudia I. Salinas, California Western International Law Journal, on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

United States


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

While 70% of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, much of the United States continues to use it in its criminal legal proceedings.According to the Death Penalty Information Center, at least 190 people were exonerated prior to their fated execution date after being wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the United States. There is no way to tell how many of the 1,562 people, who have been executed in the United States, were actually innocent. As there are wrongful convictions still happening today, it is no surprise that most countries consider the death penalty a human rights issue.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list United States

Article(s)

Final Declaration 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

on 26 February 2010

The participants to the World Congress Against the Death Penalty have handed over their final declaration to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay.

2010

Moratorium

Document(s)

The Physician in the Execution Chamber: No Such Thing as the Normal Pain of Dying

By Joel Zivot, California Western International Law Journal , on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

United States


More details See the document

Published in October 2023.

For capital punishment to be lawful in the United States of America, it must occur without cruelty, a requirement of the traditional reading of the Eighth Amendment. There has never been a consensus on what form of execution is cruel, although some historic practices are shockingly barbaric to modern sensibilities— I think of the “draw and quarter” technique. The family of the murdered victim may fairly argue that the murderous behavior should be the minimum degree of cruelty meted out. But western countries eschew that standard and seek moderate forms, partly to deter by punishment and partly as a forfeit of the murderer’s life for the victim’s life when execution is allowed in that state. Certainly, there is substantial support for continuation of execution in states that allow it. The judges must be respectful of that, but still, they must respect the 8th amendment. At present, the prevalent method of execution in the United States is “lethal injection” using injectable medicines in very high doses that are repurposed to kill the prisoner. Because it is impossible to ask an executed individual about the cruelty experienced during their own death, the state instead relies on the empathy of witnesses to gauge the cruelty of a prisoner’s execution. Lethal injection was expected to be a bloodless execution and aimed to eliminate the visible appearance of cruelty, sometimes through the use of a paralytic.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list United States

Article(s)

Dialogue should make death penalty “a sentence of the past” – foreign ministers

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 October 2014

Twelve governments from countries with and without capital punishment release a joint declaration calling for a world that “respects human dignity” on World Day Against the Death Penalty.

2014

Argentina

Australia

Benin

Burkina Faso

Haiti

Intellectual Disability

Mental Illness

Mexico

Mongolia

Norway

Philippines

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

Article(s)

How far is China ready to reduce its use of the death penalty?

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 25 November 2013

The number one executioner in the world recently made national and international commitments to continuing to reform its death penalty, but how far is China really ready to go?

2013

China

Clemency

Drug Offenses

Terrorism

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

Document(s)

Singapore’s death penalty for drug trafficking: What the research says and doesn’t

By Academia SG - Promoting Scorlorahsip Of/For/By Singapore, on 24 January 2024


2024

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Singapore


More details See the document

Published on October 7, 2023.

Of all retentionist countries, Singapore seems to be the most vocal about the need to execute individuals as a form of criminal punishment. MAI SATO (Monash University) reviews studies conducted or commissioned by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs that claim public backing for and the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking. Sato finds that these studies provide far weaker evidence for using the death penalty for drug trafficking than their authors and officials citing them claim.

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

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

Article(s)

Death Sentences and Executions in 2016

By Amnesty International, on 11 April 2017

Amnesty International published its 2016 global review of the death penalty on Tuesday, April 11th 2017.Excluding China, states around the world executed 1,032 people in 2016. China executed more than all other countries in the world put together, while the USA reached a historic low in its use of the death penalty in 2016.

2017

Singapore's Death Penalty Discourse

Article(s)

Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 27 March 2024

While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

2024

Singapore

World Coalition Against the Death Penalyt

Article(s)

Middle East and North Africa: Abolitionist civil societies in full swing despite a difficult context

By Aurelie Placais, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 February 2022

On the occasion of the publication of the Human Rights Watch World Report 2022, the World Coalition looks back at recent developments and civil society mobilization against the death penalty in the Arab world.

2022

Bahrain

Egypt

Fair Trial

Iraq

Moratorium

Morocco

Saudi Arabia

State of Palestine

Terrorism

Tunisia

Article(s)

Despite recent setbacks, the trend towards the universal abolition towards the death penalty remains

By Elise Guillot, on 8 February 2017

The UK-All Party Parliamentary Group on the Abolition of the Death Penalty organised a meeting in London, on 25 January 2017. Gathering parliamentarians, representatives of the British institutions as well as members of the civil society, the meeting aimed at presenting the worldwide death penalty situation and at focusing on the countries at risk of reintroducing the death penalty.

2017

taiwan supreme court

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

UN Human Rights Council

Article(s)

What China’s report to the United Nations tells us about transparency and the death penalty

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 June 2024

In January 2024, China underwent its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the UN Human Rights Council. While in all previous reviews, the death penalty was mentioned in the Chinese state report, nothing was reported this year.

2024

China

United Nations

Article(s)

120 UN Member States Support the Moratorium at Committee Vote

By Louis Linel, on 18 November 2020

On 17 November, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution calling upon UN Member States to observe a moratorium on executions.

2020

Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Eswatini

Guinea

Lebanon

Mexico

Moratorium

Nauru

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Sierra Leone

Switzerland

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

China: Judicial guidelines to curtail activism for Taiwan a further blow for human rights protections

By Amnesty International, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, Capital Punishment Justice Project, the Rights Practice and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 August 2024

Taken from the declaration posted on Amnesty International’s web page found here.  “Amnesty International and four other organizations are alarmed by the recent publication by the Chinese authorities of new judicial guidelines providing directives to prosecute and harshly punish, including by the death penalty, those advocating and acting for Taiwan’s independence. The guidance effectively encourages […]

2024

China

19-world-day-against-the-death-penalty-events-map

Article(s)

Take Action for World Day 2023!

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 20 September 2023

Take action now! The 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty is an excellent opportunity to publicly oppose the use of this inhumane punishment and to support those who are fighting for its abolition all over the world.

2023

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Article(s)

Death penalty: Global abolition closer than ever as record number of countries vote to end executions

By Amnesty International, on 17 December 2018

A record number of States – 121 out of 193 member states – voted in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty at the United Nations General Assembly on December the 17th. A world without the death penalty may become a reality according to Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty International’s Death Penalty Expert.

2018

Moratorium

Article(s)

Second Optional Protocol: An irreversible mechanism for abolishing the death penalty” – Denys Robiliard

on 7 September 2020

Denys Robiliard, a lawyer and former president of Amnesty International’s French section, details why the Second Optional protocol to the UN’s ICCPR is an crucial instrument to push the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

2020

Afghanistan

Article(s)

Makwanyane Institute Is Launched at Cornell Law School

By Sherrie Negrea, Cornell Law School, on 17 July 2017

Fifteen capital defense lawyers from eight African countries arrived at Cornell Law School on June 12 to begin eight days of training on how best to represent death penalty clients in the first session of the Makwanyane Institute.

2017

Legal Representation

n July 2023, the World Coalition met with abolitionists from these countries at risk in Malaysia to share strategies and discuss best practices in fighting a return to the death penalty

Article(s)

Debunking narratives for a return of the death penalty

By Venus Aves, on 13 November 2023

Time and time again, abolitionists have been making the case against the death penalty, highlighting how inhumane, inefficient and unfair it is.

2023

Drug Offenses

Maldives

Philippines

Public Opinion 

Sri Lanka

Trend Towards Abolition

Turkey

Article(s)

Teaching abolition in Taiwan

on 9 December 2009

Tsou Tzung Han is a Taiwanese teacher who actively took part in educational activities organised around World Day Against the Death Penalty. He writes about his experience with his students.

2009

Public Opinion 

Taiwan

Taiwan

Understanding the link between the Death Penalty and Torture

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 

United Nations 46th Human Rights Council

Article(s)

Abolition of the death penalty at the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council

By Anissa Aguedal, on 19 August 2022

The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 50th Regular Session from June 13 to July 8, 2022. If you missed it, here is what happened regarding the abolition of the death penalty!

2022

Article(s)

Program of the 18 June 2021 General Assembly

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 June 2021

If you are a member organization, join the fantastic program we will have on Friday 18 June!

2021

Juveniles

Women

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

TAIWAN: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO DEATH PENALTY LAW

By World coalition against the death penalty, Amnesty International, on 23 April 2024

On 23 April 2024 the Constitutional Court of Taiwan will hear a challenge on the constitutionality of the death penalty in the country. Amnesty International Taiwan and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty are among several non-governmental organizations intervening in the case, in support of the full abolition of the death penalty.

2024

Taiwan

79th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Article(s)

Key Outcomes from the 79th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

By Isabella Ataides, on 26 September 2024

From 14 May to 3 June 2024, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) held its 79th Ordinary Session in a hybrid format. Members of the Commission and staff of its Secretariat physically attended the Session in Banjul, Gambia; all other participants attended the Session online via Zoom.

2024

Trend Towards Abolition

Japan's flag

Article(s)

Protest Against Executions Ordered by Minister of Justice Yoshihisa Furukawa

By Center for Prisoner Rights and Japan Innocence and Death Penalty Information Center, on 23 December 2021

On 21 December 2021, Japan’s new governement executed three men after two years with no execution during which Japan hosted the Olympics and the United Nations Congress on Criminal Justice.

2021

Japan

Legal Representation

Moratorium

How to work with national human rights institutions to abolish the death penalty

Article(s)

Publication of a New Guide on Working with National Human Rights Institutions to Abolish the Death Penalty

By Bronwyn Dudley, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 November 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has published a new how-to guide, in collaboration with Mr. Isidore Clément Capo-Chichi, President of the Beninese Commission on Human Rights. It is aimed for civil society organizations and illustrates how to collaborate with National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to achieve the abolition of the death penalty. In […]

2022

Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Compendium of case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the death penalty and extrajudicial execution

By Jeremy McBride, Council of Europe, on 24 April 2022


2022

International law - Regional body

Legal Representation


More details See the document

The compendium’s aim is to assist national judges, prosecutors and lawyers from the 46 member states of the Council of Europe to deal with extradition or deportation cases when there is a risk of the death penalty being imposed in third countries or of extrajudicial execution. It also aims at enabling legal professionals from countries where the death penalty still exists to develop arguments based upon the reasoning of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It contains relevant extracts from the Court’s case law, structured in a user-friendly way.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Legal Representation

Article(s)

Reorienting Drug Policy in Indonesia towards the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

By LHB Masyarakat, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, on 6 August 2020

Indonesian not-for-profit organization LBH Masyarakat, Reprieve, and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs recently published a report that reframes the drug problem and corresponding policy action in light of the country’s commitment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report argues that the drug policies currently in place in Indonesia must be re-evaluated in such a way that tackles poverty and inequality and prioritizes support for those who are “left behind”, and put an end to its current punitive strategies.

2020

Drug Offenses

Indonesia

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
CSHRD logo

Member(s)

Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders CSHRD

on 24 July 2024

The Coalition of Somali Human Rights Defenders (CSHRD) is an organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights in Somalia. CSHRD was established in 2014. CSHRD runs holistic and comprehensive torture victims rehabilitation centre in Somalia. CSHRD work is guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights UDHR and the SDGs of 1, 5, 10, […]

2024

Somalia

Article(s)

New Hampshire one vote short of abolition

By Emile Carreau, on 25 April 2014

A bill to repeal the death penalty in the US state of New Hampshire was blocked in the Senate on 22 April with votes for and against the bill deadlocked at 12-12. Despite the disappointment, Renny Cushing, Executive Director of World Coalition member organisation Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, sees some positives.

2014

United States

ACHPR 71st Ordinary Session

Article(s)

71st Ordinary session of the African Commission: focus on torture and the death penalty

By Sarah Saint-Sorny, on 9 June 2022

The African Commission on Human Rights and People (ACHPR) once again met on Zoom for its 71st Ordinary session from April 21st to May 13th, 2022. The honorable Rémy Ngoy Lumbu, President of the Commission, has expressed his hopes for the next session to take place in person in Banjul this autumn. 

2022

Central African Republic

Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya

Malawi

Mauritania

Niger

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

Tunisia

Zambia

Article(s)

The shared responsibility of capital punishment

on 27 September 2011

Everyone agrees that the highest international standards should apply in the fight against drug. But what about the standards used in punishing traffickers- and the inappropriate use of the death penalty against such criminals?

2011

Australia

Bhutan

Colombia

Drug Offenses

Indonesia

Italy

Mozambique

Nepal

Niue

Pakistan

Philippines

South Africa

State of Palestine

Sweden

Taiwan

Terrorism

Thailand

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

Glossary of the Second Optional Protocol

By Pierre Désert, on 25 June 2008

From “Acceptance” to “Treaty”, discover the vocabulary of international law and get a clearer picture of the Second Optional Protocol.

2008

Article(s)

Abolitionists fight against the abusive use of the death penalty

By Thalia Gerzso, on 28 November 2017

In October 2017, Pakistan has agreed to initiate efforts to narrow down the scope of the death penalty. This first step is the result of a strong mobilization from Pakistani and international organizations, in particular during World Day.

2017

Pakistan

Public Opinion 

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)

« A new Gambia » welcomes the 61st session of the ACHPR

By FIACAT and World Coalition against the Death Penalty, on 21 November 2017

From November 1st to November 15, 2017, the 61st session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as the NGO Forum, took place in Banjul, Gambia. During the opening session, the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, confirmed the “New Gambia’s commitment” to human rights.

2017

Gambia

Article(s)

Kenya’s new taskforce to review death penalty laws

By Nicolas Chua, on 11 September 2018

In December 2017, two Kenyan men challenged the legality of capital punishment at the Supreme Court, which resulted in Chief Justice Marage declaring the « mandatory nature of the death sentence » unconstitutional. Following this groundbreaking statement, the Taskforce on the Review of the Mandatory Nature of the Death Penalty was appointed on March 15 2018.

2018

Kenya

Article(s)

7th World Congress – 28th february

By World coaltion against death penalty, on 28 February 2019

The programme of the 7th World Congress continued today with more than fifteen events held at the Egmont Palace. Plenary meetings, round tables, workshops, screenings and signings… This is a non-exhaustive summary of this new day.

2019

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Responsible Business Initiative on the Death Penalty

By Louis Linel, on 19 July 2019

On the occasion of the meeting of its Steering Committee on Friday 28 June and Saturday 29 June 2019, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has invited the director of Responsible Business Initiative Against the Death Penalty, Ms. Celia Ouellette, to present the involvement of companies against the capital punishment alongside with traditional activists.

2019

Member(s)

European Association for Human Rights

on 30 April 2020

The European Association for Human Rights mainly promotes the welfare of prisoners. Its work is especially focused on taking care for death row prisoners and their children, and abolishing the death penalty. Many people on death row are dismissed in their search for help and support from the established human rights organizations. There is a […]

2020

France

Document(s)

Detailed factsheet – World Day 2024 & 2025

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 11 July 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 485 Ko ]

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2006

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2006


2006

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 114 Ko ]

The World Coalition was created in Rome on 13 May
2002, following the commitment undertaken by the
organizations who signed the Final Declaration of
the First World Congress against the death penalty
in June 2001 in Strasbourg. It comprises 52 non-
governmental organizations, as well as bar asso-
ciations, trade unions and local communities.
The Coalition aims to reinforce the international
movement to abolish the death penalty, to reduce
the scope of capital punishment and put an end
to executions wherever they take place. To this
end, the Coalition facilitates the creation and devel-
opment of national and regional coalitions against
the death penalty. The Coalition also spearheads
lobbying efforts directed towards states and inter-
national institutions.

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2023

By Project 39A, on 15 February 2024


2024

NGO report

India


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

This is the eighth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report. This annual publication presents changes in the death row population as well as political and legal developments in the administration of the death penalty in India each year. The statistics are compiled through a combination of data mining of court websites, media monitoring and Right to Information applications.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list India

Document(s)

Intiatives World Day 2005

By World coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2005


2005

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

Intiatives World Day 2005

Document(s)

Somebody’s Child: Amid the Lingering Trauma of Trump’s Executions, a New Project Brings Families to Federal Death Row

By The Intercept, on 15 February 2024


2024

Article

United States


More details See the document

Published on February 11, 2024.

In 2002, Ra’id was arrested alongside several other suspects following a botched bank robbery that left two people dead and another paralyzed. His co-defendants pointed to him as the mastermind, which Ra’id adamantly denied. “I did not take part in that atrocity,” he told the court following his trial. “I did not shoot and kill anyone.”

Newson attended his father’s sentencing hearing, along with his mother, Jeannie Gipson-Newson. A death sentence would be “devastating to my child,” she remembered testifying. But it felt futile. The jurors seemed to have made up their minds. In 2004, Ra’id was sentenced to die.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Life After Sentence of Death: What Becomes of Individuals Under Sentence of Death After Capital Punishment Legislation is Repealed or Invalidated

By James R. Acker, Brian W. Stull, on 25 July 2021


2021

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

More than 2500 individuals are now under sentence of death in the United States. At the same time, multiple indicators—public opinion polls, legislative repeal and judicial invalidation of deathpenalty laws, the reduction in new death sentences, and infrequency of executions—suggest that support for capital punishment has significantly eroded. As jurisdictions abandon or consider eliminating the death-penalty, the fate of prisoners on death row—whether their death sentences, valid when imposed, should be carried out or whether these individuals should instead be spared execution—looms as contentious political and legal issues, fraught with complex philosophical, penological, and constitutional questions. This article presents a detailed account of what has happened historically to persons awaiting execution, principally within the United States but also internationally, at the time capital-punishment legislation is repealed or invalidated (either completely, or with respect to a narrow category of crimes or persons). Our analysis has uncovered no instances of executions being carried out under those circumstances. This finding has important policy implications and is directly relevant to the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, which relies on execution practices as one measure to help inform the Court about whether the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

2021 World Day Report

on 10 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

Women

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 4154 Ko ]

On 10 October 2021, the World Coalition and abolitionists around the world celebrated the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty (‘World Day’). Every year on World Day, the World Coalition highlights one problematic aspect of the Death Penalty. In 2021, the World Day explored the theme “Women sentenced to death, an invisible reality” to raise awareness on how the treatment of gender and gender-based inequalities create particularly precarious conditions for women sentenced to capital punishment. This report presents the activities organised for the 19th World Day and the media coverage it received.

Document(s)

INSECURITY REVEALED: Voices Against the Death Penalty

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 6 August 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1313 Ko ]