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228 Document(s) 6 Member(s) 257 Article(s) 1 Page(s)

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)

Events, strong words and hard facts to fight death penalty in the Caribbean

By Thomas Hubert, on 11 October 2013

As World Day Against the Death Penalty events unfolded on an unprecedented scale across the region, local activists and international organisations took a firm stance against capital punishment across the Caribbean.

2013

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Guatemala

Jamaica

Public Opinion 

Puerto Rico

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Trinidad and Tobago

Article(s)

Mexico fights on after Texas illegally executes one of its nationals

By Thomas Hubert, on 23 January 2014

The execution of Edgar Tamayo in violation of an international court order spurs Mexico to pursue its efforts in favour of consular rights in the US, a diplomat says.

2014

Mexico

United States

Article(s)

How to work with international bodies?

By Maria Donatelli, on 10 June 2013

2013

Article(s)

National conference gives Lebanese abolitionist movement a boost

By Thomas Hubert, on 14 February 2014

Several hundred activists, experts and political leaders met in Beirut at the end of January to push the abolitionist cause with the Lebanese authorities and organise their movement at the national level.

2014

Lebanon

Moratorium

Article(s)

Top UN representatives take stance on death penalty at Human Rights Council

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 14 March 2014

From UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to abolitionist and retentionist government ministers and World Coalition members, participants to a recent discussion on the death penalty placed the issue high on the international agenda.

2014

Afghanistan

Benin

Brazil

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Mongolia

Morocco

Myanmar

Namibia

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Sudan

United States

Article(s)

Fiji abolishes death penalty for all crimes through amendment to military law

By Auréie Plaçais, on 23 February 2015

On 9 February 2015, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum introduced in parliament the Republic of Fiji Military Forces amended Bill 2015, a one page bill to abolish the death penalty provision.

2015

Fiji

Article(s)

Pardon Prisoners On Death Row

By Lucy Peace Nantume, on 8 November 2016

At the end of October, the death sentences of more than 2,500 prisoners were commuted by the Kenyan President. The presidential power of mercy was also recently exercised by the Zimbabwean President, where 10 death row prisoners were pardoned.

2016

Clemency

Kenya

Article(s)

Irreversible abolition of the death penalty in Togo and the Dominican Republic

By Guillaume Colin and Aurélie Plaçais, on 27 September 2016

On 14 September 2016, Togo acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty, joined on 21 September 2016 by the Dominican Republic. These accessions make abolition of the death penalty in Togo and the Dominican Republic irreversible.

2016

Dominican Republic

Togo

Article(s)

Event on the UNGA resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the World Congress

By Federica Merenda, on 27 June 2016

In the context of the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the World Coalition together with Hands Off Cain and Amnesty International co-hosted a side event focusing on the 6th UNGA resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, whose adoption will be decided in New York in December this year.

2016

Moratorium

Article(s)

International support for abolition is continuing to grow – foreign ministers

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 October 2015

The Declaration signed by 18 Foreign Ministers from different world regions, including several that are still on a path towards abolition of the death penalty, brings one common message: International support for abolition is continuing to grow, driven by an increasing awareness of the death penalty’s inherent risks and shortcomings.

2015

Argentina

Australia

Benin

Brazil

Burkina Faso

Costa Rica

Fiji

Haiti

Latvia

Madagascar

Mexico

Mongolia

Norway

Philippines

Poland

Spain

Switzerland

Turkey

Article(s)

African Commission adopts draft Protocol on abolition

By Maria Donatelli, on 24 April 2015

At its 56th ordinary session, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) put the abolition of the death penalty at the heart of its debates and adopted a draft regional treaty to help African Union member states move away from capital punishment.

2015

Article(s)

Applause for Pennsylvania’s death penalty moratorium

By Death Penalty Focus, "Free Mumia!" French Support Group, on 23 February 2015

Newly elected Governor Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania on 13 February until concerns about the fairness of the state’s death penalty system are addressed.

2015

Moratorium

United States

Article(s)

UN: freeze funding of Iran counter-narcotics efforts

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 December 2014

The World Coalition and its members call on UNODC to stop support to Iran as executions for drug trafficking surge.

2014

Drug Offenses

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

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)

Asia develops into hub of abolitionist dialogue

By Emile Carreau, on 6 November 2014

World Coalition member, Community of Sant’Egidio, has organised anti-death penalty conferences in Japan and the Philippines, both of which were overwhelmingly attended. Further conferences in the region are set to continue.

2014

Cambodia

India

Indonesia

Japan

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Philippines

Sri Lanka

Viet Nam

Article(s)

French youth event emboldens next abolitionist generation

By Bronwyn Dudley, on 22 October 2014

The testimony of an exonerated death row prisoners helped international students overcome initial awkwardness and launch into passionate debates at the invitation of Paris-based organisations on World Day Against the Death Penalty.

2014

France

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Morocco

United States

Article(s)

Kazakhstan Penal Code reform runs counter to abolitionist trend

By Anne Souléliac (Paris Bar), on 22 July 2014

The new Kazakh Penal Code provides for an increase in the number of capital crimes, even though Kazakhstan has been moving away from the death penalty for years and has a stated policy of meeting international standards.

2014

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Terrorism

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

Article(s)

Iraq’s frantic executions pace linked to serious human rights violations

By Thomas Hubert, on 27 March 2014

Iraq emerges as the country with the fastest-growing number of executions in Amnesty International’s new annual report on the death penalty. The World Coalition’s submission for Iraq’s upcoming UN human rights review calls for a moratorium on abusive executions.

2014

Fair Trial

Iraq

Iraq

Terrorism

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

Document(s)

Death by Design: Part 2

By The Wren Collective, on 23 January 2024


2024

NGO report

Legal Representation

United States


More details See the document

Published in December 2023.

In “Death by Design” Parts 1 and 2, Wren investigated the state of court-appointed capital representation in Harris County—the death penalty capital of the world. The second report examines why that poor representation has thrived, and the ways that the judges overseeing those cases have enabled it to continue that way.

Wren recommends a total overhaul to the system of capital representation for poor defendants in Harris County, with either the public defender absorbing those cases or the judges establishing a new, freestanding capital public defender that is independent from judicial oversight.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation

Document(s)

Defending Women and Transgender Persons Facing Extreme Sentences: A Practical Guide

on 14 January 2022


2022

Legal Representation

Legal Representation

Women

fr
More details See the document

Written by a team including experts in the fields of capital defense, gender rights, gender-sensitive mitigation and the rights of transgender persons, the guide includes sections on gender-based violence, women’s mental health, prison conditions, discrimination in the legal system, working with the media, and how to build a gender-sensitive team. It also includes a step-by-step gender-sensitive interview protocol that builds on resources developed by the anti-violence community and is tailored to the needs of defense teams.

Document(s)

Prison Conditions in Jamaica

on 19 April 2011


2011

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Jamaica


More details Download [ pdf - 396 Ko ]

In criminal justice matters, Jamaica has been rightly praised for its de-facto abolitionist
stance on the death penalty: nobody has been executed on the island since 1988.
However, the alternative to death is imprisonment. For many years, NGOs, the UN
Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and
various independent and internal reports have expressed serious concern about the
conditions in which Jamaica detains its prisoners.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Jamaica
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

Women and The Death Penalty in Kenya: Essays on the Gendered Perspective of the Death Penalty

on 2 February 2024


2024

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Fair Trial

Gender

Kenya

Women


More details See the document

This publication seeks to make visible the gender and intersectional discrimination faced by women in the judicial process leading to the death penalty. Through the various articlesin this publication, the authors bring to light the reality of women facing the death penalty through a different lens.

The first author, Shekinah Bright Kiting’a, in making a compelling case for abolition of the death penalty, explores how the death penalty uniquely affects women in the context of motherhood. Further, she highlights the rights and well-being of the children affected by their mothers’ death sentences, revealing flaws in our legal and ethical systems. With the overall aim of advocating for its abolition due to its significant impact on both parenthood and children’s rights, her article seeks to push for reforms that honour motherhood and prioritize children’s well-being in these difficult circumstances.

Kenaya Komba dissects gender disparity in the judicial system by exploring the intersection of domestic violence and the death penalty. In making a case for a restorative approach to justice, her article analyses the impact of capital punishment on victims of domestic violence and the systemic injustice and biases they continue to grapple with. Her elaborate analysis of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, 2016, highlights the urgent need for reform in the legal system.

While Analyzing the role the media plays in shaping perceptions of women on death row, Patricia Chepkirui evaluates the implications of positive and negative media portrayals of such women by highlighting the ethical responsibilities of media in the coverage of women on death row cases. The article ultimately underscores the significance of responsiblemedia coverage in ensuring that media exposure of cases of women on death row is fair,balanced, and respectful of their rights and dignity.

Alex Tamei delves into the intricacies of abuse, gender-based violence, and trauma as mitigating factors in death penalty sentencing for women. His article comparatively analyses two Kenyan cases of murder in retaliation to intimate partner violence, seeking to shed light on the plight of victims of gender-based violence. The article effortlessly brings out the nexus between the death penalty and intimate partner violence and makessolid recommendations for change.

The fifth author, Patience Chepchirchir, delves into the nexus between psychological abuse and provocation. Through her article, she brings out the scope of psychological abuse while focusing on the linkage between emotional abuse and provocation and how the same can be considered as mitigating factors. Through an elaborate analysis of case law, she makes a case for psychological abuse of women as a mitigating circumstance during sentencing.

Stella Cherono’s article reflects on the intersectional discrimination faced by women in the criminal trial process leading to death row. The article highlights the complex and overlapping forms of discrimination women experience during the pretrial, trial and sentencing stages. Through her comprehensive analysis of gendered pathways to offending and imprisonment, she challenges how society perceives discrimination.

Loraine Koskei Interrogates the emerging jurisprudence on Intimate Partner Violence.Her article lays out the gendered factor in the commissioning and sentencing of women convicted of murder and offers possible recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Kenya
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions  / Fair Trial / Gender / Women

Document(s)

Leaflet – World Day 2024 & 2025

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 10 June 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1325 Ko ]

Every 10th October, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and abolitionist actors worldwide celebrate the World Day Against the Death Penalty. It is an occasion to highlight the progress achieved in the global campaign for the abolition of capital punishment. In 2024 and 2025, the World Day will serve as an opportunity to challenge […]

Document(s)

Leaflet – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 24 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]

Leaflet for the 20th World Day against the death penalty (2022), on torture and the death penalty.

Document(s)

Educational guide: teaching abolition

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2011


2011

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

In 2009, the World Day Against the Death Penalty was
dedicated to the theme “Teaching Abolition”. The World
Coalition developed a teaching guide to be used in
schools throughout the world

Document(s)

2020 Activity Report

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 496 Ko ]

Activity Report of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty for 2020, as adopted by its General Assembly on 18 June 2021

Document(s)

Impact of the World Coalition’s Strategic Plan 2018–2022

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


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 265 Ko ]

Document(s)

Lebanon – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty

on 12 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Lebanon

Women


More details Download [ pdf - 1599 Ko ]

This report addresses Lebanon’s compliance with human rights obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women regarding its use of the death penalty.

Lebanon has not abolished the death penalty or established a de jure moratorium on the death penalty. The legal system does not protect women in conflict with the law from discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. Nor does it limit capital offenses to the “most serious” crimes.

Women migrant domestic workers appear to be at an elevated risk of being sentenced to death. Indeed, all three women known to be on death row in Lebanon are Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers. Such women face heightened obstacles to realizing their right to a fair trial. Moreover, there is no evidence that sentencing authorities take into account a woman’s history of abuse when determining an appropriate sentence. Finally, women under sentence of death face degrading conditions of detention.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Lebanon
  • Themes list Women

Document(s)

Maldives – Committee Against Torture (LOIPR) – Death Penalty – June 2022

By The Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) , on 21 July 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Maldives


More details Download [ pdf - 1443 Ko ]

This report addresses the Maldives’ compliance with its human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. Despite its long-standing, de facto moratorium on executions, the Maldives sentenced two people to death in 2019, after sentencing no one to death in 2018.[1] At the end of 2019, there were 19 people on death row in the Maldives – three of whom had exhausted their appeals and five of whom were juveniles when the crime was committed.[2] The Maldives sentenced another individual to death in 2022, which represented the first time the country sentenced a foreign national to death.[3] The continued use of the death penalty in sentencing is particularly concerning given evidence of due process violations, including the use of torture to obtain confessions, the lack of effective and accessible complaint mechanisms for detained individuals, the lack of an independent judiciary, and the use of the death penalty as a sentence for crimes committed by juveniles.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Maldives
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Document(s)

Ambivalent Abolitionism in the 1920s: New South Wales, Australia

By Carolyn Strange, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report

Australia


More details See the document

In the former penal colony of New South Wales (NSW), a Labor government attempted what its counterpart in Queensland had achieved in 1922: the abolition of the death penalty. Although NSW’s unelected Legislative Council scuttled Labor’s 1925 bill, the party’s prevarication over capital punishment and the government’s poor management of the campaign thwarted abolition for a further three decades. However, NSW’s failure must be analysed in light of ambivalent abolitionism that prevailed in Britain and the US in the postwar decade. In this wider context, Queensland, rather than NSW, was the abolitionist outlier.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Australia

Document(s)

2022 World Day Report

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 12 June 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 1557 Ko ]

On 10 October 2022, the World Coalition and abolitionists around the world celebrated the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty (‘World Day’). Every year on World Day, the World Coalition highlights one problematic aspect of the Death Penalty.

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

Document(s)

“Don’t let them kill us”: Iran’s relentless execution crisis since the 2022 uprising

By Amnesty International, on 4 April 2024


2024

NGO report

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

fa
More details See the document

Published in 2024.

This research briefing documents the horrifying surge in executions in Iran in 2023, the highest in eight years. More than half of the executions were for drug-related offences amid a distressing return to a lethal antinarcotics policy since Ebrahim Raisi’s rise to presidency in 2021. With systemic impunity in Iran, the briefing reiterates the need for states to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction into crimes under international law committed by Iranian officials, irrespective of the absence or presence of the accused in their territory. Since the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of September-December 2022, the Iranian authorities have weaponized the death penalty to create a pervasive climate of fear across the country, exert control over the population, and suppress dissent and any challenge to their iron grip on power. As a result, 2023 saw an exponential increase in the number of recorded executions. The authorities executed at least 853 people in 2023, a 48% increase from 2022 when 576 people were executed and a 172% increase from 2021 when 314 people were executed. Amnesty International believes that the real number of executions is higher, but the Iranian authorities are not transparent about the number of people executed each year and do not make data on executions publicly available.

Document(s)

Death by Design: Part 1

By The Wren Collective , on 23 January 2024


2024

NGO report

Legal Representation

United States


More details See the document

Published in December 2023.

In “Death by Design” Parts 1 and 2, Wren investigated the state of court-appointed capital representation in Harris County—the death penalty capital of the world.The first report delves into the failings of the lawyers in capital cases.

Wren recommends a total overhaul to the system of capital representation for poor defendants in Harris County, with either the public defender absorbing those cases or the judges establishing a new, freestanding capital public defender that is independent from judicial oversight.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Legal Representation

Document(s)

Guess Who’s Coming to Jury Duty? How the Failure to Collect Juror Demographic Data Contributes to Whithewashing the Jury Box

By Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic , on 30 April 2024


2024

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

Published on February 2024.

Founded in 2001, the Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic seeks justice for individuals facing capital punishment by providing high-quality representation and offers students a rich opportunity for meaningful, hands-on experience in high stakes, complex litigation. The clinic also tackles problems endemic to the administration of the death penalty and the criminal legal system.

The report continues the clinic’s racial justice research and advocacy by cataloging the states that gather prospective jurors’ self-identified race and ethnicity and those that do not. It examines what courts do with the information, including whether it is provided to the court and counsel for use during jury selection, and the consequences of these choices in furthering or obstructing jury representativeness and diversity. In particular, the report shows why the collection of prospective jurors’ self-identified race and ethnicity is vital to meeting state and federal fair cross-section guarantees and eliminating the discriminatory exercise of peremptory challenges.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Bloodshed and Lies: Mohammed bin Salman’s Kingdom of Executions

By Reprieve UK and European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, on 31 January 2023


2023

NGO report

Saudi Arabia

ar
More details See the document

Saudi Arabia is a flagrant abuser of the right to life. Between 2010 and 2021, Saudi Arabia executed at least 1243 people, making it one of the most rampant executioners in the world. As of December 2022, the Saudi regime had executed at least a further 147 people in 2022, including 81 people in one day in a mass execution on 12 March 2022.
Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty has drastically increased since 2015. This escalation has taken place on the watch of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who acceded the throne on 23 January 2015, and his son, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The annual rate of executions has almost doubled since King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman came to power in 2015. From 2010-2014 there was an average of 70.8 executions per year. From 2015-2022 there was an average of 129.5 executions per year – a rise of 82%. The six bloodiest years of executions in Saudi Arabia’s recent history have all occurred under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022).

Document(s)

Testimonies tool – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 764 Ko ]

The World Coalition and its members have collected testimonies of victims of torture in the death penalty. Confessions, death row phenomenon, moments before the execution, psychological torture of those not sentenced to death, methods of execution. Read the stories of these victims.
We thank all those who agreed to share their testimonies and their stories.

Document(s)

Right Here, Right Now Life Stories from America’s Death Row

By Lynden Harris, on 10 August 2021


2021

Book

Death Row Conditions 

United States


More details See the document

Upon receiving his execution date, one of the thousands of men living on death row in the United States had an epiphany: “All there ever is, is this moment. You, me, all of us, right here, right now, this minute, that’s love.”

Right Here, Right Now collects the powerful, first-person stories of dozens of men on death rows across the country. From childhood experiences living with poverty, hunger, and violence to mental illness and police misconduct to coming to terms with their executions, these men outline their struggle to maintain their connection to society and sustain the humanity that incarceration and its daily insults attempt to extinguish.

By offering their hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, failures, and wounds, the men challenge us to reconsider whether our current justice system offers actual justice or simply perpetuates the social injustices that obscure our shared humanity.

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

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 June 2022


2022

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 892 Ko ]

For the 20th year in a row, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is calling for local initiatives and world-wide actions that shine a spotlight on the abolition of the death penalty. The goal of this Mobilization Kit is to inform of this year’s objectives as well provide ideas of activities that boost the global abolitionist goal. This year’s World Day is dedicated to people who, during the process of being sentenced to death, or following the sentence of their death, have been victims of torture.

Document(s)

Leaflet – World Day 2023

on 12 June 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]

Leaflet for the 21th World Day against the death penalty (2023), on torture and the death penalty.

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)

The Myth of Autonomy Rights

By Kathryn E. Miller, on 20 July 2022


2022

Article

United States


More details See the document

Supreme Court rhetoric, scholarly discussion, blackletter law, and ethical rules have perpetuated a myth that individual rights protect the autonomy of defendants within the criminal legal system. To expose this myth, I examine six rights that the Court has enshrined as essential decision points for criminal defendants due to the rights’ purported expressive and consequential functions: (1) the right to self-representation; (2) the right to plead guilty; (3) the right to waive a jury; (4) the right to testify; (5) the right to waive appeals; and (6) the right to maintain innocence at a capital trial. I conclude that each of these rights fails to protect defendant autonomy.

I then argue that genuine displays of autonomy under the criminal legal system take the form of resistance to the law, legal advocates, and the legal system. Thus, the autonomy of criminal defendants occurs not because of law but in spite of it. As such, scholarly discussions of the personal autonomy of criminal defendants should focus not on rights and rules but on acts of resistance. The current autonomy rights discourse is harmful because it obscures the system’s defects by framing discussions around individual rights instead of structural limitations. This lends itself to solutions involving procedural tinkering to better actualize individual rights instead of radical structural reform or abolition. By obscuring these structural defects and stressing the system’s protective qualities, the autonomy rights discourse presents the system not only as legitimate, but as functional, and potentially even successful. As such, a new scholarly frame is warranted: autonomy as resistance to law and the legal system. By illuminating the ways in which autonomy in the criminal legal system resembles autonomy under the American institution of slavery, the autonomy as resistance frame exposes the need for radical structural change and facilitates a reimagining of the criminal legal system.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Report of the Secretary General: Question of the death penalty 2021 (A/HRC/48/29)

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on 15 September 2021


2021

United Nations report

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

The present report is submitted pursuant to decision 18/117 and resolution 42/24 of the Human Rights Council. The report focuses on consequences arising from the lack of transparency in the application and imposition of the death penalty on the enjoyment of human rights.

  • Document type United Nations report
  • Themes list Public Opinion 

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)

Malawi – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty – January 2022

on 31 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Malawi

Women


More details Download [ pdf - 311 Ko ]

Detention conditions for women in Malawi are crowded, and women in prisons are not given adequate food and nutrition. Specifically, many prisons only serve people with one meal a day, often consisting of a maize meal (nsima) and peas or beans. Overcrowded conditions are a particular concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, when risk of transmission of the disease is high. Prison conditions in Malawi amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Women in death penalty proceedings in Malawi lack access to qualified legal representation. Defense advocates in Malawi who are assigned to capital cases often lack relevant experience. In at least one case, a lawyer failed to raise the complete defense of self-defense in representing a woman who killed her husband as a result of a long history of domestic abuse. Had the defense been raised, it is possible that the woman would not have been sentenced to death. Moreover, women from poor and marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by the death penalty because when they are accused of crimes, they are often unable to understand the charges against them because they are illiterate and cannot read the complaint against them. They are also unable to retain private counsel.

Women who face extensive gender-based violence are disproportionately affected by the death penalty in Malawi, including those who seek to protect themselves against their abusers. Long histories of gender-based violence can result in complex trauma and can exacerbate psycho-social or intellectual disabilities, yet sentencing courts fail to take these nefarious effects into account as factors in mitigation of a death sentence.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Malawi
  • Themes list Women

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India – Annual Statistics Report 2021

By Project 39A, on 4 February 2022


2022

Academic report

India


More details See the document

Project 39A at the National Law University, Delhi published the sixth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report which provides an annual update on the use of the death penalty in India along with legislative and international developments on the issue. As on 31st December 2021, there were 488 prisoners on death row across India (a steep rise of nearly 21% from 2020), with Uttar Pradesh having the highest number at 86. This is the highest the death row population has been since 2004 as per the data from the Prison Statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list India

Document(s)

The Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2023

By Harm Reduction International, on 28 March 2024


2024

NGO report

Drug Offenses


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

At the end of 2023, 34 countries retained the death for drug offences. In July 2023 Pakistan took the landmark decision to remove the death penalty from the list of punishments that can be imposed for certain violations of its Control of Narcotics Substances Act. This year also saw notable progress in Malaysia, which abolished the mandatory death penalty for all offences, including drug-related ones. This reform may impact the lives of over 700 people on death row for drug offences and bring the country one step closer to total abolition of capital punishment. In stark contrast to these positive developments is the record-high number of drug-related executions in 2023 at least 467. Of those executed, at least 59 people belonged to ethnic minority groups (in Iran and in Singapore), 13 individuals were foreign nationals, and six were women. These figures confirm that these groups are uniquely vulnerable to capital punishment as a tool of drug control. Despite not accounting for the dozens, if not hundreds, of executions believed to have taken place in China, Vietnam, and North Korea, the 467 executions that took place in 2023 represent a 44% increase from 2022.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

Annual Report On the Death Penalty in Iran 2023

By Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) with the support of ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty), on 14 March 2024


2024

NGO report

Iran (Islamic Republic of)


More details See the document

Published on March 5, 2024

This report has been drafted by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) with the support of ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty). Since 2012, Iran Human Rights and ECPM have been working together for the publication, international release and distribution of annual reports on the death penalty in Iran.

The 16th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights and ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) provides an assessment and analysis of the 2023 death penalty trends in 2023 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It sets out the number of executions in 2023, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative framework and procedures, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions. Lists of the female and juvenile offenders executed in 2023 are also included in the tables. The report also looks into the abolitionist movement within Iran, including the forgiveness movement and its contribution to reducing the use of the death penalty, and provides analysis on how the international community can contribute to limiting the scope of the death penalty in Iran. The 2023 report is the result of hard work from Iran Human Rights members and supporters who took part in reporting, documenting, collecting, analysing and writing of its contents. We are especially grateful to Iran Human Rights sources inside Iran who incur a significant risk by reporting on unannounced and secret executions in prisons of 30 different provinces. Due to the very difficult context, the lack of transparency and the obvious risks and limitations that human rights defenders face in the Islamic Republic of Iran, this report does not give a complete picture of the use of the death penalty in Iran by any means. There are 46 reported executions which are not included in this report due to a lack of sufficient details or an inability to confirm cases through two different sources. However, it aims to provide the most complete and realistic figures possible in the present circumstances. The current report does not include suspicious deaths in custody, death row prisoners who died in prison before the executions or those killed under torture. ECPM supports the elaboration, editing process, publishing and distribution of this report in the framework of its international advocacy work against the death penalty. The problems of transparency on the data and information about the death penalty in Iran should be overcome by a strong strategy of distribution and dissemination. The overall objectives of this report for Iran Human Rights and ECPM are to call attention to and publicise the facts, in order to change national and international views on the situation of the death penalty in Iran, first executioner country in the world.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Document(s)

American Death Penalty Exceptionalism, Then and Now

By Jordan Steiker, California Western International Law Journal , on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

United States


More details See the document

Published in October 2023.

The most commonly observed fact of American capital punishment is its present outlier status: the United States (U.S.) is the only developed Western democracy that retains the death penalty, and it does so not simply as a matter of law, but as a matter of practice, conducting numerous executions every year. This “exceptionalism” with respect to the death penalty is noteworthy, but focusing on present-day American retention obscures many additional aspects of American death penalty exceptionalism. This Keynote will trace several ways in which the American death penalty was an outlier at its founding and throughout its subsequent history, as well as the varied aspects of its exceptionalism today. I will conclude by predicting that U.S. exceptionalism will soon come to an end–with an “exceptional” form of death penalty abolition, traceable to the distinctive path of the American death penalty

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

World Psychiatric Association position statement mental health and the death penalty

By World Psychiatric Association, on 30 November 2023


2023

Arguments against the death penalty

Fair Trial

Intellectual Disability

zh-hant
More details See the document

International law and laws of various countries prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on persons
with mental illness or developmental and intellectual disabilities due to the special barriers faced by
them in defending themselves; their limited moral culpability; and their diminished ability to
understand the nature and reason for their execution. However, due to lack of accommodations in
criminal proceedings and legal safeguards, persons with mental illness, developmental and intellectual
disabilities are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and having their fair trial rights denied.

Authors:
Maitreyi Misra, Director (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law University
Delhi.
Namrata Sinha, Research Associate (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law
University Delhi.
Neeraj Gill, Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra and Griffith University,
School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Soumitra Pathare, Consultant Psychiatrist, Director, Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, ILS
Law College, Pune.
Afzal Javed, President, World Psychiatric Association.

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

Document(s)

Deterrence and the Death Penalty Guide

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 November 2022


2022

NGO report

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

The most common justification for the retention of the death penalty among the minority of states that continue to sentence to death and execute individuals who are found guilty of committing certain serious offences is a belief that this punishment has a unique deterrent effect. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on deterrence and the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public Opinion 

Document(s)

Public Opinion and the Death Penalty Guide

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 November 2022


NGO report

Public Opinion 


More details See the document

When faced with calls to join the majority of states worldwide that have now abolished capital punishment, a key justification, typically relied upon by retentionist states, is that their citizens are not yet ready for abolition, and that political leaders must represent ‘the will of the people.’ The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on public opinion and the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public Opinion 

Document(s)

Arbitrary and Capricious: Examining Racial Disparities in Harris County’s Pursuit of Death Sentences

By Texas Defender Service, on 24 April 2024


2024

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Published on February 2024.

Texas has executed more people than any other state. However, out of the 254 counties in Texas, 136 have never sent an individual to death row. Harris County—Texas’s largest county and home to the city of Houston—stands out as the “death penalty capital of the world.” Harris County has executed more people than any state in the United States except Texas3 and is responsible for a quarter of the 1,124 people who have been sent to Texas’s death row since 1973.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

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)

Malaysia: On Death Row

By Al Jazeera, on 1 January 2019


2019

Multimedia content

Malaysia


More details See the document

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

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

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit World Day 2023

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 12 June 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 864 Ko ]

For the 21th year in a row, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is calling for local initiatives and world-wide actions that shine a spotlight on the abolition of the death penalty. The goal of this Mobilization Kit is to inform of this year’s objectives as well provide ideas of activities that boost the global abolitionist goal. This year’s World Day is dedicated to people who, during the process of being sentenced to death, or following the sentence of their death, have been victims of torture.

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)

Proven With(out) Certainty: How Judges Sentence Defendants to Death for Drug Offences in Iran

By Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, Monash University and ELEOS Justice, on 6 February 2024


2024

NGO report

Drug Offenses


More details See the document

Published in April 2023.

Despite the reduction in the number of executions for drug offences during 2018-2020, a sudden increase in executions was recorded during 2021-2023: at least 131 known executions were recorded for drug offences in 2021, 253 executions in 2022, and 82 executions during the first 3 months of 2023 (Table). However, information concerning the death penalty in Iran is notoriously difficult to obtain because of the secrecy surrounding the country’s criminal justice process. This note provides a rare glimpse into the application of capital drug laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It exposes the idiosyncratic practices of the judiciary and its decision-making, using cases concerning the death penalty for drug offences—its imposition prohibited long under international standards. These judgments repeatedly use the language of ‘certainty’ in convicting the accused. In reality, to those familiar with basic fair trial standards, they raise serious concerns about miscarriages of justice that could potentially result in the erosion of legitimacy of the criminal ‘justice’ system in Iran.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

on 21 August 2021


2021

NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

fr
More details See the document

The signatory organizations are convinced that the death penalty is incompatible with the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which is a peremptory norm of international law (jus cogens) and should thus be abolished. The death penalty is only tolerated by international law and standards to the extent that it may only be imposed for the most serious crimes and applied in a way that causes the least possible suffering. However, the signatory organizations believe that from the sentencing to the execution, the death penalty inevitably causes physical harm and psychological suffering amounting to torture or ill-treatments.

The present position paper documents the extent to which international and regional organisation have already recognised a violation of the absolution prohibitionof torture in the application and imposition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Explaining the Invidious: How Race Influences Capital Punishment in America

By Sheri Lynn Johnson, James and Mark Flanagan, Cornell Law School, on 1 September 2022


2022

Academic report

United States


More details See the document

This article primarily focuses on how racial bias creates nearly ubiquitous racial disparities in the imposition of the death penalty; it does so both to amass further reasons McCleskey was wrongly decided, and to point the way forward. Part I provides the necessary foundation by summarizing the history of race and the death penalty in the United States, with a focus on the Supreme Court’s treatment of racial discrimination claims in capital sentencing. Part II, the heart of this Article, examines the multiple psychological mechanisms that create racially biased decision making in capital cases. Understanding those mechanisms further undercuts the Supreme Court’s reasoning in McCleskey and argues for overturning the holding. However, recognizing the reluctance with which today’s Court would view overturning McCleskey, Part III considers whether and how alternative, case-specific uses of the data described in Part II might ameliorate the influence of racial bias in capital sentencing.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021

on 21 March 2022


2022

NGO report

Drug Offenses


More details See the document

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our eleventh on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021 found that: 1) 35 countries still retain the death penalty for drug offences 2) At least 131 people were executed for drug offences in 2021 – a 336% increase from 2020. However, due to a severe lack of transparency, if not outright censorship, this is only a partial picture. This figure likely represents only a fraction of all drug-related executions carried out globally.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offenses

Document(s)

The Death Penalty Worldwide – Developments in 2006 (With amendments)

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

esarfr
More details See the document

The world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of capital punishment during 2006. By the end of the year 88 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. The death penalty has now been abolished in law or practice by 128 countries. Other subjects covered in this document include significant judicial decisions; the use of the death penalty against child offenders; resumptions of executions; and campaigning activities to promote abolition.

Document(s)

Leaflet Lobbying

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2007


2007

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details See the document

Leaflet Lobbying

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)

Detailed Factsheet 2010

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2010


2010

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 479 Ko ]

Detailed Factsheet 2010

Document(s)

Palestine – Committee Against Torture – Death Penalty – June 2022

on 21 July 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

State of Palestine


More details Download [ pdf - 1747 Ko ]

The State of Palestine on 1 April 2014 ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. On 28 December 2017, the State of Palestine signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. On 18 March 2019, the State of Palestine also ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which aims to abolish the death penalty. The State of Palestine has not yet abolished the death penalty. Indeed-as described herein-the 14 June 2007 split in power between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the West Bank under President Abbas, and the Hamas movement in Gaza, has been followed by many documented executions in Gaza without the requisite signature of President Abbas, and Gazan military courts conduct trials of civilians, where they can be sentenced to death.

This report considers the prevalence of torture and other issues ancillary to the death penalty itself: confessions under torture or degrading treatment, due process, access to legal counsel, death-row conditions, and methods of execution.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list State of Palestine

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet

By World coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2011


2011

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 201 Ko ]

Detailed Factsheet 2019

Document(s)

Death penalty – Beyond abolition

By Council of Europe / Hugo Adam Bedau / Peter Hodgkinson / Roger Hood / Robert Badinter / Michel Forst / Anne Ferrazzini / Eric Prokosch / H.C Krüger / C. Ravaud / Sir Nigel Rodley / Renate Wohlwend / Yoshihiro Yasuda / Anatoly Pristavkin, on 8 September 2020


2020

Book

France

fr
More details See the document

Europe is today the only region in the world where the death penalty has been almost completely abolished. In the Council of Europe’s 45 member states, including the European Union’s 15 member states and its 13 candidate countries, capital punishment is no longer applied. The Council of Europe played a pioneering role in the battle for abolition, believing that the death penalty has no place in democratic societies under any circumstances. This determination to eradicate the death penalty was reflected in Protocol No.6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, on the abolition of the death penalty in peacetime, which was adopted in April 1983, then in Protocol No.13 on the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, adopted in May 2002.Introduced by Roger Hood, an international expert on death penalty legislation, this book reviews the long and sometimes tortuous path to abolition in Europe. It also addresses the tangible problems which countries face once the death penalty has been abolished, and related issues: the situation of murder victims’ families and alternatives to capital punishment, particularly the choice of a substitute sentence.The Council of Europe’s campaign for abolition is currently being pursued beyond Europe’s borders, in those states which have Observer status with the organisation, particularly the United States and Japan: the situation in these countries is discussed here.This publication will be of interest to all those who feel concerned by this issue, particularly members of NGOs, lawyers, officials in departments dealing with legal and criminal affairs, and human rights campaigners.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty Is Dead Wrong: Jus Cogens Norms and the Evolving Standard of Decency

By Geoffrey Sawyer / Penn State International Law Review, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

Nigeria


More details See the document

The conviction of Amina Lawal in Nigeria for committing adultery and sentence of death by stoning created an international outcry of support to overturn her sentence. The support she received is a reflection of the outrage many around the world feel toward this particular method of execution, and in a larger context the growing social norm that the death penalty should be abolished. As more of the world looks upon the death penalty as unfair, or cruel and unusual, or as torture, arguably, a jus cogens norm prohibiting the death penalty has developed in international law, and will ultimately be the vehicle by which the death penalty will be abolished worldwide. Part I of this comment will detail the plight of Amina Lawal, and how her situation is indicative of the globalization of human rights norms. In Part II, this comment will examine the meaning of a jus cogens norm and how it can be established in the context of capital punishment. Using human rights treaties, the law and practice of other nations, and international tribunal decisions, Part III will assert, citing other contexts, such as the “right to life,” and the already entrenched jus cogens norm prohibiting torture, that a jus cogens norm abolishing the death penalty has arguably already been established. Finally, Part IV will assess what the effect of the establishment of a jus cogens norm prohibiting capital punishment.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Nigeria
  • Themes list Stoning,

Document(s)

Children, Youth and the Death Penalty

By International Commission against the Death Penalty, on 23 June 2023


2023

NGO report

Juveniles


More details See the document

ICDP announces the launch of its latest report: Children, Youth and the Death Penalty. The issue of how the death penalty affects children and youth is often ignored by policy makers. This report aims to change that by putting the protection of children’s rights at the center of the debate on the death penalty.

The report builds on the panel discussion titled “Youth and the Death Penalty,” which was organized by the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) and the Government of Australia. The discussion was held on 29 June 2022, at the sidelines of the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles

Document(s)

United States – Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Death Penalty – May 2022

on 21 July 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details Download [ pdf - 703 Ko ]

1. The Committee last reviewed the United States’ compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2014. Among the 2014 Concluding Observations are two recommendations relevant to this Report. 2. The Committee stated that it “remain[ed] concerned that members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, continue to be disproportionately arrested, incarcerated and subjected to harsher sentences, including life imprisonment without parole and the death penalty.” Among other things, the Committee encouraged “[a]mending laws and policies leading to racially disparate impacts in the criminal justice system … and implementing effective national strategies or plans of action aimed at eliminating structural discrimination.” The Committee specifically encouraged “[i]mposing a moratorium on the death penalty, at the federal level, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”1 3. The Committee also commented on “the ongoing challenges faced by indigent persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities to access legal counsel in criminal proceedings in practice.” The Committee encouraged the adoption of “all necessary measures to eliminate the disproportionate impact of systemic inadequacies in criminal defence programmes on indigent defendants belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, including by improving the quality of legal representation provided to indigent defendants.”2 4. This report addresses the United States’ compliance with its human rights obligations under the Convention with regard to the death penalty, including with respect to those areas identified in the Committee’s 2014 Concluding Observations as described above.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

European Court for Human Rights cases involving the death penalty

By European Court for Human Rights Press Unit, on 24 June 2022


2022

International law - Regional body

Regional body report

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Death Row Conditions 

Fair Trial


More details See the document

“[T]he [European Court of Human Rights] in Öcalan did not exclude that Article 2 [of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting the right to life,] had already been amended so as to remove the exception permitting the death penalty. Moreover, … the position has evolved since then. All but two of the Member States have now signed Protocol No. 13 [to the Convention, concerning the abolishment of the death penalty in all circumstances,] and all but three of the States which have signed have ratified it. These figures, together with consistent State practice in observing the moratorium on capital punishment, are strongly indicative that Article 2 has been amended so as to prohibit the death penalty in all circumstances. Against this background, the Court does not consider that the wording of the second sentence of Article 2 § 1 continues to act as a bar to its interpreting the words ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ in Article 3 [of the Convention, prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,] as including the death penalty …” (Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v. the United Kingdom judgment of 2 March 2010, § 120).

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

Document(s)

The war on drugs, forensic science and the death penalty in the Philippines

By Maria Corazon A.De Ungria and Jose M.Jose, on 10 August 2021


2021

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Philippines


More details See the document

The effectiveness of the death penalty to deter heinous crimes remains a contentious issue even though it has been abolished in many countries. Three years into President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, the push to re-impose the death penalty is being taken seriously.

There is urgency in providing options to the drug problem other than killing drug suspects in the streets or sentencing them to death. The drug problem is a complex issue and exposes the human vulnerability of its users for criminal exploitation.

We propose here that addressing these vulnerabilities in a balanced and comprehensive manner through health-focused, rights-based criminal justice responses, conducting forensic science-based drug investigations and determining the social causes of drug abuse is an alternative solution that demands cooperation across different sectors of society as well as underscores the fundamental value of human life.

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

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

en
More details See the document

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

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide developments in 2007

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

esfrar
More details See the document

In 2007 the world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of the capital punishment. A historical landmark is the resolution on a moratorium on executions endorsed by the United Nations. By the end of the 2007, 91 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. The death penalty has now been abolished in law or practice by 135 countries. Other subjects covered in this report include commutations, judicial reviews, use against child offenders; and extradition.

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)

The politics of capital punishment for foreign nationals in Iran

By Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU), University of Oxford, on 5 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

Iran (Islamic Republic of)


More details See the document

Published in December 2023.

This paper seeks to map the political economy of capital punishment in Iran, in particular in relation to dual and foreign nationals, and examines its external and internal functions. The external functions include suppressing the ‘cultural threat’ of cross-border drug trafficking, achieving more power in sanctions negotiations, seeking reciprocal prisoner swaps or demanding recompense for outstanding multinational debt. The internal functions include quashing protests against the regime, supressing separatist movements, or even just ‘otherness’. It is evident that those facing disadvantage across foreign national and intersectional lines face the death penalty disproportionately. In addition, although only representing a fraction of the overall population of death row, the arbitrary detention of dual nationals has a disproportionate political function.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Document(s)

Myths and Facts about the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Focus, on 1 January 2009


2009

Arguments against the death penalty

es
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8 Myths about the death penalty are explored in this text: 1. the death penalty is needed to keep society safe, 2. the death penalty is applied fairly, 3. the death penalty is used worldwide, 4. the death penalty deters crime, 5. execution is cheaper than permanent imprisonment, 6. the death penalty offers justice to victims’ families, 7. only the truly guilty get the death penalty, 8. religious teachings support the death penalty.

Document(s)

Reducing Facial Stereotype Bias in Consequential Social Judgments: Intervention Success With White Male Faces

By Youngki Hong, Kao-Wei Chua, & Jonathan B. Freeman, Columbia University, on 25 January 2024


2024

Article

United States


More details See the document

Published on December 18, 2023.

Initial impressions of others based on facial appearances are often inaccurate yet can lead to dire outcomes. Across four studies, adult participants underwent a counterstereotype training to reduce their reliance on facial appearance in consequential social judgments of White male faces. In Studies 1 and 2, trustworthiness and sentencing judgments among control participants predicted whether real-world inmates were sentenced to death versus life in prison, but these relationships were diminished among trained participants. In Study 3, a sequential priming paradigm demonstrated that the training was able to abolish the relationship between even automatically and implicitly perceived trustworthiness and the inmates’ life-or-death sentences. Study 4 extended these results to realistic decision-making, showing that training reduced the impact of facial trustworthiness on sentencing decisions even in the presence of decision-relevant information. Overall, our findings suggest that a counterstereotype intervention can mitigate the potentially harmful effects of relying on facial appearance in consequential social judgments.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Death in the time of Covid-19: Efforts to restore the death penalty in the Philippines

By Jose M.Jose and Maria Corazon A.De Ungria, on 10 August 2021


2021

Academic report

Drug Offenses

Philippines


More details See the document

The Philippine Congress recently passed a bill amending the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and reimposing the penalty of life imprisonment to death for specific-drug related offenses. House Bill No. 7814 also allows the presumption of guilt in certain drug-related crimes unless otherwise proven, thereby overturning the long-standing constitutional presumption of innocence.

The bill has been sent to the Senate for its concurrence and could only be several steps away before being signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte. This paper discusses the ramifications of the new bill and the questioned timeliness of its passage when the country continues to have a large and overcrowded prison population and a significant number of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 in Southeast Asia.

The government’s lapses in following the 2021 national vaccination plan became apparent in the 31 March 2021 assessment made by the congressional health panel on the government’s response to the pandemic.

From the authors’ perspective, the urgency of using the country’s limited resources to help medical frontliners and local government units prevent further infections and save lives should have outweighed the efforts exerted to pass a law that legalized the death penalty for the third time in the Philippines.

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

Document(s)

ISOLATION AND DESOLATION CONDITIONS OF DETENTION OF PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH MALAYSIA – Bahasa Melayu

By Carole Berrih, Ngeow Chow Ying, ECPM, ADPAN, on 27 May 2021


2021

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Malaysia


More details See the document

Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death in Malaysia is the first ever fact-finding mission report on the conditions of detention of death row prisoners in Malaysia.

It examines the use of death penalty in Malaysia as well as the actual situation of people on death row.

This report is not meant to point fingers but rather to put the facts on the table in a transparent manner and work from there. It is mainly an advocacy tool for all abolitionist stakeholders, from civil society actors to the parliamentarians who will keep fighting for the abolition of the death penalty.

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Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death di Malaysia adalah satu-satunya laporan berasaskan misi mengkaji fakta (fact-finding mission) mengenai keadaan-keadaan penahanan bagi banduan-banduan hukuman mati di Malaysia.

Laporan ini mengkaji pelaksanaan hukuman mati di Malaysia dan juga keadaan sebenar orang-orang yang dijatuhkan hukuman mati.

Laporan ini bukan bertujuan untuk menunding jari terhadap mana-mana pihak, tetapi bertujuan untuk memberi pencerahan kepada fakta-fakta yang ditemui dan berusaha ke atasnya. Laporan ini bertujuan utama sebagai alat advokasi kepada semua pihak yang mempunyai kepentingan dalam pemansuhan, bermula dari ahli persatuan kemasyarakatan sehingga ahli parlimen yang akan berusaha berterusan untuk memansuhkan hukuman mati.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Malaysia
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

Isolation and desolation conditions of detention of people sentenced to death Malaysia

By Carole Berrih, Ngeow Chow Ying, ECPM, ADPAN, on 27 May 2021


NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Malaysia

fr
More details See the document

Isolation and Desolation – Conditions of Detention of People Sentenced to Death in Malaysia is the first ever fact-finding mission report on the conditions of detention of death row prisoners in Malaysia.

It examines the use of death penalty in Malaysia as well as the actual situation of people on death row.

This report is not meant to point fingers but rather to put the facts on the table in a transparent manner and work from there. It is mainly an advocacy tool for all abolitionist stakeholders, from civil society actors to the parliamentarians who will keep fighting for the abolition of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions 2020

By Amnesty International , on 26 May 2021


2021

NGO report

aresfafrru
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2020. As in previous years, information is collected from a variety of sources, including:
– official figures;
– judgements;
– information from individuals sentenced to death and their families and representatives;
– media reports;
– and, for a limited number of countries, other civil society organizations.

Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, , such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation. In many countries governments do not publish information on their use of the death penalty. In China and Viet Nam, data on the use of the death penalty is classified as a state secret. During 2020 little or no information was available on some countries – in particular Laos and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) – due to restrictive state practice.

Document(s)

Add Resources and Apply Them Systemically: Governments’ Responsibilities Under the Revised ABA Capital Defense Representation Guidelines

By Eric M. Freedman / Hofstra Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


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The mainstream legal community, including the ABA, has long understood the importance of system-building, but the revised Guidelines state the point especially forcefully. In articulating “the current consensus about what is required to provide effective defense representation in capital cases,” they set high performance standards not just for lawyers, but for death penalty jurisdictions. As the problems are systemic, it is “imperative” that the solutions be.The Guidelines accordingly not only call on governments to deliver capital defense resources that are sufficient in amount, but also furnish the states with a user-friendly blueprint for using those resources wisely to create structures that will function well in the present and evolve effectively over time. This mandate for institution-building is welcome, and the states should lead it. Indeed, they must do so if the Guidelines are to achieve their ameliorative purposes and avoid becoming just a collection of lofty aspirations “‘that palter with us in a double sense, that keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope”.

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

Document(s)

International Network of Academics Against the Death Penalty

By International Academic Network for the abolition of capital punishment, on 8 September 2020


2020

Working with...


More details See the document

It is of the utmost importance, in the short and medium-term, to develop an intense work of academically nature both of study and disclosure of the problems of the abolition of the death penalty in the international scenario, to complement and help the work of the diplomatic action and non-governmental organizations. To this effect it is proposed to keep REPECAP as an ever – growing scientific world network comprising academic law scholars, human rights centers, institutions of public law and Ngos, with expertise and skill in the problems of death penalty and interests in the field of international criminal justice, as well as young researchers who have been dealing with these topics or wish to get involved with the subject, regardless of nationality or locations.

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

Document(s)

DPIC Special Report: The Innocence Epidemic

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 20 July 2022


2022

NGO report

Innocence

United States


More details See the document

A Death Penalty Information Center Analysis of 185 Death-Row Exonerations Shows Most Wrongful Convictions Are Not Merely Accidental.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence

Document(s)

Strengthening death penalty standards

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Where the death penalty is applied, international law, jurisprudence and practice require that certain minimum standards are applied. The standards include international and regional treaties that are legally binding on states that have ratified them, customary international law that is binding on all states without exception, and non-binding standards and resolutions that nonetheless command the support of the majority of states. International understanding of these minimum standards has continued to evolve in the years since they were drafted, but the documents themselves do not always keep pace. This paper brings together international, regional and national standards, the most recent understandings of relevant experts and appropriate insights from other connected disciplines. It explores possible ways in which international minimum standards could be further strengthened at this time, whether through ECOSOC, the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, regional bodies or national amendments to laws and policies. In each section, the issue and current practice is described, followed by examples of good practice or suggestions for improvement, finishing with a short list of recommendations for strengthening existing standards. These issues and recommendations are not final, but are intended to provide a point from which discussion can begin.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Legal Representation,

Document(s)

Responsible Business Engagement on the Death Penalty. A Practical Guide

By Responsible Business Initiative on the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2019


2019

Working with...

fr
More details See the document

Business engagement in the death penalty is critical because of the impact it can have. Putsimply: the power is in your hands. If your business is looking for a human rights issue whereit can achieve measurable change, advocacy on the death penalty must be considered.Global support for the death penalty is declining. Meanwhile, competition for investment isfierce. Governments and the public at large care more about job creation and a healthy economythan a system of executions. Therefore, the voices of businesses and business leaders havea huge role to play in shaping public dialogue about whether to keep – or end – the use ofcapital punishment.

Article(s)

Jamaica vote illustrates retentionist trend in the Caribbean

on 9 January 2009

Jamaican lawmakers voted to keep capital punishment and the government seems determined to use it. Caribbean abolitionists are battling similar moves across the region.

2009

Jamaica

Public Opinion 

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Article(s)

China reduces the number of crimes punishable by death to 46, but keeps drug trafficking in the list

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 7 October 2015

China removes nine non-violent and rarely used criminal offenses from capital punishment.

2015

China

Drug Offenses

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)

Bylaws 2021

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 97 Ko ]

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty As Amended by the 18 June 2021 General Assembly

  • Document type World Coalition
  • Available languages Statuts 2021

Document(s)

MOBILIZATION KIT World Day Against the Death Penalty 2024 – 2025 Security and the death penalty

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 12 June 2024


2024

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 2534 Ko ]

Document(s)

Bylaws of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty 2023

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


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 146 Ko ]

Document(s)

TESTIMONIES- 21 st World Day Against the Death Penalty

on 10 July 2023


2023

Campaigning

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 759 Ko ]

This document has been compiled by the Secretariat of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty with substantial aid from member organizations, including Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Amnesty International, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Free Mumia ! French Support Group (Collectif français “Libérons Mumia !”), German Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Justice Project Pakistan, […]