Your search “Keep the Death Penalty Abolished fin the Philippfines %20e ”

View all document types 1844 Article(s)

Article(s)

Asia still top executioner but more divided than ever: Hands Off Cain Report

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 11 August 2011

Hands Off Cain’s 2011 Report contains the most important facts regarding the practice of the death penalty in 2010 and the first six months of 2011.

2011

China

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Drug Offenses

India

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Mongolia

Moratorium

Myanmar

Viet Nam

Article(s)

California Democratic Party endorses abolition of the death penalty

on 12 May 2010

One of the two main political parties in the largest US State has taken a formal stance against capital punishment – with help from local abolitionist organisations.

2010

Public Opinion 

United States

Article(s)

Africa takes a good look at the death penalty

on 5 August 2008

A working group of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights is preparing a report on capital punishment on the continent.

2008

Eswatini

Moratorium

Article(s)

Parliamentarians lead Malaysia Towards Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty

By Elisa Bellotti, on 11 December 2015

On 17 November 2015, Parliamentarians for Global Action organized a roundtable and consultations on the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia. Parliamentarians play a major role in the country’s journey towards abolition.

2015

Malaysia

Article(s)

US activists turn spotlight on executed innocent man

on 28 September 2009

An official report and a feature in the New Yorker have confirmed that Todd Willingham was not guilty of the arson for which he was executed. Abolitionist campaigners are now targeting his case.

2009

Innocence

United States

Article(s)

USA: reaching for the dream

on 3 February 2008

For once, the annual conference of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty opened on an optimistic note.

2008

Public Opinion 

United States

Article(s)

5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

By Thomas Hubert & Tiziana Trotta, on 27 June 2013

The 5th World Congress Against the Death Penalty took place in Madrid between 12-15 June 2013. During three days, it united members of international civil society, politicians, and legal experts to elaborate abolitionist strategies for the years to come at the national, regional, and international levels, and to send out a clear message to the world: that universal abolition is essential for a world where progress and justice must prevail.

2013

Spain

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

Article(s)

World Coalition opens dialogue with Iraq

By Florence Bellivier, on 16 September 2013

Iraq’s ambassador to Paris met representatives from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty as the country has been accelerating the rhythm of executions.

2013

Iraq

Moratorium

Terrorism

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)

“Ending the death penalty in Lebanon and worldwide”

on 5 November 2007

Over 75 people attended the conference focussing on the legal and social perspectives of the abolition of capital punishment in Beyrouth on October 17.

2007

Lebanon

Moratorium

Murder Victims' Families

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)

The Sunny Center

By Jessica Corredor, on 30 July 2018

“Extraordinary things can happen to ordinary people and still be OK »The Sunny Center is a place like no other place in the world. Perched on the top of a hill, it is surrounded by lakes and hills that multiply as far as the eye can see. The landscape is breath-taking. But the landscape is nothing compared to the founders of the Sunny Center. Sunny Jacobs, 72, and Peter Pringle, soon 80, began welcoming innocent people into their homes in 2011.

2018

Death Row Conditions 

Innocence

Ireland

Article(s)

Statement on executions in the USA

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 21 June 2019

As the worldwide trend towards abolition of the death penalty grows, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty notes with concerns that the USA has reached a total of 1500 executions since 1977.

2019

United States

Article(s)

A decrease in the number of countries with the death penalty worldwide, despite an increase in executions

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 20 June 2024

On 29 May 2024, Amnesty International published its annual report on the state of the death penalty worldwide. Amnesty International’s monitoring shows that in 2023 the lowest number of countries on record carried out the highest number of known executions in close to a decade.

2024

Article(s)

“We need to feel the reality of the death penalty”

By Lauranne Mailhabiau, on 22 June 2015

So said Raphael Chenuil Hazan, director of ECPM, at the opening ceremony of the Asian Regional Congress in Kuala Lumpur.

2015

Indonesia

Malaysia

Public Opinion 

Taiwan

Article(s)

China refuses to consider 250,000-strong petition

on 16 June 2008

A World Coalition delegation found the door closed on June 16 when they attempted to handover to the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong a petition urging for changes in the death penalty system in China.

2008

China

Fair Trial

Innocence

Moratorium

Article(s)

Kazakh criminal law reform could add capital crimes

By Thomas Hubert, on 15 February 2013

As Kazakhstan’s authorities prepare to introduce a new penal code, World Coalition members are warning against attempts to broaden the offences punishable by death.

2013

Kazakhstan

Moratorium

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

ADPAN: tearing down Asia’s death penalty veil of secrecy in 2008

on 3 February 2008

The majority of executions take place in Asia. But this is also the continent where campaigners have developed a fantastic regional abolitionist network, one that reaches across borders, languages and religions.

2008

China

Drug Offenses

Fair Trial

Japan

Mental Illness

Mongolia

Murder Victims' Families

Public Opinion 

Republic of Korea

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)

Ugandan tour exemplifies abolitionist collaboration

By Emile Carreau, on 21 December 2014

US-based World Coalition member Journey of Hope answers the call to tour Uganda and strengthen the fight against the death penalty in the country.

2014

Murder Victims' Families

Uganda

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)

Abolitionists slam Liberia’s death penalty at African human rights review

By Rescue Alternatives Liberia (RAL), on 23 May 2014

World Coalition members RAL, FIACAT and FIDH took part in this month’s 55th Session of the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights in Luanda, Angola, which included the periodic review of the situation in Liberia.

2014

Liberia

Article(s)

African human rights body targets death penalty

on 16 May 2011

The abolition of the capital punishment figured prominently at the 49th session of the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights.

2011

Algeria

Botswana

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Mauritania

Public Opinion 

Somalia

Sudan

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)

Japan in breach of international standards, opinion wavering – study

By Thomas Hubert, on 14 March 2013

A report published by the Death Penalty Project and the Center for Prisoners’ Rights shows that Japanese law and practice on capital punishment violate international treaties, and questions the high level of public support for the death penalty reported by the authorities.

2013

Japan

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Youths must stand up against the death penalty!

on 17 September 2007

The Federation of Liberal Students (FEL), a Belgian political organisation, has just joined the World Coalition. FEL president Arnaud Van Praet explains his organisation’s mobilisation against capital punishment.

2007

Belgium

Article(s)

Sharing best practices on ratifying the UN treaty to abolish the death penalty

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 25 September 2011

Belgium and the United Nations’ human rights office have held a panel discussion to promote efforts in favour of the strongest international instrument against capital punishment.

2011

Belgium

Mongolia

Moratorium

Russian Federation

Article(s)

World Coalition AGM among largest abolitionist events in the Arab world

on 6 June 2011

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has announced its June annual general assembly at a press conference in Rabat, Morocco.

2011

Morocco

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

75th UN General Assembly High-Level Event Focuses on the Gender Dimension of the Death Penalty

By Gia Tongson, on 6 October 2020

On September 24th, the UN Permanent Mission of Italy, the European Union, and Amnesty International, in cooperation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and UN Women, held a high-level virtual event that shed light on the gender dimension of the death penalty. The webinar was conducted as part of […]

2020

Death Row Conditions 

Fair Trial

Women

Article(s)

North Africa and Middle East between progress and frustrations

By Thomas Hubert, on 13 June 2013

Shaken up by revolutions and conflicts, the southern shores of the Mediterranean are more than ever enticed for abolition – but opposition is fierce.

2013

Algeria

Lebanon

Morocco

Spain

Tunisia

Article(s)

NGOs seek abolition before African human rights body, The Gambia bucks the trend

on 26 November 2010

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights met in Banjul between November 10-24. A group of abolitionist organisations took part in the conference.

2010

Drug Offenses

Gambia

Moratorium

Access to justice and discrimination: the World Coalition organizes a briefing for the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls

Article(s)

Access to justice and discrimination: the World Coalition organizes a briefing for the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 26 September 2024

2024

Gender

Article(s)

Death row inmates and abolitionists take Uganda’s death penalty to court

on 11 September 2008

Hundreds of Ugandan death row inmates and those who support them are awaiting a final decision in the constitutional case they have taken against the death penalty in their country.

2008

Fair Trial

Uganda

Article(s)

After more than 20 years without executions, a trend toward an official moratorium?

By Clémentine Etienne, on 27 June 2018

On 18 June 2018, the Korean National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) called on the South Korean President to declare an official moratorium on the death penalty to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10.

2018

Republic of Korea

Article(s)

Central and Eastern African activists brainstorm for abolition

By Thomas Hubert, on 6 March 2013

February was a month of intense strategising for members of the regional coalition against the death penalty as well as region’s ACATs, as two meetings convened to discuss the best options to spur on Africa’s march towards abolition.

2013

Moratorium

Article(s)

The World Coalition mission in Tanzania and the project on Sub-Saharan Africa

By Federica Merenda, on 28 April 2016

In the context of the new project to increase mobilization towards the abolition of the death penalty in Africa, from 15 to 19 April 2016 the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has been engaged in several important activities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Tanzania is a country that still retains the death penalty in its laws though it is abolitionist in practice, the last execution took place in 1994.

2016

United Republic of Tanzania

Article(s)

Call for world lawyers to unite against the death penalty

By Thomas Hubert, on 15 June 2013

The Paris Bar Association (a World Coalition member) and its Beirut counterpart have called on lawyers worldwide to increase efforts to defend those facing the death penalty and to push for its abolition.

2013

Legal Representation

Moratorium

Spain

Forum Liberia 2022

Article(s)

Liberian Civil Society Organize to Push for Abolition

By Rescue Alternatives Liberia and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 29 April 2022

On 12 April 2022, Rescue Alternatives Liberia (RAL) orchestrated a one-day forum on abolition in Liberia with the support of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The outcomes of this event were very promising, and time will tell if abolition in Liberia is near.

2022

Liberia

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Amnesty charts death penalty world map and vows to remove Belarus from it

on 25 March 2009

World Coalition member Amnesty International has released its annual statistics on the death penalty and launched a campaign against capital punishment in Belarus.

2009

Belarus

Belarus

China

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

United States

Article(s)

Inquiry into Australia’s Advocacy for the Worldwide Abolition of the Death Penalty

By Peter Norden, on 25 November 2015

On 17, 20 and 27 November, the Australian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs is conducting public hearings on Australia’s advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty. The World Coalition and its members uses this opportunity to make their voices heard.

2015

Australia

ICJ Kenya Makes Gender Discrimination in Capital Punishment Visible

Article(s)

ICJ Kenya Makes Gender Discrimination in Capital Punishment Visible

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 8 March 2024

Kenya is one of a few target countries for the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty’s “Gender and the Death Penalty” campaign; a campaign that is being conducted in collaboration with its member organisations in the country, namely the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

2024

Gender

Gender

Kenya

Kenya

Article(s)

South Korea’s 5,000th day without an execution an opportunity for abolition

By Martin Carbonell with ADPAN and MVFHR, on 8 September 2011

8th September 2011 marks the 5,000th day without executions in South Korea. Houng-oh Kim, a member of the National Assembly and former Speaker, is aiming to introduce a new bill abolishing the death penalty to mark this occasion.

2011

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Moratorium

Republic of Korea

Article(s)

West African ACATs focus on public opinion and lobbying

By Guillaume Colin (FIACAT), on 28 November 2012

Participants to the meeting held by FIACAT in Senegal mid-November received training on regional abolitionist activism and set priorities for their actions.

2012

Benin

Burkina Faso

Côte d'Ivoire

Ghana

Liberia

Mali

Moratorium

Niger

Public Opinion 

Senegal

Togo

Article(s)

Syrian man’s trial rallies abolitionists against Lebanon’s death penalty

By Paris Bar & AJEM, on 22 May 2014

The Paris Bar and AJEM, two World Coalition member organisations, have been joining forces to defend national and international arguments for abolition in Lebanon.

2014

Lebanon

Article(s)

Puerto Rico hosts a week of World Coalition events

on 16 February 2011

International abolitionists gathered on the Caribbean territory to promote their message and to show solidarity with the local authorities against capital punishment.

2011

Murder Victims' Families

Public Opinion 

Puerto Rico

United States

Article(s)

The strategic path to abolition in Nigeria

By Emile Carreau, on 2 December 2014

Two World Coalition members, Avocats Sans Frontières France and the Paris Bar Association, held a conference on the death penalty in Nigeria in Paris on the 27th of November.

2014

Nigeria

Nigeria

Article(s)

World Coalition publishes abolition guide for parliamentarians

By Maria Donatelli (in Rabat, Morocco), on 9 December 2014

A new handbook gives members of parliaments arguments and advice to work towards abolition in their countries and to support their colleagues abroad.

2014

Morocco

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

More than 1,000 sentenced to death in Iraq in 8 years

By Dr Nasr Abbood, on 1 March 2012

The Iraqi institutions established after the US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein have reinstated the death penalty and extended its scope since 2004. In this op-ed article, Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty president Nassr Abood calls for alternative sentences and for a strong stance from the international community.

2012

Drug Offenses

Iraq

Iraq

Terrorism

Article(s)

African countries discuss Rwandan example in abolition of the death penalty

on 22 October 2011

Kigali hosted the Inter-African conference against the death penalty on 13 and 14 October.

2011

Gabon

Public Opinion 

Rwanda

Rwanda

Article(s)

World Coalition Conference to celebrate 15th anniversary in Washington D.C.

By Aurelie Placais & Jessica Corredor, on 9 June 2017

At the invitation of its American members, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is holding its 15th general meeting at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., USA on 22-24 June 2017.

2017

United States

World Coalition Against the Death Penalyt

Article(s)

NGOs voice fears for dozens of Egyptian prisoners, and hundreds of others, facing execution for drugs-related offenses in Saudi Arabia

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 13 September 2024

We, the undersigned organisations, are gravely fearful for the lives of hundreds of prisoners threatened with imminent execution in Saudi Arabia on drugs-related charges, including 33 Egyptians on a single wing of Tabuk Prison.

2024

Drug Offenses

Saudi Arabia

Article(s)

World Day Buzz In Africa

By Emile Carreau, on 6 October 2011

Conferences, round tables, talks, tours, meetings with politicians, debates, press conferences, sit-ins, cultural evenings, marches and speeches are among the many events that will take place in Africa for this 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty.

2011

Benin

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Moratorium

Murder Victims' Families

Public Opinion 

Rwanda

Article(s)

A World Without the Death Penalty – IX Congress of the Ministers of Justice

By Federica Merenda, on 29 February 2016

On 22 February 2016, the representatives of more than twenty countries gathered in Rome for the 9th International Congress of the Ministers of Justice « A World without the death penalty », organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio and hosted by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Congo, El Salvador, Guinea Conakry, Cȏte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mongolia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe are the countries who joined Italy in the last edition of this annual conference.

2016

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)

Significant but fragile progress in the Great Lakes region

on 1 May 2007

Rwanda and Burundi are apparently close to abolishing the death penalty; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, all references to capital punishment have been removed from the text of the constitution. The death penalty is on borrowed time in these countries scarred by conflicts. For the first time, the region’s abolitionists met in Paris and called for the creation of a regional coalition.

2007

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Tunisian Constitution enshrines right to life but upholds death penalty

By Delphine Judith, on 28 January 2014

After weeks of debates, Tunisia has adopted a new Constitution. As expected by local abolitionists, the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) passed a text allowing capital punishment on 26 January 2014.

2014

Moratorium

Tunisia

Article(s)

According to Taiwanese civil society, new President Tsai Ing-wen might relaunch debate on the abolition of the death penalty

By Marion Gauer, on 31 March 2016

Even though Taiwanese general mindset appears to be quite in favor of death penalty, Taiwanese civil society expects some changes to happen in the application of death penalty under the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen. In his article “Taiwan: Can Tsai Ing-Wen Change the Politics of Death?”, Michael Caster – graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, as well as human rights advocate and civil society consultant based in East Asia – quotes Executive Director of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Lin Hsin-yi, on that controversial matter.

2016

Taiwan

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)

For ACATs, every executed person “is one of us”

on 22 January 2008

Wherever the Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) is present, the struggle against the death penalty is an important element within their commitment to respect for human dignity.

2008

Benin

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Germany

Moratorium

Public Opinion 

Spain

Article(s)

Malawi – five years after abolishing the mandatory death penalty

By Emile Carreau, on 19 September 2012

In 2007 abolitionists celebrated when the High Court of Malawi abolished the mandatory death penalty. In what become known as the Kafanteyeni ruling the mandatory death penalty was deemed by the bench as unconstitutional as it amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of life, denies an accused the right to a fair trial and the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment.

2012

Malawi

Article(s)

Two days to discuss abolition in Morocco

on 27 October 2008

Gathered in Rabat on World Day Against the Death Penalty, Moroccan and international politicians, religious leaders and campaigners held advanced discussions on this subject. The country has not carried out a single execution in the last fifteen years.

2008

Moratorium

Morocco

Article(s)

Opening up the debate in countries with the death penalty

By Penal Reform International, on 19 September 2011

On 19 and 20 September, World Coalition member organisation Penal Reform International (PRI) is bringing 120 people from retentionist countries to London to discuss global trends towards abolition of the death penalty.

2011

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Public Opinion 

Syrian Arab Republic

United Kingdom

Article(s)

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)

Recent US Federal Executions Raise Ethical and Political Issues

By Louis Linel, on 2 September 2020

Two more federal executions were carried out at the end of August in the United States of America. The abolitionist movement in the United States denounces human rights violations, challenges the cost of the death penalty in this time of crisis and even opposes its disrespect for tribal sovereignity.

2020

Fair Trial

Intellectual Disability

Public Opinion 

United States

Article(s)

Logistics and Partnership Manager

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 3 February 2020

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty recruits a logistics and partnership manager for a full time permanent position starting as soon as possible.

2020

Article(s)

The difficult struggle facing Iran’s abolitionists

on 3 September 2007

Iran has taken a dreadful step in the wrong direction in the summer of 2007, through a combination of an increase in executions and the repression of activists opposed to the death penalty.

2007

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Juveniles

Legal Representation

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

A universal tool with regional equivalents

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 2 April 2013

The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is the only universal international treaty that prohibits executions and provides essential mechanisms to entrench the abolition of the death penalty in the world. As of the 15th January 2017, 84 States out of the 169 State parties to the ICCPR […]

2013

Article(s)

World Day: inventiveness against the death penalty

on 23 October 2007

France, Peru, Togo, India… Abolitionist activists sounded a rallying call for the 5th World Day Against the Death Penalty across numerous countries via a variety of initiatives.

2007

Denmark

Mongolia

Peru

Public Opinion 

Republic of Korea

Taiwan

Article(s)

Connecticut increases momentum for abolition

By Elizabeth Zitrin, on 13 April 2012

Lawmakers in the US State of Connecticut have abolished capital punishment and the State’s governor has said that he would sign the bill into law. Elizabeth Zitrin of the US NGO Death Penalty Focus chairs the World Coalition’s working group on the United States. She writes on the significance of this news for the wider abolitionist movement.

2012

Murder Victims' Families

United States

Article(s)

Geneva 2010: uniting abolitionists at all levels

on 28 February 2010

A wide variety of abolitionist actors gathered in Geneva between February 24-26 for the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty. After three days of working sessions, the participants called on abolitionist states and internatinonal institutions to support their efforts.

2010

Switzerland

Article(s)

Capital punishment abolished in Suriname

By Parliamentarians for Global Action, on 6 March 2015

The Parliament of Suriname (photo) has abolished the death penalty in law, setting an example for the Greater Caribbean – a major front line in the global fight against capital punishment. World Coalition member organisation Parliamentarians for Global Action provided crucial support for abolition in Suriname.

2015

Suriname

Suriname

Article(s)

Global overview of women facing the death penalty

By Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and World Coalition, on 10 October 2018

2018

Women

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)

Documenting Human Rights Violations in North Korea

By Hédia Zaalouni, on 16 January 2020

The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) released a report in June 2019 entitled “Mapping the Fate of the Dead (Killings and Burials in North Korea)”.

2020

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Article(s)

Will Arab revolutions bring new hope for abolition?

on 4 April 2011

The winds of change have brought fresh air to the abolitionist cause in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, with new faces in power reigniting a stalled debate.

2011

Algeria

Egypt

Lebanon

Mauritania

Moratorium

Morocco

Public Opinion 

Syrian Arab Republic

Terrorism

Tunisia

Yemen

Article(s)

Caribbean network fleshes out plans for abolition

By Emile Carreau, on 16 January 2014

The Executive Committee of the Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) network, constituted in October 2013, met in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 11 and 12 to devise strategies to combat the death penalty in the region.

2014

Moratorium

Trinidad and Tobago

Article(s)

Mass convictions and executions fuel terrorism in Iraq

By Clémentine Etienne, on 27 June 2018

Mass executions in Iraq since 2017 seem to hide behind the scourge of terrorism, the major argument given by the current government. Will May 2018 elections defeat this government policy and the misuse of the country’s anti-terrorism law to sentence to death?

2018

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

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

Article(s)

Commitment of youth to universal abolition

By Lorène du Crest, on 20 April 2017

On Tuesday, April 18th 2017, Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) held an award ceremony at the City Hall of Paris for their “Educational Project on Human Rights and the Abolition of the Death Penalty”.

2017

Public Opinion 

Article(s)

Chinese lawyers hailed as “heroes for justice”

By Aurélie Plaçais, on 22 June 2013

The role of lawyers in the fight against the death penalty has been discussed from different angles throughout the 5th World Congress, but the testimony of Chinese lawyers caught most people’s attention.

2013

China

Fair Trial

Legal Representation

Article(s)

Arab abolitionists organise to act together

on 8 August 2007

Abolitionists in the Arab World have been generating increased mobilisation and improved co-ordination, with the assistance of Penal Reform International, a member of the World Coalition.

2007

Algeria

Egypt

Jordan

Lebanon

Moratorium

Morocco

State of Palestine

Tunisia

Yemen

Article(s)

Iran: indiscriminate executions continue

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 4 November 2013

The United Nations, the European Union and the international community must put the situation of the death penalty at the top of the agenda in their dialogue with Iran.

2013

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Fair Trial

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Article(s)

West African governments and civil society discuss death penalty in Freetown

on 16 January 2014

Hands Off Cain organised a conference on the abolition and moratorium of the death penalty in West Africa on January 13 and 14, in partnership with the government of Sierra Leone and with support from the World Coalition, the European Union and FIACAT.

2014

Benin

Guinea

Guyana

Italy

Mali

Moratorium

Niger

Rwanda

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Togo

United Kingdom

Article(s)

Indian ruling highlights importance of next World Day

By Emile Carreau, on 3 February 2014

On 21 January, India’s Supreme Court formally banned the execution of mentally ill prisoners and in doing so highlighted why this year’s World Day against the Death Penalty, which is dedicated to issues of mental health, is so important.

2014

India

Intellectual Disability

Mental Illness

Article(s)

The Abolition of the Death Penalty in Tunisia, a Fight Against Torture

By Organization Against Torture in Tunisia, on 18 June 2020

In its 2019 annual report, the Organization Against Torture in Tunisia (Organisation contre la torture en Tunisie, OCTT) denounced the death penalty and identified it as the most cruel form of torture.

2020

Moratorium

Tunisia

The Death Penalty Information Center’s 2023 report

Article(s)

The unprecedent shift in attitudes towards abolition in the US

By World coalition against the death penaly, on 22 March 2024

The Death Penalty Information Center’s 2023 report highlights a rising trend towards abolition in the US, evidenced by a decrease in states conducting executions and heightened backing for individuals asserting innocence. In 2023, the United States witnessed 24 executions, 21 death sentences, and three exonerations, reflecting this evolving trend. 

2024

Trend Towards Abolition

United States

Article(s)

Japan executes mentally ill people and pushes prisoners over the edge

on 11 September 2009

The Japanese government continues to execute prisoners with psychiatric illnesses and the conditions on death row provoke mental disorders among inmates, according to a new Amnesty International report.

2009

Death Row Conditions 

Japan

Mental Illness

Amnesty Annual report

Article(s)

Increase in the number of executions, but clear progress toward abolition in 2022

By World coalition against the death penalty, on 18 September 2023

On 16 May, Amnesty International published their annual report on the global use of the death penalty, which shows the overall number and trends in sentencing and executions in 2022.

2023

Trend Towards Abolition

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Article(s)

Statement on the occasion of the adoption of the upr report of Mauritania

By Together against the death penalty, the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights, The Advocates for Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 2 August 2021

Together against the death penalty, the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights, The Advocates for Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty welcome the adoption of the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Mauritania by the Human Rights Council.

2021

Mauritania

Moratorium

Article(s)

Asia: Stop executions and unfair trials

By ADPAN, on 6 December 2011

A hard-line group of Asian countries are defying the global trend against the death penalty and putting to death thousands of people after unfair trials every year, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said today in a new report.

2011

UN Moratorium Plenary Session Vote

Article(s)

Statement on the Adoption of the 8th UN General Assembly Resolution for a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 December 2020

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty warmly congratulates the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the adoption of Resolution A/RES/75/183 for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which was adopted by a great majority of 123 UN Member States on 16 December 2020.

2020

Moratorium

Article(s)

Global outrage at Iranian juvenile execution

on 6 May 2009

Human rights organisations and governments worldwide have slammed the Iranian authorities for the illegal execution of Delara Darabi, a young woman convicted of a murder committed when she was 17.

2009

Innocence

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Juveniles

Article(s)

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)

Flurry of initiatives against the death penalty at ACATs in the past year

on 7 August 2007

During the past year, the 28 member associations in the FIACAT network have given their abolitionist activities a boost. The issue of the death penalty is at the heart of their mission.

2007

Belgium

Burundi

Canada

Democratic Republic of the Congo

France

Luxembourg

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Article(s)

The death penalty and the situation in Africa debated in Kinshasa

on 17 October 2011

A debate led by members of the World Coalition in the Democratic Republic of Congo discussed international law, local sensitivities and abolition.

2011

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Fair Trial

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)

Article(s)

California narrowly rejects abolition

By Thomas Hubert, on 8 November 2012

Citizens of the largest US state have voted against an initiative to replace the death penalty with life sentences, but the results show abolitionist views have gained significant ground through the referendum campaign.

2012

Public Opinion 

United States

Article(s)

A mission of the International Commission against the Death Penalty to the United States

By International Commission against the Death Penalty and Emmanuel Trépied, on 21 July 2017

A delegation of the International Commission against the Death Penalty met US Governors and Attorney Generals to discuss the situation of the death penalty in their respective states and issues related to possible steps towards ending the practice of capital punishment in the United States.

2017

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Moratorium

United States

Article(s)

From restrictions to abolition

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 17 August 2012

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has published a new report and called for abolition of the death penalty.

2012

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)