INDEX

The World Coalition is holding its General Assembly between 20-22 June in San Juan, Puerto Rico and invites the public to take part in the event.

Following the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on 29 April, the United Nations called on the United States to suspend executions in the face of potential international law violations. The World Coalition supports this appeal.

With the recent execution of five prisoners in Taiwan, World Coalition member organisation, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), is feeling a sense of déjà vu.

The increased number of prisoners executed for offences committed before they turned 18 is in clear violation of Iran’s international commitments, the World Coalition says in the statement below.

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.

Despite an execution this month, Amnesty International’s latest annual report on the death penalty shows Belarus did not kill any prisoner last year, meaning Europe and Central Asia was execution-free for the first time since 2009. This achievement bolsters local abolitionists – despite the risks they face in their activism.

The UN has renewed the mandate of its special rapporteur on Iran as a new IHR/ECPM annual report exposes rising execution numbers since increased engagement between President Rohani and the West.

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.

“China’s position is to retain the death penalty, but strictly and prudently limit its application according to law,” said the world’s top executioner after it rejected all 20 UPR recommendations to curb capital punishment.