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Document(s)
The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases At Enormous Costs to All
By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2013
2013
Academic report
More details See the document
The 2% Death PenaltyEXECUTIVE SUMMARYContrary to the assumption that the death penalty is widely practiced across thecountry, it isactuallythe domain of a small percentage of U.S. counties in a handful ofstates. The burdens created by this narrow but aggressive use, however, areshiftedtothe majority of counties that almost never use it.The disparate and highly clustered use of the death penalty raises seriousquestions of unequal and arbitraryapplication of the law. It also forcesthejurisdictionsthat have resisted the death penalty for decadesto pay fora costlylegalprocess thatisoftenmarred withinjustice.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Statistics,
Document(s)
Annual Report on the Death Penalty: The Case of Puerto Rico – 2015
By Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Puerto Rico
fresMore details Download [ pdf - 98 Ko ]
After a presentation of the legislation regarding the death penalty in Puerto Rico, the report covers the death penalty situation in the State in 2015 (Puerto Ricans facing the death penalty in Puerto Rico and well as in U.S. states).
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Puerto Rico
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Rapport annuel Peine de Mort: le cas de Porto Rico - 2015Informe Anual Pena de Muerte: El Caso de Puerto Rico 2015
Document(s)
The abolition of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in Eastern Europe: Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
By Penal Reform International / Alla Pokras, on 1 January 2012
2012
NGO report
ruMore details See the document
This research paper focuses on the application of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in three countries of Eastern Europe: the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and kraine. Its aim is to provide up-to-date information about the laws and practices relating to the application of the death penalty in this region, including an analysis of the alternative sanctions to the death penalty and whether they reflect international human rights standards and norms.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Phenomenon, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Отмена смертной казни и ее альтернативы в странах Восточной Европы: Беларуси, России, Украине
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 1 January 2014
2014
International law - Regional body
More details See the document
The 2014 Background Paper covers the period from 1 July 2013 to 30 June2014. It highlights changes in the status of the death penalty in the OSCE areathat have taken place since the publication of the 2013 Background Paper.8As inprevious years, the background paper provides information on two participatingStates – Belarus and the United States of America – that continue to impose thedeath penalty, and on four participating States – Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia andTajikistan – that are de facto abolitionist, but retain the death penalty in law. It alsoprovides an overview of relevant developments in some of the 51 OSCE participatingStates that have an abolitionist status.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Statistics,
Document(s)
Spectacle of the Scaffold? The Politics of Death Penalty in Indonesia
By Deasy Simandjuntak, on 1 January 2015
2015
Article
Indonesia
More details See the document
Simandjuntak’s article comes back to the death sentences part of the “war against drugs” conducted by President Widjojo in Indonesia. In 2015, 14 drug convicts – mostly foreign nationals – have been executed. The article also comes back to the wide support to the death penalty in the country, on the debate on the presumed deterrent effect of the death penalty and on the political function of the capital punishment in Indonesia.
- Document type Article
- Countries list Indonesia
- Themes list Public opinion, Deterrence , Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Call by the NHRIs to Strengthen and Broaden the Fight Against the Death Penalty
By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2019
2019
Multimedia content
frMore details See the document
Call by the NHRIs to Strengthen and Broaden the Fight Against the Death Penalty
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Appel des INDH en faveur du renforcement et de l'élargissement du combat contre la peine de mort
Document(s)
Oral Statement from the Quaker United Nations Office during the Panel on Children of Parents Sentenced to the Death Penalty or Executed, Human Rights Council, 24th Session.
By Quaker United Nations Office, on 1 January 2013
2013
Multimedia content
More details Download [ - 0 Ko ]
Oral Statement from the Quaker United Nations Office during the Panel on Children of Parents Sentenced to the Death Penalty or Executed, Human Rights Council, 24th Session.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Juveniles, International law, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON REVIEW OF THE MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE UNDER SECTION 204 OF THE PENAL CODE
By THE TASK FORCE ON REVIEW OF THE MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE , on 1 January 2019
2019
International law - Regional body
More details See the document
The report incorporates the results of the audit and recommendations for the design of a comprehensive framework for resentence hearings of capital offenders in Kenya. The framework could guide courts to conduct the resentence hearing process in a structured and evidence-based manner, taking into consideration all the key information that is necessary for mitigation, reintegration and resettlement needs of the offenders, allow the input of the victims, families and communities to be considered, and ensure consistency in resentencing judgments across the country.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Executing the Insane Is Against the Law of the Land. So Why Do We Keep Doing It?
By Stephanie Mencimer / Mother Jones, on 1 January 2015
2015
Article
United States
More details See the document
A recent article in Mother Jones examines lingering questions in the determination of which inmates are exempt from execution because of mental incompetency. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ford v. Wainwright that a person could not be executed if he or she was “unaware of the punishment they’re about to suffer and why they are to suffer it.” The 2007 ruling in Panetti v. Quarterman updated that decision, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing, “A prisoner’s awareness of the State’s rationale for an execution is not the same as a rational understanding of it.” Scott Panetti (pictured), the inmate involved in the 2007 case, knew that the state of Texas planned to execute him for the murder of his in-laws, but also sincerely believed that he was at the center of a struggle between God and Satan and was being executed to stop him from preaching the Gospel.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Intellectual Disability,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2020: Year-End Report
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2020
2020
NGO report
United States
More details See the document
2020 was abnormal in almost every way, and that was clearly the case when it came to capital punishment in the United States. The interplay of four forces shaped the U.S. death penalty landscape in 2020: the nation’s long-term trend away from capital punishment; the worst global pandemic in more than a century; nationwide protests for racial justice; and the historically aberrant conduct of the federal administration. At the end of the year, more states had abolished the death penalty or gone ten years without an execution, more counties had elected reform prosecutors who pledged never to seek the death penalty or to use it more sparingly; fewer new death sentences were imposed than in any prior year since the Supreme Court struck down U.S. death penalty laws in 1972; and despite a six-month spree of federal executions without parallel in the 20th or 21st centuries, fewer executions were carried out than in any year in nearly three decades.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America’s Future
By Bruce Shapiro / Rev. Jesse L. Jackson / Anchor , on 8 September 2020
2020
Book
United States
More details See the document
In this collaborative work, the Jacksons, father (former presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow Coalition) and son (a congressional representative) with Salon.com editor Shapiro, pursue a nationwide conversation on the issues surrounding the death penalty one that begins with the proposal of a moratorium and could lead to the eventual cessation of capital punishment. This book describes a bureaucratic nightmare involving defense lawyers asleep at trial, vengeance-hungry politicos and a problematic, imperfect justice system in which the handing out of death sentences is skewed, both racially and economically. An objective examination of this penal system would be beneficial to all, say the authors: since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976, one in every eight prisoners on death row has been found innocent and released. There are undoubtedly cases, the authors argue, where the proof of innocence didn’t see the light of day in time. Navigating the historical precedents of the death penalty and the reasons why federally mandated executions were restored following a 10-year moratorium imposed in 1967, the authors thoroughly detail legitimate questions regarding what they view as erroneous deterrence theories, scriptural misrepresentation and simple vengeance.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Japan: A report on Japan’s legal obligations under the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and an assessment of public attitudes to capital punishment
By Saul Lehrfreund / Death Penalty Project, on 8 September 2020
NGO report
Japan
More details See the document
This report was commissioned by the Death Penalty Project in order to assess Japan’s legal obligations on the use of the death penalty under the ICCPR, and to examine the related subject of public attitudes toward capital punishment in Japan.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list International law, Public opinion,
Document(s)
Foreign nationals facing the death penalty in the USA: the important role of consular officials
By Reprieve, on 1 January 2012
2012
Lobbying
More details See the document
This video explains the role of consular officers in protecting their nationals when they face the death penalty abroad.
- Document type Lobbying
- Themes list Foreign Nationals,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2013: Year End Report
By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2013
2013
NGO report
More details See the document
On December 19, the Death Penalty Information Center released its annual report on the latest developments in capital punishment, “The Death Penalty in 2013: Year End Report.” In 2013, executions declined, fewer states imposed death sentences, and the size of death row decreased compared to the previous year. The number of states with the death penalty also dropped, and public support for capital punishment registered a 40-year low. There were 39 executions in the U.S., marking only the second time in 19 years that there were less than 40. Just two states, Texas (16) and Florida (7), were responsible for 59% of the executions. The number of death sentences (80) remained near record lows, and several major death penalty states, inclucing Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana, imposed no death sentences this year. Maryland became the sixth state in six years to abolish capital punishment.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Statistics,
Document(s)
Detailed Factsheet: Women and the Death Penalty
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 July 2021
2021
Campaigning
Women
frMore details Download [ pdf - 534 Ko ]
On 10 October 2021, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and other abolitionist organizations worldwide will celebrate the 19th World Day Against the Death Penalty.
This year, the World Day is dedicated to women who risk being sentenced to death, who have received a death sentence, who have been executed, and to those who have had their death sentences commuted, exonerated, or pardoned.
This detailed factsheet will use the phrase “women sentenced to death” as an inclusive phrase for all of these categories. As women represent a small percentage of those on death row globally, very little has been reported about these women. Yet we can learn much by analyzing their crimes, their lives prior to the crimes, and the conditions under which they are detained on death row.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Women
- Available languages Fiche d'information détaillée: Femmes et la peine de mort
Document(s)
The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective
By Roger Hood / Carolyn Hoyle / Oxford University Press, on 1 January 2014
2014
Book
More details See the document
The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective by Roger Hood and Carolyn Hoyle is the Fourth Edition of a text that highlights the latest developments in the death penalty around the world. Roger Hood utilizes his experience as a consultant to the United Nations’ annual survey of capital punishment in compiling a wide range of information from non-governmental organizations and academic literature. The book explores both the advances in legal challenges to the death penalty and the reduction in executions, while noting the continued existence of human rights abuses. Problems include unfair trails, police abuse, painful forms of execution, and excessive periods of time spent in inhumane conditions on death row. The authors explore the latest issues related to capital punishment such as deterrence, arbitrariness, and what influence victims’ families should have in sentencing.
- Document type Book
- Themes list Death Penalty,
Document(s)
2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty: Not the Solution to Drug-Related Crimes
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
More details See the document
Drug-related offences are still punishable with the death penalty in more than 30 countries despite clear restrictions set out in international law to limit use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”. The 2015 World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October) draws attention to the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a human rights violation.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Drug Offences,
Document(s)
The Waiver and Withdrawal of Death Penalty Appeals as “Extreme Communicative Acts”
By Avi Brisman / Western Criminology Review, on 1 January 2010
2010
Article
United States
More details See the document
This paper explores the power struggle between the State and the condemned over the timing and conditions under which an inmate is executed. It begins with a discussion of current public opinion about the death penalty and the ways in which the death penalty has been resisted. Next, it describes capital defendants who elect execution over life imprisonment and considers some of the reasons proffered for waiver and withdrawal. This paper then contemplates whether some instances of “volunteering” should be regarded as “extreme communicative acts” (Wee 2004, 2007)—nonlinguistic communicative acts that are usually associated with protest, especially in the context of a lengthy political struggle (such as hunger strikes, self-immolation, and the chopping off of one’s fingers). In so doing, this paper weighs in on the larger questions of who ultimately controls the body of the condemned and what governmental opposition to waiver and withdrawal may reveal about the motives and rationale for the death penalty. This paper also furthers research on how the prison industrial complex is resisted and how State power more generally is negotiated.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Politics and The Death Penalty: Can Rational Discourse and Due Process Survive the Perceived Political Pressure?
By Norman Redlich / Fordham Urban Law Journal, on 1 January 1994
1994
Article
United States
More details See the document
This article is a transcript from a program sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities entitled, “Politics and the Death Penalty: Can Rational Discourse and Due Process Survive the Perceived Political Pressure?” In it, Norman Redlich discusses his experience litigating organizing the New York State Justice-PAC, a political action committee which promoted anti-death penalty candidates for the New York State legislature, and challenges the notion that there is overwhelming public support in the United States of America for the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public debate, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Study on the question of the death penalty in Africa
By African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights / Working Group on the Death Penalty in Africa, on 1 January 2011
2011
Book
frMore details See the document
The document broadly looks at the historical, human rights law, and practical aspects of the death penalty. It takes a comprehensive approach to the question of the death penalty, bearing in mind the need to provide the African Commission with sufficient information that will enable it to take an informed position on the matter.
- Document type Book
- Themes list International law, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Etude sur la question de la peine de mort en afrique
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Taiwan: a Report on Taiwan’s legal obligations under the ICCPR
By David T. Johnson / The Death Penalty Project / Wen-Chen Chang, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Taiwan
More details See the document
The report highlights specific aspects of Taiwan’s domestic legal order that does not meet the minimum standards under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Taiwan passed legislation to incorporate the ICCPR into the domestic legal order in 2009, yet the current death penalty practice is largely out of line with the contemporary understanding of the ICCPR as it relates to the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Taiwan
- Themes list International law, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Punishment at all Costs: On Religion, Convicting the Innocent, and Supporting the Death Penalty
By Robert L. Young / William & Mary Bill of rights journal 9(1), 237-46., on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
This Paper explores the impact of the belief structure among white fundamentalist denominations on the support for the death penalty. Professor Robert L. Young observes that the tenets of fundamentalism, as well as the great extent thatfundamentalists conform to the positions oftheir clergy, support this link between fundamentalism anda punitive orientation toward wrongdoers. Professor Young explains that members in white fundamentalist churches, to a greater extent than others, are inclined toward a negative view of human nature, which in turn leads to the belief that letting the guilty go free is a more serious mistake than convicting the innocent. This relative tolerance for convicting the innocent has a direct impact on support for the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public opinion,
Document(s)
Alternatives to the Death Penalty: The Problems with Life Imprisonment
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This briefing examines the use of life imprisonment worldwide, including the increasing trend of life imprisonment without the possibility of release, or life without parole (LWOP). Emerging trends indicate an increase in the number of offences carrying the sanction of life imprisonment, a greater prevalence of indeterminate sentencing, a reduction in the use of parole, and the lengthening of prison terms as a whole. The abolition of the death penalty has played a significant role in the increased use of life imprisonment sentences, and LWOP in particular. Conditions of detention and the treatment of prisoners serving life sentences are often far worse than those for the rest of the prison population and more likely to fall below international human rights standards.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Sentencing Alternatives,
Document(s)
Drug-related Offences, Criminal Justice Responses and the Use of the Death Penalty in South-East Asia
By Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 1 January 2019
2019
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
Most of the world’s countries or territories have either abolished the death penalty or no longer use it. More than half of those that retain the death penalty, of which many are in South-East Asia, do so for drug-related offences. Most prisoners on death row in South-East Asia have been convicted of drug-related offences, although law and practice vary considerably among countries that retain the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Death Penalty, Statistics,
Document(s)
Slavery and the Death Penalty
By Routledge / Bharat Malkani, on 1 January 2018
2018
Book
United States
More details See the document
It has long been acknowledged that the death penalty in the United States of America has been shaped by the country’s history of slavery and racial violence, but this book considers the lesser-explored relationship between the two practices’ respective abolitionist movements. The book explains how the historical and conceptual links between slavery and capital punishment have both helped and hindered efforts to end capital punishment. The comparative study also sheds light on the nature of such efforts, and offers lessons for how death penalty abolitionism should proceed in future. Using the history of slavery and abolition, it is argued that anti-death penalty efforts should be premised on the ideologies of the radical slavery abolitionists.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
ASEAN’s legacy of hope A short video about many of the weakness of a justice system that relies on the death penalty
By Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty in ASEAN (CADPA), on 1 January 2017
2017
Multimedia content
More details See the document
Drawing on dramatic footage from famous cases, told by the priests and lawyers who knew them, this video depicts the death penalty as a cruel and inhumane practice that persists even through weaknesses in our legal systems might mean we are killing innocent people even though no evidence exists to suggest that the death penalty serves as a deterrent.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Themes list Due Process , Moratorium , Networks, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Crossing the line: Rape-murder and the death penalty
By Phyllis L. Crocker / Ohio Northern Law Review 26(3), 689-723., on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
When a woman is raped and then murdered, it is among the most horrifying of crimes. It is also, often, among the most sensational, notorious, and galvanizing of cases. In 1964, Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered in Queens, New York. Her murder sparked soul-searching across the country because her neighbors heard her cries for help and did not respond: it made us question whether we had become an uncaring people. During the 1970s and 80s a number of serial killers raped and murdered their victims: including Ted Bundy in Florida and William George Bonin, the “Freeway Killer,” in Southern California. In the 1990s, the sexual assault-murder of seven- year-old Megan Kanka in New Jersey contributed to a firestorm of states passing sex offender notification statutes. Rolando Cruz was released from Illinois death row in 1995, after serving eleven years for a crime he did not commit: the rape and murder of ten-year-old Jeanine Nicarico. The crime itself sent shock waves through the Chicago metropolitan area and pressure to quickly solve it contributed to Cruz’s arrest and conviction. In each instance the rape- murder terrified us and made us want to impose the severest of punishments. This explores the crime and punishment of those convicted of committed rape .murder
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Prison conditions for women facing the death penalty: A factsheet
By Penal Reform International / Cornwell Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2018
2018
Campaigning
frMore details See the document
There are at least 500 women currently on death row around the world. While exact figures are impossible to obtain, it is estimated that over 100 women have been executed in the last 10 years – and potentially hundreds more. Little empirical data exists about the crimes for which women have been sentenced to death, the circumstances of their lives before their convictions, and the conditions under which they are detained on death row. This Factsheet focuses on the latter topic, with some introductory remarks on the profiles of women under sentence of death. It draws on research published by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2018, which has shed light on this much-neglected population.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Women,
- Available languages Conditions de détention des femmes condamnées à mort : Une fiche détaillée
Document(s)
Public Opinion on the Death Penalty in China: Results from a General Population Survey Conducted in Three Provinces in 2007/08
By Shenghui Qi / Dietrich Oberwittler / Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, on 1 January 2008
2008
Article
China
More details See the document
The present project is concerned with the significant role that public opinion plays in the debate surrounding the death penalty and criminal policy in the People’s Republic of China, including possible public reaction to any planned abolishment of the death penalty. How is public opinion on the death penalty exhibited in China? What influence does public opinion on the death penalty have on legislative and judicial practice in China? The principal goal of the project is to analyze the links that exist between public opinion, criminal policy, legislation and legal practice, and to initiate attitudinal changes amongst political and legal actors as well as the public at large. A further objective is to guide Chinese criminal law reform, particularly with regard to a possible reduction in the number of capital offences, against the background of the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Public opinion,
Document(s)
Enduring Injustice. The Peristence of Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Death Penalty
By Death Penalty Information Center / Ngozi Ndulue, on 1 January 2020
2020
NGO report
United States
More details See the document
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
Leaflet World Day 2007: Stop the Death Penalty, the World Decides
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2007
2007
Arguments against the death penalty
frMore details Download [ pdf - 195 Ko ]
To inform the public and invite everyone to take action, this leaflet: presents arguments against the death penalty, presents the campaign for a worldwide moratorium on death penalty, presents the World Day against the Death penalty, invites all citizens and organisations to take action and to sign the international appeal for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Brochure journée mondiale 2007 : Non à la peine de mort ! Le monde décide
Document(s)
PUBLIC OPINION ON THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY IN TRINIDAD: A SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS OF A SURVEY
By Florence Seemungal / Roger Hood / The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2011
2011
NGO report
More details See the document
A survey of the opinions of a representative sample of 1,000 residents of Trinidad, almost all of them citizens, on the very topical subject of the death penalty, in particular the support for and use of the mandatory death penalty for murder under current Trinidadian law, has just been completed. The data was collected in Trinidad (but not Tobago for reasons largely of the cost involved in collecting a small sample of interviews) by face-to-face interviews between 16th November and 16th December 2010.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Public opinion,
Document(s)
Nigeria: The death penalty and women under the Nigerian penal systems
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2004
2004
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
The recent extension in parts of Nigeria of the death penalty to areas many consider to be private aspects of life has focused the debate on both the appropriateness of the death penalty in general and on the use of the criminal justice system as a way to regulate sexual behaviour. Amnesty International Believes that the death penalty in its application in Nigeria in particular violates women’s human rights to access to justice, according to international human rights law and standards, and has a discriminatory effect on women in certain cases and for certain crimes. This becomes especially serious in cases of capital punishment which is severely affecting women from deprived socio-economic backgrounds and remote areas.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Women,
- Available languages NIGÉRIA : Les femmes et la peine de mortNigeria : Las mujeres y la pena de muerte en los sistemas penales nigerianos
Document(s)
A Heavy Thumb on the Scale: The Effect of Victim Iimpact Evidence On Capital Decision Making
By Ray Paternoster / Criminology / Jerome Deise, on 1 January 2011
2011
Article
United States
More details See the document
The past several decades have seen the emergence of a movement in the criminal justice system that has called for a greater consideration for the rights of victims. One manifestation of this movement has been the “right” of victims or victims’ families to speak to the sentencing body through what are called victim impact statements about the value of the victim and the full harm that the offender has created. Although victim impact statements have been a relatively noncontroversial part of regular criminal trials, their presence in capital cases has had a more contentious history. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned previous decisions and explicitly permitted victim impact testimony in capital cases in Payne v. Tennessee (1991). The dissenters in that case argued that such evidence only would arouse the emotions of jurors and bias them in favor of imposing death. A body of research in behavioral economics on the “identifiable victim effect” and the “identifiable wrongdoer effect” would have supported such a view. Using a randomized controlled experiment with a death-eligible sample of potential jurors and the videotape of an actual penalty trial in which victim impact evidence (VIE) was used, we found that these concerns about VIE are perhaps well placed. Subjects who viewed VIE testimony in the penalty phase were more likely to feel negative emotions like anger, hostility, and vengeance; were more likely to feel sympathy and empathy toward the victim; and were more likely to have favorable perceptions of the victim and victim’s family as well as unfavorable perceptions of the offender. We found that these positive feelings toward the victim and family were in turn related to a heightened risk of them imposing the death penalty. We found evidence that part of the effect of VIE on the decision to impose death was mediated by emotions of sympathy and empathy. We think our findings open the door for future work to put together better the causal story that links VIE to an increased inclination to impose death as well as explore possible remedies.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
Document(s)
Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa: A Human Rights Perspective
By Lilian Chenwi / Pretoria University Law Press, on 1 January 2007
2007
Book
More details See the document
In “Towards the abolition of the death penalty in Africa – a human rights perspective”, the author shows that international law increasingly recognises that the imposition and execution of the death penalty constitute violations of human rights. The author locates an emerging international trend towards the abolition of capital punishment in the African context. In doing so, she provides a particular African perspective on the issue. In this rich and informative text, she reflects on the role and impact of relevant UN instruments on African states, and analyses related African regional instruments, domestic law and case-law.
- Document type Book
Document(s)
Resolution 67/176 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2012 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/67/457/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 67/176. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار ٦٧/١٧٦ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامResolución 67/176 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerte.Résolution 67/176 - Moratoire sur l'application de la peine de mortРезолюция 67/176 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议67/176 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
High-Level Panel Discussion On The Question Of The Death Penalty
By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / Human Rights Council, on 1 January 2019
2019
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 26/2 and 36/17. It provides a summary of the high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty held on 26 February 2019 at the fortieth session of the Council. The panel discussion addressed human rights violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to the rights to non-discrimination and equality.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list International law, Discrimination,
- Available languages حلقة نقاش رفيعة ااستوى بشأن سألة عقوبة اإلعدامОбсуждение вопроса о смертной казни в рамках дискуссионной группы высокого уровняRéunion-Débat De Haut Niveau Sur La Question De La Peine De Mort死刑问题高级别小组讨论会Mesa Redonda De Alto Nivel Sobre La Cuestión De La Pena De Muerte
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/77
By United Nations, on 1 January 2003
2003
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from January 2001 through December 2002, in order to ensure that there are no gaps in coverage since the last version of the sixth quinquennial report which covered information up to the end of 2000. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, which is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages الموضوع العقوبة الاعدام : تقرير الأمين العام مقدم بشأن قرار اللجنة للحقوق الانسان 2002/77Вопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаря, представляемый в соответствии с резолюцией 2002/77 КомиссииQuestion de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général présenté en application de la résolution 2002/77死刑问题: 秘书长按照委员会第2002/77 号决议提交的报告Cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General presentado de conformidad con la resolución 2002/77 de la Comisión
Document(s)
The “New Abolitionism” and the Possibilities of Legislative Action: The New Hampshire Experience
By Sarat Austin / Ohio State Law Journal, on 1 January 2002
2002
Article
United States
More details See the document
Recently, the work of the abolitionist community has shifted from the courts to the legislatures. In this article, Professor Sarat examines the significance of what he calls the “new abolitionism” in the politics of legislation aimed at changing or ending the death penalty. The author describes the new abolitionism in detail and then examines its role in the May 2000 vote of the New Hampshire State Legislature to repeal the death penalty. The author concludes that the focus of the new abolitionism on the practical liabilities of our system of capital punishment makes it possible for legislators to oppose the death penalty whilepresenting themselves as guardians of widely shared values and the integrity and fairness of our legal institutions.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Confronting the Death Penalty. How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases
By Oxford University Press / Robin Conley, on 1 January 2015
2015
Book
United States
More details See the document
Confronting the Death Penalty: How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases probes how jurors make the ultimate decision about whether another human being should live or die. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative linguistic methods, this book explores the means through which language helps to make death penalty decisions possible – how specific linguistic choices mediate and restrict jurors’, attorneys’, and judges’ actions and experiences while serving and reflecting on capital trials. By focusing on how language can both facilitate and stymie empathic encounters, the book addresses a conflict inherent to death penalty trials: jurors literally face defendants during trial and then must distort, diminish, or negate these face-to-face interactions in order to sentence those same defendants to death. The book reveals that jurors cite legal ideologies of rational, dispassionate decision-making – conveyed in the form of authoritative legal language – when negotiating these moral conflicts. By investigating the interface between experiential and linguistic aspects of legal decision-making, the book breaks new ground in studies of law and language, language and psychology, and the death penalty.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Public opinion, Public debate, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Japanese Moratorium on the Death Penalty
By Mika Obara-Minnitt, on 1 January 2016
2016
Book
Japan
More details See the document
While the number of states that retain capital punishment is declining, Japan has maintained the death penalty in its legislation. In the case of Japan, the government has consistently justified the retention and use of the death penalty on the basis of national law. However, the country as recently experienced a number of de facto moratorium periods on executions. This book addresses how the Ministry of Justice in Japan has justified capital punishment policy during these de facto moratorium periods. The primary goal of this volume is to provide a better understanding of the elite-driven nature of the capital punishment system in Japan. It also addresses the domestic and cultural factors of the capital punishment policy and the rhetoric of the Ministry of Justice in its justification of capital punishment policy.
- Document type Book
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list Moratorium , Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Surviving Execution: A Miscarriage of Justice and the Fight to End the Death Penalty
By Ian Woods / Atlantic Books, on 1 January 2018
2018
Book
United States
More details See the document
Imagine being condemned to death for murder, when even the prosecutors admit that you didn’t actually kill anyone. This is what happened to Richard Glossip.Despite being convicted on the word of the actual self-confessed killer, the state of Oklahoma is still intent on executing him.Ian Woods, a reporter for Sky News in the UK, came across the case, and has tirelessly campaigned ever since to bring the injustices Glossip has faced to the world’s attention.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
Does the Death Penalty Deter Homicide in Japan?
By David T. Johnson / Asian Law Centre, on 1 January 2017
2017
Multimedia content
Japan
More details See the document
Unlike the United States, where death penalty and deterrence studies are legion, there has been little research about the death penalty and deterrence in Japan, though the paucity of studies has not discouraged citizens and officials from making confident claims about this issue. Indeed, deterrence has been called “the core of argumentation for and against” the death penalty in Japan. Serious research on this subject has beenall but impossible because of difficulties obtaining decent crime data from the Japanese government. This paper uses monthly homicide and robbery-homicide statistics thatwere previously unavailable to examine whether death sentences and executions in Japan deterred these crimes from 1990 to 2010. The main finding is that the death penalty did not deter homicide or robbery-homicide during this period. More research is needed on this subject, but at present the Japanese government has no sound basis for continuing to claim that the country needs to retain the death penalty because it detersheinous crime.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list Japan
- Themes list Deterrence , Death Penalty,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the USA
By Robert Dunham, on 8 September 2020
2020
Multimedia content
United States
More details Download [ pdf - 3888 Ko ]
Presentation of Robert Dunham, Death Penalty Information Center, for the plenary session on the death penalty in the USA which took place during the 2017 General Assembly of the World Coalition.
- Document type Multimedia content
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Leaflet World Day 2011 on the inhumanity of the death penalty
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2011
2011
Campaigning
frMore details Download [ pdf - 242 Ko ]
This information leaflet about the 2011 World Day on the inhumanity of the death penalty gives background information, 10 arguments to end the death penalty and 10 things you can do to abolish the death penalty.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages Brochure Journée mondiale 2011 : "La peine de mort est inhumaine"
Document(s)
Promotion by Council of Europe member states of an international moratorium on the death penalty
By Council of Europe / M. Pietro MARCENARO, on 1 January 2007
2007
International law - Regional body
frMore details See the document
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights confirms its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. It takes pride in its decisive contribution to making the member states of the Council of Europe a de facto death penalty-free zone. It notes with satisfaction that the death penalty is on the decline world-wide, as shown by a 25% decrease in executions and death sentences between 2005 and 2006. More than 90% of known executions in 2006 took place in only six countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, and the United States of America – an observer state of the Council of Europe.The small number of countries that still resort to executions on a significant scale is becoming increasingly isolated in the international community. Between 1977 and 2006, the number of abolitionist countries rose from 16 to 89. This number increases to 129 if one includes those countries which have not carried out anyexecutions for the past 10 years or more.A moratorium is an important step as it saves lives at once and has the potential of demonstrating to the public in retentionist countries that an end to state-sponsored killings does not lead to any increase in violent crime. On the contrary, a moratorium on executions can bring about a change of atmosphere in society fostering greater respect for the sanctity of human life, and thus contribute to reversing the trend towards ever-increasing hate and violence.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Moratorium ,
- Available languages L’engagement des Etats membres du Conseil de l’Europe à promouvoir au niveau international un moratoire sur la peine de mort
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2010
By Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Albania
ruMore details See the document
This paper updates The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2009.It is intended to provide a concise update to highlight changes in the status of thedeath penalty in OSCE participating States since the previous publication and topromote constructive discussion of this issue. It covers the period from 1 July 2009to 30 June 2010. —– To find past OSCE papers please visit: http://www.osce.org/documents?keys=The+Death+Penalty+in+the+OSCE+Area+-+Background+Paper+
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Albania
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages Смертная казнь в регионе ОБСЕ. Справочный документ за 2010 г.
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the Great Lakes Region of Africa: protagonists, arguments and strategies
By Franck Gorchs-Chacou / Caroline Sculier / World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2008
2008
NGO report
frMore details Download [ pdf - 323 Ko ]
Focusing in particular on four of the region’s countries – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda –, this research work aspires to become a practical tool for Great Lakes’ activists: after describing the state of play of the death penalty in the region, it examines the factors arguing in favour of its abolition and suggests strategies for individual and collective action.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
- Available languages La peine de mort dans l’Afrique des Grands Lacs : acteurs, arguments et stratégies
Document(s)
2014 Report – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to its resolution 67/176. It discusses trends towardsthe abolition of the death penalty andthe establishment of moratoriums on executions. The report also reflects on the application of international standards relating to the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty and discusses various international and regional initiativesfor the implementation of resolution67/176.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list International law, Moratorium , Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages تقرير 2014 - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامДоклад 2014 - Мораторий на при менение смертной казниRapport 2014 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mort2014报告 - 暂停使用死刑Informe 2014 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerte
Document(s)
The inevitability of error: The administration of justice in death penalty cases
By Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
enMore details See the document
This report provides a global snapshot of cases and research findings from Japan, the United States, Taiwan, the Commonwealth Caribbean, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. International human rights law recognises the potential for wrongful conviction and execution of the innocent, or those who have not had fair trails. As a consequence, international norms seek to impose exacting standards and apply a heightened level of due process in capital cases. The relevance of universal human rights standards and international norms, requiring states to apply rigorous procedural rules in the application of the death penalty, is detailed in the Appendix.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Innocence,
- Available languages Japanese : 誤判の必然性 死刑事件における司法
Document(s)
Resolution 73/175 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 14 October 2020
2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
United Nations General Assembly Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2018 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/73/589/Add.2) 73/175. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار اتخذته الجمعية العامة في 17 كانون الأول/ديسمبر 2018Resolución 73/175 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 73/175 - Moratoire sur l'application de la peine de mortРезолюция 73/175 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议73/175 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
Resolution 69/186 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
United Nations General Assembly Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2014 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/69/488/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 69/186. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار ٦٩/١٨٦ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامResolución 69/186 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 69/186 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortРезолюция 69/186 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议69/186 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
Resolution 62/149 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/62/439/Add.2)] 62/149. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار ٦٢/ ١٤٩ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامResolución 62/149 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 62/149 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortРезолюция 62/149 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议62/149 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
Resolution 71/187 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
United Nations General Assembly Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2016 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/71/484/Add.2] 71/187. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages ١٨٧ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدام /٧١Resolution 71/187 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 71/187 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortРезолюция 71/187 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议71/187 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the United States: A Crisis of Conscience
By Richard L. Wiener / Craig Haney / Psychology, Public Policy and Law, on 1 January 2004
2004
Article
United States
More details See the document
The articles in this issue discuss many appellate court decisions that turned on due process problems in the guilt and penalty phases of capital murder trials and the troubling role of race in capital prosecutions. Governor Ryan of Illinois cited many of these issues when he declared a moratorium on the death penalty and appointed a blue-ribbon panel to study the prosecution of capital murder in 2000. Governor Ryan commuted the sentences of all Illinois death row inmates in January 2003, in part, because the legislature was unable to address these issues that again appeared in the panel’s report. These issues raise serious questions about the reliability of the capital murder system and recommend a continued public debate about its fairness.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Resolution 63/168 – Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
By United Nations General Assembly, on 8 September 2020
2020
International law - United Nations
aresfrruzh-hantMore details See the document
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the Third Committee (A/63/430/Add.2)] 63/168. Moratorium on the use of the death penalty
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Available languages قرار ٦٣/ ١٦٨ - وقف العمل بعقوبة الإعدامResolución 63/168 - Moratoria del uso de la pena de muerteRésolution 63/168 - Moratoire sur l’application de la peine de mortРезолюция 63/168 - Мораторий на применение смертной казни大会决议63/168 - 暂停使用死刑
Document(s)
Transcript of Speech on Religion’s Role in the Administration of the Death Penalty
By Pat Robertson / William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 9(1), 215-222, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
About fifteen years ago, I was in the maximum-security prison in Raiford, Florida, and after I had spoken to the inmates, and had several interviews for our television program, I was permitted to go back into death row. It was a very sobering sight because the electric chair was just down the hall from where I was, and you could see that rather grim room. There were two men that they had asked me to talk to. One was a young man, in his mid-twenties who had been a contract killer for organized crime. He had dispatched at least twenty people to the next world as a cold-blooded killer. He was there on death row awaiting execution. The other man was a rather simple soul who had discovered his wife having an affair with another man, at least that’s my understanding, and in a fit of rage, he killed her. In the subsequent trial, he had received the death penalty for his action. Both of these men had had profound religious conversions. I know the difference between somejailhouse conversions-and there are plenty of them out there-and something that’s sincere from the heart. Both of these men, in my opinion, had been spiritually transformed.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Religion ,
Document(s)
The Global Debate on the Death Penalty
By Sandra Babcock / Human Rights Magazine, on 1 January 2007
2007
Article
United States
More details See the document
Many human rights organizations and intergovernmental organizations, such as the European Union, see the death penalty as one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time and have taken an active role in persuading countries to halt executions. The debate over capital punishment in the United States—be it in the courts, in state legislatures, or on nationally televised talk shows—is always fraught with emotion. The themes have changed little over the last two or three hundred years. Does it deter crime? If not, is it necessary to satisfy society’s desire for retribution against those who commit unspeakably violent crimes? Is it worth the cost? Are murderers capable of redemption? Should states take the lives of their own citizens? Are current methods of execution humane? Is there too great a risk of executing the innocent?
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Deterrence ,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Singapore: in Decline but Still Too Soon for Optimism
By National University of Singapore, on 1 January 2016
2016
Article
Singapore
More details See the document
A survey on Singaporeans’ opinion on the death penalty, which was led by Assoc Prof Chan Wing Cheong from the NUS Faculty of Law, found that most Singaporeans are in favour of the death penalty but less so for certain cases. Fewer support the death penalty for drug trafficking and firearms in cases where no one dies or is injured and there is also less support for the mandatory death penalty. The survey polled 1,500 Singapore citizens aged 18 to 74 between April and May 2016.For a free summary of the study: http://news.nus.edu.sg/highlights/11231-death-penalty-support-not-clear-cut
- Document type Article
- Countries list Singapore
- Themes list Public opinion, Public debate, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in 2017: Year End Report
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2017
2017
NGO report
More details See the document
tences remained near historically low levels in 2017, as public support for the death penalty fell to its lowest level in 45 years, according to a report released today by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Eight states carried out 23 executions, half the number of seven years ago, and the second lowest total since 1991. Only the 20 executions in 2016 were lower. Fourteen states and the federal government are projected to impose 39 new death sentences in 2017, the second lowest annual total since the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. It was the seventh year in a row that fewer than 100 death sentences were imposed nationwide.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Capital offences, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Arbitrariness, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Religious Organizations and the Death Penalty
By Robert F. Drinan / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
Over the past several years, many questions have been raised concerning the application and effectiveness of the death penalty. Ironically, the Catholic Church, a long-time supporter of the death penalty, has become one of the most vocal critics of the death penalty. In this Essay, Father Robert F. Drinan documents the Church’s new-found opposition to the death penalty, and discusses the influence the Church will have on the future of the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Religion ,
Document(s)
Abolishing the Death Penalty: Why India Should Say No to Capital Punishment
By Gopalkrishna Gandhi, on 1 January 2016
2016
Book
India
More details See the document
In Abolishing the Death Penalty: Why India Should Say No to Capital Punishment, Gopalkrishna Gandhi asks fundamental questions about the ultimate legal punishment awarded to those accused of major crimes. Is taking another life a just punishment or an act as inhuman as the crime that triggered it? Does having capital punishment in the law books deter crime? His conclusions are unequivocal: Cruel in its operation, ineffectual as deterrence, unequal in its application in an uneven society, liable like any punishment to be in error but incorrigibly so, these grievous flaws that are intrinsic to the death penalty are compounded by yet another—it leaves the need for retribution (cited as its primary ‘good’) unrequited and simply makes society more bloodthirsty.Examining capital punishment around the world from the time of Socrates onwards, the author delves into how the penalty was applied in India during the times of Asoka, Sikandar Lodi, Krishnadevaraya, the Peshwas and the British Raj, and how it works today
- Document type Book
- Countries list India
- Themes list Capital offences, Public debate, Deterrence , Trend Towards Abolition, Right to life, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Children and the death penalty: Executions worldwide since 1990
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2002
2002
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
The document details cases of child offenders executed since 1990 and cites the relevant international standards. Two tables are appended: a list of cases and a table of the 113 countries which provide for the death penalty but exclude its use of the death penalty against child offenders. There are also appendices giving the text of the resolution on “The death penalty in relation to child offenders” adopted by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in August 2000 and extracts from the resolution on “The question of the death penalty” adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 2002.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Statistics,
- Available languages LES MINEURS FACE À LA PEINE DE MORT : Les exécutions recensées dans le monde depuis 1990LOS MENORES Y LA PENA DE MUERTE : Ejecuciones en el mundo desde 1990
Document(s)
English-speaking Carribbean: time to make the death penalty history
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2018
2018
NGO report
frMore details See the document
Ten years ago, on 19 December 2008, the authorities of Saint Kitts and Nevis carried out what was to become the last execution in the Americas, outside the USA. This anniversary, which follows on from the observance on 2 November of 25 years since a key judicial decision that puta brake on the implementation of death sentences in the region, offers an opportunity for reflection on the present state of the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean. Trends on the use of this punishment point to the inevitability of its abolition. On the occasion of this anniversary, Amnesty International renews its call on governments in the English-speaking Caribbean to take prompt steps towards consigning the death penalty to history once and for all.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Caraïbes anglophones. Il est temps de reléguer la peine de mort dans les livres d'Histoire
Document(s)
Practice guide for defense counsel representing individuals facing the death penalty in Uganda
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2019
2019
Working with...
More details See the document
This Practice guide offers guidance to defense counsel in Uganda for the accused person facing a criminal trial of a capital offence involving a death penalty. The best practices are intended to ensure effective legal representation in order to mitigate the potential of imposition of the death penalty. The best practices detailed in the Practice guide intend to enhance the performance of criminal defense counsel in all stages of the criminal trial proceeding to mitigate the adverse effect of an erroneous conviction and sentencing of the accused person to death.The Practice guide was developed in recognition of the unique nature and effect of the death penalty compared to other criminal penalties, and therefore defense counsel in a capital case should take extraordinary efforts on behalf of the accused to review and ensure compliance with these best practices throughout the proceedings.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Legal Representation,
Document(s)
Report on the Death Penalty in Iraq UNAMI/OHCHR
By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) / United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Human Rights Office, on 1 January 2014
2014
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
This reporton the death penalty in Iraqis publishedjointlyby the Human RightsOffice of theUnited Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)andthe Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).The first section of this report outlines the international human rights standards on the use of thedeath penalty. The subsequent sections examine the domestic legal framework for the use of thedeath penalty in Iraq, judicial proceedings in death penalty cases, the implementation of the deathpenalty since 2004, and thejustifications put forward by the Government of Iraq for its continueduse. The report concludes with a set of recommendations tothe Iraqi authorities, the Governmentof Kurdistan Region and the international community.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Due Process , Hanging, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Human Rights and the Death Penalty in the United States
By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 8 September 2020
2020
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
This sheet details what human rights are in relation to the death penalty and the USA. It discusses racism, inadequete legal representation and the unjustifiable cost of the death penalty in the US.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
Document(s)
Discrimination, Torture, and Execution: A Human Rights Analysis of the Deathe Penalty in U.S. Prisons
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), on 1 January 2013
2013
NGO report
More details See the document
In May 2013, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) undertook a fact-finding mission in California and Louisiana to evaluate the death penalty as practiced and experienced in these jurisdictions under a human rights framework. The mission examined whether the death penalty was being applied in a discriminatory manner, and if the conditions on death row met the U.S.’s obligation to prevent and prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.The mission interviewed death-row prisoners, exonerees and their family members, advocates, legal counsel, and non-governmental organizations in both states, analyzing the information gathered against the backdrop of international human rights law. Based on the interviews conducted and documentary review, the mission concludes that the use of the death penalty in California and Louisiana fails to protect a number of basic rights, rendering the United States in breach of certain fundamental international obligations. Specifically, the mission finds California and Louisiana violate the principle of non-discrimination in the charging, conviction and sentencing of persons to death. Both states treat prisoners condemned to death in a manner that is, at minimum, cruel, inhuman or degrading, and in some cases, constitutes torture.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Mental Illness, Torture, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
2021 General Assembly of the World coalition against the death penalty – Program
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 15 June 2021
2021
World Coalition
Juveniles
Women
frMore details Download [ pdf - 280 Ko ]
If you are a member organization, join the fantastic program we will have on Friday 18 June!
- Document type World Coalition
- Themes list Juveniles / Women
- Available languages Assemblée générale du 18 juin 2021 - Programme
Document(s)
Killing in the Name of Justice. The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia
By Amnesty International / Amnesty International UK, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Saudi Arabia
More details See the document
The 2015 Amnesty International’s Report on Saudi Arabia gravely confirms that Saudi Arabia remains one of the most prolific executioners in the world. Between January 1985, the earliest year from when information on executions is available, and June 2015 it executed at least 2,200 persons, almost half of whom were foreign nationals. Over one third of these executions were carried out for offences that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty can be imposed under international law. Most of these crimes, such as drug-related offences, are not mandatorily punishable by death according to the authorities’ interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Saudi Arabia
- Themes list Drug Offences, Foreign Nationals, Most Serious Crimes, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
USA: Darkness visible in the Sunshine State: The death penalty in Florida
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2018
2018
NGO report
More details See the document
Florida promotes itself as a destination for tourists and a hub for trade. It is less well-known as a diehard proponent of a cruel policy discarded by much of the world. In 2016, the US Supreme Court ruled Florida’s capital sentencing scheme unconstitutional. Florida’s response has added another layer of arbitrariness to its death penalty. This report focusses on the state’s use of the death penalty against people who were young adults at the time of the crime and/or who have mental or intellectual disabilities. The Sunshine State should end its use of the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Public opinion, Discrimination, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Parliamentarians and the abolition of the death penalty – a resource
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / Francis H. Warburton, on 1 January 2014
2014
Working with...
frMore details Download [ pdf - 667 Ko ]
This resource is for parliamentarians around the globe, currently working or thinking of working for the abolition of the death penalty. It is intended to provide some of the key arguments for abolition based on a series of case studies, showing how abolition has been achieved and is being achieved around the world. The resource also sets out the mini steps that can be taken toward abolition and some information on the development of parliamentary networks and there are a list of contacts where parliamentarians can find information and support.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Public debate, Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages Les parlementaires et l’abolition de la peine de mort – une ressource
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty: Report of the Secretary-General
By United Nations, on 1 January 2008
2008
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from January 2006 to May 2008. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues; this is illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of countries that are completely abolitionist and by the increase in ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this form of punishment.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages مسألة عقوبة الإعدام: تقرير مقدم من الأمين العامВопрос о смертной казни: Доклад Генерального секретаряQuestion de la peine de mort : Rapport du Secrétaire général死刑问题: 秘书长的报告La cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General
Document(s)
He Called Me Sister
By Suzanne Craig Robertson, on 24 February 2023
2023
Book
Death Row Conditions
United States
More details See the document
The fascinating, moving story of a friendship with an inmate on death row. It was a clash of race, privilege, and circumstance when Alan Robertson first signed up through a church program to visit Cecil Johnson on Death Row, to offer friendship and compassion. Alan’s wife Suzanne had no intention of being involved, but slowly, through phone calls and letters, she began to empathize and understand him. That Cecil and Suzanne eventually became such close friends—a white middle-class woman and a Black man who grew up devoid of advantage—is a testament to perseverance, forgiveness, and love, but also to the notion that differences don’t have to be barriers. This book recounts a fifteen-year friendship and how trust and compassion were forged despite the difficult circumstances, and how Cecil ended up ministering more to Suzanne’s family than they did to him. The story details how Cecil maintained inexplicable joy and hope despite the tragic events of his life and how Suzanne, Alan, and their two daughters opened their hearts to a man convicted of murder. Cecil Johnson was executed Dec. 2, 2009.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Death Row Conditions
Document(s)
Where is the justice for me?’ The case of Troy Davis, facing execution in Georgia
By Amnesty International / Amnesty International - USA, on 8 September 2020
2020
Academic report
United States
More details See the document
Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains he did not commit. Given that all but three of the witnesses who testified against Troy Davis at his trial have since recanted or contradicted their testimony amidst allegations that some of it had been made under police duress, there are serious and as yet unanswered questions surrounding the reliability of his conviction and the state’s conduct in obtaining it. As the case currently stands, the government’s pursuit of the death penalty contravenes international safeguards which prohibit the execution of anyone whose guilt is not based on “clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts”. Amnesty International does not know if Troy Davis is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is facing execution. As an abolitionist organization, it opposes his death sentence either way. It nevertheless believes that this is one in a long line of cases in the USA that should give even ardent supporters of the death penalty pause for thought. For it provides further evidence of the danger, inherent in the death penalty, of irrevocable error. As the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court wrote in 1993, “It is an unalterable fact that our judicial system, like the human beings who administer it, is fallible. Or as a US federal judge said in 2006, “The assessment of the death penalty, however well designed the system for doing so, remains a human endeavour with a consequent risk of error that may not be remediable.”
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
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.
—————————————
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)
Discrimination and Instructional Comprehension: Guided Discretion, Racial Bias, and the Death Penalty
By Craig Haney / Mona Lynch / Law and Human Behavior, on 1 January 2000
2000
Article
United States
More details See the document
This study links two previously unrelated lines of research: The lack of comprehension of capital penalty-phase jury instructions and discriminatory death sentencing. Jury-eligible subjects were randomly assigned to view one of four versions of a simulated capital penalty trial in which the race of defendant (Black or White) and the race of victim (Black or White) were varied orthogonally. Dependent measures included a sentencing verdict (life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty), ratings of penalty phase evidence, and a test of instructional comprehension. Results indicated that instructional comprehension was poor overall and that, although Black defendants were treated only slightly more punitively than White defendants in general, discriminatory effects were concentrated among participants whose comprehension was poorest. In addition, the use of penalty phase evidence differed as a function of race of defendant and whether the participant sentenced the defendant to life or death. The study suggest that racially biased and capricious death sentencing may be in part caused or exacerbated by the inability to comprehend penalty phase instructions.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Criminological analysis on deterrent power of death penalty
By Yuanhuang Zhang / Frontiers of law in China, on 1 January 2009
2009
Article
China
zh-hantMore details See the document
Death penalty is the most effective deterrence to grave crimes, which has been the key basis for the State to retain death penalty. In fact, either in legislation or in execution, death penalty can not produce the special deterrent effect as expected. With respect to this issue, people tend to conduct normative exploration from the perspective of ordinary legal principles or the principle of human rights, which is more speculative than convincing. Correct interpretation based on the existing positive analysis and differentiation based on human nature which sifts the true from the false will not only help end the simple, repetitive and meaningless arguments regarding the basis for the existence of death penalty, but also help understand the rational nature of both the elimination and the preservation of death penalty, so as to define the basic direction towards which the State should make efforts in controlling death penalty in the context of promoting social civilization.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Deterrence ,
- Available languages 犯罪学分析死刑威慑力量(注:英文名翻译)
Document(s)
The Death Penalty and Victims
By United Nations, on 1 January 2016
2016
International law - United Nations
More details See the document
This publication includes perspectives from a broad range of victims. While some of them are family members of crime victims, others are victims of human rights violations in application of the death penalty, of its brutality and traumatic effects. Victims’ perspectives, taken holistically, make a compelling case against the death penalty. When it comes to the death penalty, almost everyone loses. The perspectives of the victims on the death penalty as reflected in this book are likely to provoke tough discussions. This may be a welcome challenge. The publication was launched at a high-level event on 21st September at the UN in New York.The full recording of the event and the programme is available at: texte
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Innocence, Murder Victims' Families, Death Penalty,
Document(s)
The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition
By Routledge / Madoka Futamura, on 1 January 2014
2014
Book
More details See the document
Covering a diverse range of transitional processes in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition offers a broad evaluation of countries whose death penalty policies have rarely been studied. The book would be useful to human rights researchers and international lawyers, in demonstrating how transition and transformation, ‘provide the catalyst for several of interrelated developments of which one is the reduction and elimination of capital punishment’.
- Document type Book
- Themes list International law, Trend Towards Abolition,
Document(s)
Sharia law and the death penalty
By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
More details See the document
PRI has witnessed the death penalty’s abolition in a majority of the world’s nations, but it continues to be used in most Muslim countries. One of the main reasons for this is the justification that it is permitted by the Quran, the Islamic holy book. In many Islamic countries which continue to carry out executions, the death penalty has become a taboo subject. Governments frequently use Sharia to justify why they retain and apply capital punishment, and this can seem to close discussion on the subject. However, Sharia law is not as immutable on the death penalty as many scholars or states say. Among the misconceptions about Sharia law is the belief that there is a clear and unambiguous statement of what the punishments are for particular offences. In fact, there are several different sources referring to punishments, and different schools of Sharia law give different weight to them.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Religion , Methods of Execution,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in the U.S. in 2016: infographic
By Death Penalty Information Center, on 1 January 2016
2016
NGO report
More details See the document
Figures on the application of the death penalty in the US in 2016: Another record decline in death penalty use
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Death Penalty in the Palestinian Legal System: A Legal Review
By Maan Shihda Ideis / Independent Commission for Human Rights , on 1 January 2010
2010
International law - Regional body
arMore details See the document
ICHR carried out this review in order to assist the PNA in its attempts to join international community that did abolish death penalty from their legal system. In order for the PNA to ratify the various international conventions stipulating respect for the right to life and prohibits the execution of every human being. In this study, ICHR aims to define the practical steps that the PNA should take in order to abolish death penalty from the Palestinian legal system. According to Article (10) of the Basic Law of 2002, the human rights and fundamental freedoms shall be binding and respected by the PNA which shall, without delay, accede to the regional and international declarations and instruments that protect human rights, especially those international charters and resolutions that governing the right to life, the abolition of death penalty, and/or placing restrictions on the procedures of its execution.
- Document type International law - Regional body
- Themes list Networks,
- Available languages مراجعة قانونية لعقوبة الإعدام في سطيني
Document(s)
The Politics of Fear and Death: Successive Problems in Capital Federal Habeas Corpus.”
By Bryan A. Stevenson / New York University (NYU), on 1 January 2002
2002
Article
United States
More details See the document
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996 was drafted, enacted, and signed in an atmosphere of anger and fear. The legislation, which includes substantial cutbacks in the federal habeas corpus remedy, was Congress’s response to the tragedy of the Oklahoma City bombing. During the congressional hearings on the bills that culminated in AEDPA, the proponents of the legislation claimed that its habeas corpus restrictions and other provisions were necessary to fight domestic terrorism. The Senate bill was approved by the House on April 18, 1996, the day before the one-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. President Bill Clinton invoked the bombing in a statement he issued at the time of the Senate’s passage of the legislation and again when he signed the legislation into law. Even at the time of the debates, some courageous legislators were willing to denounce the fallacious connection that the bill’s proponents drew between the bombing and the broader issues of the scope and availability of habeas corpus review. Many of the habeas corpus restrictions ultimately built into AEDPA had been under consideration by Congress since 1990, though none had been adopted. The congressional proponents of these restrictions seized upon the Oklahoma City tragedy as a means of accomplishing their longstanding goal to scale back federal habeas corpus review.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia
By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Virginia, on 1 January 2003
2003
NGO report
More details See the document
In April of 2000, the ACLU of Virginia published its first report on the status of the death penalty in Virginia. Since that time, a remarkable number of changes have taken place on this issue both in Virginia and throughout the country, which necessitated a second edition of the report. The first report examined four aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and the role of race. This report will look at those four areas and also add several other issues: the problem of prosecutorial misconduct in capital cases, the problem of executing mentally retarded offenders, the question of executing juvenile offenders and the danger of executing wrongfully convicted persons, as shown by the growing number of individuals who have been exonerated while on death row.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Myth #9 – The Bible supports the death penalty
By Reprieve / Emmanuelle Purdon , on 8 September 2020
2020
Academic report
More details See the document
MYTH: The Bible preaches retribution. Jesus supports the death penalty. FACT: People have been arguing for decades over interpretations of the Bible. The Church has officially declared its opposition to the death penalty. The concept of “mercy” is preached in the majority of religions.
- Document type Academic report
- Themes list Religion ,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Egypt
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Etienne Jaudel / Alya Chérif Chammari / Nabeel Rajab, on 1 January 2005
2005
NGO report
arfrMore details See the document
The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic. Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the basis of the sentence. The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages عقوبة العدام في مصرLa peine de mort en Egypte
Document(s)
Question of the death penalty : report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2003/67
By United Nations, on 1 January 2004
2004
International law - United Nations
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
The present report contains information covering the period from January 2003 through December 2003. The report indicates that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues, illustrated, inter alia, by the increase in the number of ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of this punishment.
- Document type International law - United Nations
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,
- Available languages الموضوع العقوبة الاعدام : تقرير الأمين العام مقدم بشأن قرار اللجنة 2003/67По вопросу смертной казни: доклад Генерального Секретаря, предоставленный в ответ на резолюцию 2003/67 Комиссии по правам человекаQuestion de la peine de mort: Rapport du Secrétaire général présenté en application de la résolution 2003/67死刑问题: 秘书长按照委员会第2003/67 号决议提交的报告Cuestión de la pena capital: Informe del Secretario General presentado de conformidad con la resolución 2003/67
Document(s)
The exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty under general international law
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003
2003
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
In October 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime” and that “this rule has been recognized as being of a sufficiently indelible nature to now constitute a norm of jus cogens”. This paper examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders (people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18) is prohibited under customary international law and as a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Juveniles, Statistics,
- Available languages La non-application de la peine de mort à des mineurs délinquants en droit international généralLa exclusión de los menores de la pena de muerte con arreglo al derecho internacional general
Document(s)
A/HRC/RES/42/24 – Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 27 September 2019 – The question of the death penalty
By Human Rights Council, on 8 September 2020
2020
United Nations report
arrufrzh-hantesMore details See the document
- Document type United Nations report
- Themes list International law, Death Penalty,
- Available languages A/HRC/RES/42/24 - قراراعتمده مجلس حقوق الإنسان في 27 أيلول/سبتمبر 2019 ٤2/2٤- مسألة عقوبة الإعدامA/HRC/RES/42/24 - Резолюция, принятая Советом по правам человека 27сентября2019 года - Вопрос о смертной казниA/HRC/RES/42/24 - Résolution adoptée par le Conseil des droits de l'homme le 27 septembre 2019 - La question de la peine de mortA/HRC/RES/42/24 - 人权理事会 2019 年 9 月 27 日通过的决议 - 死刑问题A/HRC/RES/42/24 - Resolución aprobada por el Consejo de Derechos Humanos el 27 de septiembre de 2019 - La cuestión de la pena de muerte
Document(s)
The Debate Over the Death Penalty in Today’s China
By Zhang Ning / China perpectives, on 1 January 2005
2005
Article
China
More details See the document
Despite the sensitivity of the subject, the death penalty is currently a topic of public discussion among Chinese legal experts who are now openly wondering about its possible abolition. This debate is of interest on three counts. First, it goes hand-in-hand with a retrospective reading of the Chinese penal tradition, highlighting the succession of attempts at modernising criminal law for over a century. It also shows the ever present weight of the Maoist legacy and the contradictions of the present policy, caught between a concern for legality and continuing recourse to exceptional measures. Lastly, legal professionals and theorists alike are engaging in a review—based on specific cases—of the particular features of contemporary Chinese society and culture.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Public debate,
Document(s)
Written Statement to the 22nd Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review on Malawi
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2014
2014
NGO report
More details See the document
This submission informs on Malawi’s international human rights obligations with regard to its use of the death penalty. This report will also examine and discuss the judicial process applied in cases involving punishment by the death penalty. Reports and commentary indicate that there is a serious problem of prison conditions and access to justice for the vast majority of individuals accused of crimes for which the death penalty is a possible punishment. This report has been compiled from a combination of sources, including the Malawi Penal Code, experts, news reports, non-governmental organizations, and other commentary. Further, this report makes recommendations that steps be taken to alleviate such conditions. These steps include both reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and respects international human rights standards, complete abolition of capital punishment, universal access to adequate legal representation and provision of clean, safe, and appropriate prison conditions as well as regular monitoring.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Due Process , Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,
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...
frMore 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.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Networks, Death Penalty,
- Available languages Entreprises Responsables et Engagements sur la Peine de Mort: Guide Pratique
Document(s)
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty in the US
By Death Penalty Information Center / Mark Warren, on 1 January 2013
2013
Article
United States
More details See the document
New information on foreign nationals facing the death penalty in the U.S. is now available through Mark Warren of Human Rights Research. This DPIC page includes information on 143 foreign citizens from 37 countries on state and federal death rows.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution.
By Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier / Tulsa Law Review, on 1 January 2006
2006
Article
United States
More details See the document
This article examines the debate about whether or not an innocent person has been executed in the United States. The article begins by discussing several famous historical claims of wrongful execution, including Sacco & Vanzetti, the Rosenbergs, and Bruno Hauptmann. Then, the article addresses some recent claims of wrongful executions, including the case of Larry Griffin and the impact of a 2006 DNA test in the Roger Coleman case. The article evaluates why some innocence claims attract more attention than others. By recognizing two obstacles in wrongful execution claims and by establishing five lessons for gaining media attention, the article uses its historical analysis to extract strategy lessons for death penalty abolitionists. Finally, the article weighs arguments regarding the pros and cons of an abolitionist strategy that focuses on proving the innocence of executed individuals. The article concludes that wrongful execution claims provide an important argument for abolitionists, but such claims should not be presented as the main or only problem with the death penalty.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Innocence,
Document(s)
Debating the death penalty: should America have capital punishment? : the experts on both sides make their case
By Hugo Adam Bedau / Stephen B. Bright / Joshua K. Marquis / Bryan Stevenson / Louis P. Pojman / Alex Kozinski / Paul G. Cassell / Oxford University Press / George Ryan, on 1 January 2004
2004
Book
United States
More details See the document
This book contains contributions from judges, attorneys, and academicians on both sides of the death penalty question. The grounds advanced for justification of capital punishment–including deterrence, retribution, and closure for victims’ families–are considered. Whether life imprisonment is adequate to address these concerns is also debated. Other issues include whether racial minorities or indigent defendants are disproportionately executed, whether the penalty is otherwise arbitrarily applied, and what risks exist regarding the execution of an innocent person.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
The political origins of death penalty exceptionalism: Mao Zedong and the practice of capital punishment in contemporary China
By Zhang Ning / Punishment and Society, on 1 January 2008
2008
Article
China
More details See the document
This article focuses on the role played by Mao Zedong in the making of the Chinese communist legal system in general and in the Chinese practice of the death penalty under Mao in particular. It attempts to study this link through an analysis of an event which represented a landmark, namely the campaign of the regression against counterrevolutionaries launched in 1950—2, and through an examination of three specific cases, which enable us to observe the concrete characteristics of these practices, whose effects continue to be felt in today’s China.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
Document(s)
Effective advocacy towards abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty / FIACAT, on 1 January 2018
2018
Lobbying
frMore details Download [ pdf - 840 Ko ]
This manual has been written by the World Coalition against the death penalty (WCADP) in partnership with FIACAT.This tool is a guide for the advocacy towards abolition of the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa. It became a capitalisation tool of the joint project between FIACAT and WCADP “Contributing to the abolition of the Death Penalty in sub-Saharan Africa”
- Document type Lobbying
- Themes list Public debate, Trend Towards Abolition, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages Actions de plaidoyer efficaces en faveur de l'abolition de la peine de mort en Afrique Subsaharienne
Document(s)
China Against the Death Penalty Report 2012
By China Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2012
2012
NGO report
zh-hantMore details Download [ pdf - 170 Ko ]
The original report in Chinese was in three parts. Part I, translated here, outlines the legal system and its application in relation to the death penalty. Part II introduces the use of the death penalty review system following the Supreme People’s Court’s resumption of its power to review death sentences on January 1st, 2007. Part II also analyses the influence of the death penalty review system on the new criminal procedure law that will come into effect in 2013. Part III introduces a number of death penalty cases.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages 中国死刑观察报告
Document(s)
Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year in Review
By Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2015
2015
NGO report
More details See the document
This year, jurors in Texas imposed the fewest new death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s revised capital punishment statute in 1976. According to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s (TCADP) report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2015: The Year in Review, juries newly condemned three individuals to death. They rejected the death penalty in four other trials. The first death sentence of the year was not imposed until October 7, 2015.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,