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Kinshasa, Paris, May 27, 2021 Our organizations denounce the recent death sentences handed down by the High Court of Gombe, in the center of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following violence against the forces of order.

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

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reports that at least 243 people, including 10 women, have been executed in 2024, as of 15 June. In 2023, the number of people executed has increased from 582 to 834. At least 471 people were executed for drug-related offenses. This represent a 84% increase compared to 2022 (256).

Over the last few decades, we have made great strides toward the universal abolition of the death penalty.  Nevertheless, despite the progress we have made, the death penalty remains entrenched in a significant number of states.  And even in those nations that have refrained from carrying out executions in a sort of de facto moratorium, […]

As the World Coalition held its general meeting in Nantes at the end of June, discussions focussed on the involvement of corporations and local authorities.

In Singapore and Malaysia, governments are considering removing mandatory death penalty in some drug and murder cases. A move welcomed by activists on the ground, though they consider it “only a small step in the right direction”.

Joint statement on the situation of the death penalty in Africa for the 71st Ordinary Session of the African Commission, signed by the FIACAT, ECPM and the World coalition. 

The 31st Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice of the ODC took place in Vienna from the 16th to the 20th of May 2022. At this occasion, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations organized a side-event: “Abolishing the Death Penalty: Public Opinion and the Road to Abolition”, which was held online […]

On April 25, 2022, the Burundian Prison Observatory (BPO) organized a one-day advocacy workshop on the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OP2-ICCPR) with the support of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

The Community of Sant’Egidio conducted a crucial political networking exercise in favour of abolition in Rome at the end of November before 1,600 cities lit up their monuments against the death penalty.

The Taiwanese authorities have been conducting a voluntary assessment of the human rights situation in the country, culminating in the visit of a panel of experts in late February. The World Coalition is taking part in the process.

This annual report covers the situation of death penalty cases involving Puerto Ricans who face death penalty proceedings in the federal jurisdiction, as well as in those states of the US where such punishment is strictly upheld, and one case of petition for extradition.

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

After a six year moratorium on executions, India’s President Patil has rejected the mercy petition of two Indian nationals despite international outcry to maintain the moratorium.

World Coalition member Reprieve and the Mexican government share their experience of helping those facing a capital case overseas.

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

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

European Union officials and Belarusian activists denounce Minsk’s lack of political will to tackle the death penalty.

Recognising the process from sentencing to execution as a form of torture would ensure progress towards abolition in international law as well as in the US.

52 year-old black woman Kimberly McCarthy was executed on 26 June and became the 500th prisoner put to death since Texas restored the death penalty in 1982.

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

Teng Biao is one of the rare activists who call for the immediate abolition of the death penalty from within China. In the past weeks, the police confiscated his passport and he received threats.

World Coalition members and a man who spent 18 years on death row for murders he did not commit joined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for a debate on capital punishment.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a World Coalition member, has called on the government formed following recent elections to suspend executions. A previous moratorium order has expired and many prisoners are at risk of being hanged.While the 2008 moratorium was introduced under the rule of the Pakistan People Party, whose former leader Benazir Bhutto was a well-known abolitionist, it expired shortly after Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League became Prime minister.
Pakistan had already broken the moratorium when it executed a soldier in November 2012.

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

The UN Human Rights Council brought together representatives from civil society, States and the UN itself to discuss the rights of children whose parents are sentenced to death or executed.

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

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

The ACHPR (the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights) met virtually for its 68th Ordinary Session from 14 April – 4 May 2021.

The Government of the small Caribbean nation has recently introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill, which seeks to make it clear that the death penalty is not unconstitutional.

The abolition of the death penalty in New Jersey on December 17 could pave the way for other US states. Death Penalty Focus’s Speedy Rice explains how some of them may make the move.

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

United Nations agencies, governments and NGOs criticised Saudi Arabia’s death penalty record at the UN’s universal periodic review of human rights.

A new, authoritative study sheds a new light on capital punishment across Asia and may help abolitionists enhance their strategies.

New Mexico’s governor Bill Richardson signed the repeal of the death penalty in to law on March 18, 2009, attracting praise from the global abolitionist community.

The French presidency of the European Union organised a meeting between EU diplomats and US abolitionists in November to strengthen a discreet but long-standing partnership.

The President of UN General Assembly is to receive 5 million signatures calling for a moratorium on executions collected worldwide by the Community of Sant’Egidio and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

The World Coalition against the death penalty, the FIDH and the Moroccan Coalition against the Death Penalty are concerned with the continued pronunciation of death sentences by Moroccan courts

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

A recent visit to Taiwan by a joint World Coalition-ADPAN delegation left the impression that the Asian island was on course to “join a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty”, as was reported in the local media.

Special Rapporteur Manfred Nowak raised the issue at the UN’s Human Rights Council, triggering a debate in which World Coalition member organisations had their say.

Burundi’s new penal code, which abolishes the death penalty, was signed into law on April 22. ACAT-Burundi chairman Merius Rusumo recounts the campaign’s success.

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights and the National Alliance on Mental Illness slam the use of capital punishment against mentally ill people in the United States.

On 21 April, we published our annual report on the global use of the death penalty, which shows that in 2020 the world got one step closer to freeing itself from this cruel punishment.

Joint letter sent to Member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 12 March 2021

A bill which aimed to facilitate executions in the Caribbean nation was defeated in Parliament on February 28.

Joint Oral Statement delivered during the United Nations 46th Human Rights Council Biennial high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty.

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

The discussion was chaired by Mario Marazitti, who stood in front of broadcasted live images of the light-draped Colosseum in Rome, Italy, displaying the slogan of this international key event, “No Justice Without Life”.

A delegation of the Community of Sant’Egidio has been invited from 6 to 11 September in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and received by the President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdor.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, the French coalition Collectif Chine JO 2008 highlights cases of human rights abuse in China on a weekly basis. This week, they focus on Nie Shubin, who was executed by mistake in 1995.

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

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

In a letter to the United Arab Emirates’ justice minister, the World Coalition denounced the growing number of death sentences handed down in the country, especially after unfair trials or against juvenile offenders.

A large crowd gathered at Geneva’s Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Thursday evening to listen to the poignant stories of thirteen victims allied by their commitment to abolition.

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network rounds up reports from the main events organised across the Asia-Pacific region for World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10.

Shortly after Kenya commuted thousands of death sentences, the Nigerian state of Lagos took similar steps and moved closer to abolition.

World Coalition member organization FIACAT has taken part in a follow up mission to the Ivory Coast after the African human rights body issued the country with recommendations including ratifying the treaty that copperfastens abolition.

The National Law University, Delhi (“University”) is seeking to engage on a contractual basis, one Director (Research) for Project 39A.

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

On 18 March 2019, the State of Palestine acceded to the United Nations Treaty aiming to abolish the death penalty, becoming the 87th State Party to the OP2-PIDCP.

Today the international community offered unprecedented support to a UN call to halt executions when the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly considered a draft resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

On 28 September 2018, during the UN Treaty Event in New York, Gambia ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the irreversible abolition of the death penalty, alongside the Convention Against Torture.

On the occasion of the screening of the movie Lindy Lou Juror number 2 on Monday 25 June 2018, abolitionist associations such as Amnesty International, ACAT France, Together Against The Death Penalty French Collectif Free Mumia! and the World Coalition against the Death Penalty met at the Centre Wallonie Bruxelles in Paris.

The 62nd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the African Union body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, was held from April 25th to May 9th, 2018 in Nouakchott, Mauritania.The death penalty was at the heart of the debates throughout this Session, during panel discussions, side-events or during the review of the State’s periodic reports.

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

Through this joint statement twenty one national and international NGOs, calls upon Mauritanian authorities to reverse the recent adoption of a law on apostasy related crimes making the death penalty mandatory for blasphemy.

For eight years since June 2006, Jordan was adopting a moratorium on the death penalty. However, on the 21st of December 2014, 11 people were hung in Swaqa Prison, thus, triggering questions about the timing and the reasons behind the resumption of the death penalty in Jordan. It is arguable that the internal political pressures on the government have fuelled this setback which was further eased through the international political opportunity of Jordan’s role in the war on terrorism.

Joint Statement signed by Center for Prisoners’ Rights and Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center to to call Japanese government for a sincere dialogue while condemning the government for refusing a dialogue with international communityand not accepting capital punishment as a human rights issue.

The African Congress will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 9-10 April 2018. Over 300 participants are expected.

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

On October 26, abolitionists all around the world celebrated the release of Cheng Hsing-Tse, originally sentenced to death in 2006. This successful outcome highlights the work of numerous organizationss which assist death row survivors.

Since the fall of the Morsi regime in 2013, the use of the death penalty has increased considerably in Egypt with a death sentence rate estimated at 2443 people between 2013 and 2018 according to Reprieve.

HRW, a member organization of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, focused its report on human rights practices in almost 100 countries, including on abuses in civil and political rights.

Concerned by the population’s view on the death penalty, the Human Rights Defenders and Abolitionist Advocates in Democratic Republic of the Congo Network [Réseau des associations de défense des droits de l’homme et militants abolitionnistes de la peine de mort en République Démocratique du Congo (RADHOMA)] organized several training courses for journalists in the past few months.

On the occasion of Cities for Life Day on November 30, the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty are proud to announce the online publication of the Chinese version of Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty: A Best Practices Manual. This publication is intended for lawyers who defend people facing the death penalty around the world.

TAEDP Press Release, April 2, 2020The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty made this decision after the Ministry of Justice, in total disregard for the rule of law, arbitrarily and illegally executed a death row inmate on April 1, 2020.

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

Sudan repealed the death penalty for homosexuality and apostasy

On October 10, 2017, all the abolitionists all around the world joined their forces to celebrate the 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty. The mobilization was particularly strong in Sub-Saharan Africa where many events were organized. Thus, the pugnacity of African abolitionists put the abolition of the death penalty at the heart of every discussion.

on 20 and 21 September 2017, Gambia signed and Madagascar ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

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

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

When it comes to the execution of death penalties, Saudi Arabia is one of the most prolific country in the world. This is what emerges from a new report published by Amnesty International in August 2015.

On Monday, 16 March 2015, the Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) addressed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on issues relating to the death penalty in the Greater Caribbean, during a dedicated thematic hearing held at the Organisation of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA.

In an open letter, the World Coalition and its members, including KONTRAS and Amnesty International, condemn the Indonesian government’s politicizing of the death penalty to show its commitment to eradicating drug-related crimes. Recent resumptions of executions show one thing, they are carried out for political reasons only: in Pakistan to show that it is tough on terrorism, Jordan that it tough on crime and Indonesia that it is tough on drugs. Instead, those states should abolish the death penalty to show their commitment to upholding human rights. The next World Day against the Death Penalty will be dedicated to the issue of capital drug crimes.

The World Coalition and its members have criticised decisions by the governments of Jordan and Pakistan to reverse their policy of suspending executions despite a historic vote in favour of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the UN General Assembly.

The number of executions in the United States was at its lowest in 20 years and seven death row prisoners were exonerated in 2014.

Statement of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty on Soheil Arabi’s Death Sentence in Iran: Exercising freedom of expression is not a crime.

The statement strongly condemns the execution of Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia and renewed its demand for Saudi Arabia to support the United Nations resolution on a global moratorium on the death penalty and to abolish the death penalty in national legislation.

The World Coalition and its members are present at every step in the international human rights law process – from the signature of human rights treaties to the verification of their implementation. Their contribution is yielding more and more concrete results.

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