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Article(s)
Caribbean events kick off with regional conference and abolitionist network launch
By Maria Donatelli & Aurélie Plaçais, on 3 October 2013
A wide range of activists, law practitioners and former death row inmates have met in Trinidad and Tobago to discuss strategies for abolition and organise under the Greater Caribbean for Life.
2013
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Trinidad and Tobago
Article(s)
The abolitionists’ forum in Niger: a great success
By Garba Illou Almoctar and Elise Guillot, on 22 November 2016
The first Nigerien abolitionists’ forum on the death penalty was held in Niamey on November 4 and 5, 2016. The NGO Réseau progrès et développement humanitaire du Niger (REPRODEVH-NIGER) and the Nigerien Coalition Against the Death Penalty organised the event, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the National Commission on Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The initiative met with great success.
2016
Niger
Public Opinion
Terrorism
Member(s)
Conférence Internationale des Barreaux
on 30 April 2020
The International Bar Association Conference (Conférence internationale des barreaux – CIB) was founded by representatives of 24 bar associations of countries that share both the French language and a common judicial tradition. It is now composed of 83 members. The CIB’s objective is to create a cooperation structure between them. It groups together associations that […]
2020
France
Article(s)
Interview: Pakistan on its way to a moratorium?
on 25 July 2008
Pakistan’s new government has called on all death sentences in the country to be commuted to life imprisonment. Pakistani lawyer and human rights defender Kamran Arif believes a moratorium is at hand.
2008
Clemency
Moratorium
Pakistan
Pakistan
Article(s)
Creation of the Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
on 21 June 2007
The representativesof the seven NGOs who met in Tunis on 14 June have announced the creation of the Tunisian National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
2007
Tunisia
Article(s)
Call for world lawyers to unite against the death penalty
By Thomas Hubert, on 15 June 2013
The Paris Bar Association (a World Coalition member) and its Beirut counterpart have called on lawyers worldwide to increase efforts to defend those facing the death penalty and to push for its abolition.
2013
Legal Representation
Moratorium
Spain
Article(s)
Iran: more than 800 people executed in 2015, 500 for drugs
By Iran Human Rights, on 13 October 2015
Ahead of the 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty, Iran Human Rights is raising awareness about the implementation of the death penalty in Iran for drug-related offenses. Reports from the IHR website indicate that Iranian authorities have carried out more executions in 2015 than any other year in the past 25 years.
2015
Drug Offenses
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Article(s)
Japan executes mentally ill people and pushes prisoners over the edge
on 11 September 2009
The Japanese government continues to execute prisoners with psychiatric illnesses and the conditions on death row provoke mental disorders among inmates, according to a new Amnesty International report.
2009
Death Row Conditions
Japan
Mental Illness
Article(s)
The Arab civil society calls for a moratorium on capital punishment
on 6 June 2008
Between 12-14 May, representatives from Arab civil society organisations gathered in Alexandria, Egypt at the invitation of the Swedish Institute to discuss the implementation of the UN moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the Arab world.
2008
Egypt
Moratorium
Article(s)
ADPAN: tearing down Asia’s death penalty veil of secrecy in 2008
on 3 February 2008
The majority of executions take place in Asia. But this is also the continent where campaigners have developed a fantastic regional abolitionist network, one that reaches across borders, languages and religions.
2008
China
Drug Offenses
Fair Trial
Japan
Mental Illness
Mongolia
Murder Victims' Families
Public Opinion
Republic of Korea
Article(s)
200 executions in Texas under Rick Perry
on 8 June 2009
On June 2, 2009, the 200th execution authorized by governor Rick Perry took place in Texas. Protests were scheduled from Huntsville to Paris to denounce the death penalty situation in the southern US state.
2009
Clemency
Innocence
Mental Illness
United States
Article(s)
US murder victims’ families advocate abolition in Asia
on 14 July 2010
World Coalition member organisation Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights held public events and meetings with victims and leaders during a recent tour of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
2010
Murder Victims' Families
Republic of Korea
Member(s)
International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT)
on 30 April 2020
The International Federation of ACATs (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture), FIACAT, is an international non-governmental human rights organisation, set up in 1987, which works towards the abolition of torture and the death penalty. The Federation brings together some thirty national associations, the ACATs, present in four continents. FIACAT – representing its members […]
2020
France
Article(s)
Iran: 2016 a deadly year despite a slight decrease in the executions
By Iran Human Rights, on 6 April 2017
The 9th annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHR)and ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort) on the death penalty in Iran shows that in 2016 at least 530 people were executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although this number is significantly lower than the annual execution numbers from the past five years, Iran remained the country with the highest number of executions per capita.
2017
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Member(s)
Leaders Organization
on 30 April 2020
Leaders Organization is a Palestinian youth led non-governmental organization that was established in 2002.The Organization prides itself in its principles and unique approach to development in the Palestinian territories. At the time, it was established to allow youths to participate in serving their society. Since then, Leaders have established a reputation for working with, serving, […]
2020
State of Palestine
Article(s)
“Frightening” increase of executions in Iran
By World coalition against the death penalty, on 20 June 2024
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).
2024
Drug Offenses
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Article(s)
Video: meet Taiwan’s anti-death penalty activists
on 16 June 2009
The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty has just released a clip presenting its work and the status of capital punishment in the country.
2009
Taiwan
Member(s)
Greater Caribbean for Life
on 30 April 2020
The Greater Caribbean for Life (GCL) is an independent, not-for-profit civil society organization, incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. GCL was established on 2 October 2013 by activists and organizations from twelve Greater Caribbean countries following an International Conference held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Our organization came into […]
2020
Trinidad and Tobago
Article(s)
Iran executes four juvenile offenders in one week
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 28 April 2014
The increased number of prisoners executed for offences committed before they turned 18 is in clear violation of Iran’s international commitments, the World Coalition says in the statement below.
2014
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Article(s)
Finance and Administration Manager
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 14 May 2020
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty recruits a Finance and Administration Manager for a full time permanent position starting as soon as possible.
2020
Document(s)
Holdouts in the South Pacific: Explaining Death Penalty Retention in Papua New Guinea and Tonga
By Daniel Pascoe and Andrew Novak, on 1 September 2022
2022
Academic report
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
More details See the document
The South Pacific forms a cohesive region with broadly similar cultural attributes, legal systems and colonial histories. A comparative analysis starts from the assumption that these countries should also have similar criminal justice policies. However, until 2022, both Papua New Guinea and Tonga were retentionist death penalty outliers in the South Pacific, a region home to seven other fully abolitionist members of the United Nations. In this article, we use the comparative method to explain why Papua New Guinea and Tonga have pursued a different death penalty trajectory than their regional neighbours. Eschewing the traditional social science explanations for death penalty retention, we suggest two novel explanations for ongoing retention in Papua New Guinea and Tonga: the law and order crisis in the former and the traditionally powerful monarchy in the latter.
This article was first published in Crime Justice Journal: https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/issue/view/119
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Papua New Guinea / Tonga
Document(s)
FACTS AND FIGURES LGBTQIA+ People and the Death Penalty – 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty
By World coalition against the death penalty, on 15 August 2023
2023
World Coalition
Gender
frMore details Download [ pdf - 502 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
- Themes list Gender
- Available languages Faits et chiffres Les personnes LGBTQIA+ et la peine de mort - 21e journée mondiale contre la peine de mort
Document(s)
State-Sanctioned Killing of Sexual Minorities: Looking Beyond the Death Penalty
By Mai Sato, Christopher Alexander - Eleos Justice and Capital Punishment Justice Project, Monash University, on 10 August 2021
2021
Academic report
Australia
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
More details See the document
This report examines the extent to which states sanction the killing of sexual minorities. It looks beyond those countries that impose the death penalty for same-sex intimacy to the far greater number of countries in which state actors commission, condone, endorse and enable such killings.
He argues that the state-sanctioned killing of sexual minorities is often perpetrated well beyond the boundaries of the law, and even in countries that do not criminalise such conduct.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list Australia
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Document(s)
The Philippines – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – March 2022
on 31 March 2022
2022
NGO report
World Coalition
Philippines
More details Download [ pdf - 320 Ko ]
1. This report addresses the Philippines’ compliance with its international human rights
obligations with respect to the death penalty. For years, the Philippines imposed the death
penalty, particularly for so-called heinous crimes. In 2006, President Gloria MacapagalArroyo abolished the death penalty.1 Since then, however, lawmakers have introduced
numerous bills to reinstate the death penalty, with the House adopting Bill No. 7814 as
recently as March 2, 2021.2
2. The report examines the current state of the death penalty in the Philippines, including (1)
acceptance of international norms; (2) proposed legislation reintroducing the death penalty;
(3) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in enforcing drug control; (4)
conditions of detention; and (5) administration of justice and fair trial.
3. This report recommends that the Philippines continue the abolition of the death penalty,
refrain from reintroducing the death penalty, honor its international commitments, and
implement a human rights-based approach to anti-drug policy
- Document type NGO report / World Coalition
- Countries list Philippines
Document(s)
Leaflet – World Day 2023
on 12 June 2023
2023
Campaigning
World Coalition
arfrMore details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]
Leaflet for the 21th World Day against the death penalty (2023), on torture and the death penalty.
- Document type Campaigning / World Coalition
- Available languages كتيب - اليوم العالمي 2023Brochure - Journée mondiale 2023
Document(s)
Uganda – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021
on 21 July 2021
2021
NGO report
World Coalition
Uganda
More details Download [ pdf - 336 Ko ]
This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses the current state of the death penalty in Uganda, including (1) the broad scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; (2) the lack of effective access to counsel in capital cases; (3) the occurrence of extrajudicial killings.
This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key steps to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s international human rights obligations. These steps include the following: establishing an official, de jure moratorium on the death penalty; reducing the number and scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and in compliance with international human rights standards; and other measures
- Document type NGO report / World Coalition
- Countries list Uganda
Document(s)
The Death Penalty For Drug Offences: Global Overview 2023
By Harm Reduction International, on 28 March 2024
2024
NGO report
Drug Offenses
More details See the document
Published in 2023.
At the end of 2023, 34 countries retained the death for drug offences. In July 2023 Pakistan took the landmark decision to remove the death penalty from the list of punishments that can be imposed for certain violations of its Control of Narcotics Substances Act. This year also saw notable progress in Malaysia, which abolished the mandatory death penalty for all offences, including drug-related ones. This reform may impact the lives of over 700 people on death row for drug offences and bring the country one step closer to total abolition of capital punishment. In stark contrast to these positive developments is the record-high number of drug-related executions in 2023 at least 467. Of those executed, at least 59 people belonged to ethnic minority groups (in Iran and in Singapore), 13 individuals were foreign nationals, and six were women. These figures confirm that these groups are uniquely vulnerable to capital punishment as a tool of drug control. Despite not accounting for the dozens, if not hundreds, of executions believed to have taken place in China, Vietnam, and North Korea, the 467 executions that took place in 2023 represent a 44% increase from 2022.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Drug Offenses
Document(s)
The Maldives – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty – September 2021
on 20 September 2021
2021
NGO report
World Coalition
Maldives
More details Download [ pdf - 263 Ko ]
The Maldives’ continued use of the death penalty undermines government efforts and commitments to end gender-based discrimination. The death penalty invites discriminatory sentences against women for adultery and other crimes of sexual immorality, as well as for acting as accomplices to murder committed by male counterparts. Capital punishment promotes negative stereotypes about women and reinforces discriminatory gender roles. The possibility of facing the death penalty also discourages human rights defenders from civic engagement on a number of human rights issues, including women’s human rights.
- Document type NGO report / World Coalition
- Countries list Maldives
Document(s)
Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty: A Best Practices Manual
By Sandra Babcock / Death Penalty Worldwide, on 1 January 2013
2013
Working with...
frMore details Download [ pdf - 1202 Ko ]
This manual was written by Death Penalty Worldwide, a project affiliated with the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, and the law firm of Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. The manual aims to provide lawyers with legal arguments and strategic guidance in their representation of individuals facing the death penalty around the world. It sets forth the best practices in the defense of capital cases, based on the experiences of advocates around the world, international human rights principles, and the jurisprudence of both national courts and international tribunals.
- Document type Working with...
- Themes list Legal Representation, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty,
- Available languages La défense de condamnés à mort : Guide de bonnes pratiques à l’usage des avocats
Article(s)
Thai seminars explore religious perspectives on the death penalty
on 4 August 2008
Thai human rights activists led by the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) organised a series of seminars with religious leaders to raise their awareness and discuss their perspectives on abolition.
2008
Murder Victims' Families
Public Opinion
Thailand
Article(s)
Death sentences and executions in 2015
By Amnesty International, on 10 April 2016
This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2015. As in previous years, information is collected from a variety of sources, including: official figures; information from individuals sentenced to death and their families and representatives; reporting by other civil society organizations; and media reports. Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation.
2016
Document(s)
Execution in Saudi Arabia 2023: Ongoing Bloodshed with Unusual Sentences
By The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), on 23 January 2024
2024
NGO report
Saudi Arabia
More details See the document
Published on 22 January، 2024.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views 2023 as a year that demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s inconsistency in using the death penalty. Besides the unexplained shift in the types of executed sentences, the implementation of death sentences for drug-related charges, and the disregard for international legal opinions, the high numbers indicate Saudi Arabia’s determination to use the death penalty without restraint.
In Saudi Arabia in 2023, 172 executions were carried out according to data from the Ministry of Interior published by the official news agency. The number of executions increased by 15% compared to the figure announced by the Ministry of Interior in 2022, where 147 sentences were reported, despite the mass execution of 81 individuals in 2022.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Saudi Arabia
Document(s)
The Road to Abolition?: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States
By Charles J. Ogletree and Austin Sarat, on 24 August 2023
2023
Book
United States
More details See the document
At the start of the twenty-first century, America is in the midst of a profound national reconsideration of the death penalty. There has been a dramatic decline in the number of people being sentenced to death as well as executed, exonerations have become common, and the number of states abolishing the death penalty is on the rise. The essays featured in The Road to Abolition? track this shift in attitudes toward capital punishment, and consider whether or not the death penalty will ever be abolished in America.The interdisciplinary group of experts gathered by Charles J. Ogletree Jr., and Austin Sarat ask and attempt to answer the hard questions that need to be addressed if the death penalty is to be abolished. Will the death penalty end only to be replaced with life in prison without parole? Will life without the possibility of parole become, in essence, the new death penalty? For abolitionists, might that be a pyrrhic victory? The contributors discuss how the death penalty might be abolished, with particular emphasis on the current debate over lethal injection as a case study on why and how the elimination of certain forms of execution might provide a model for the larger abolition of the death penalty.
- Document type Book
- Countries list United States
Document(s)
Impact of the World Coalition’s Strategic Plan 2018–2022
By World Coalition Agianst the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023
2023
World Coalition
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 265 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Impact du Plan stratégique 2018-2022 de la Coalition Mondiale
Document(s)
Mobilization Kit 2008
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2008
2008
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 137 Ko ]
Every year, the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP) calls for local initiatives worldwide.
The events involve citizens and organisations
supporting the abolition of capital punishment and
comprise debates, concerts, press releases or any
other action which would give to the global abolition
claim an international boost.
This Day is intended for both political leaders and
public opinion of countries where the death penalty
has or not been abolished yet: people have to
remember the meaning of abolition and pass it down
through generations.
They must be aware that a justice without death
penalty is possible.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Kit de mobilisation 2008
Document(s)
International Law and the Death Penalty Guide
By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 November 2022
2022
NGO report
More details See the document
The use of capital punishment has been an issue addressed by international human rights law since the earliest days of the United Nations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, and an instrument widely recognised as the gold standard for human rights, affirms the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on international law and the death penalty.
- Document type NGO report
Document(s)
World Coalition Strategic Plan 2023-2027
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023
2023
World Coalition
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 455 Ko ]
- Document type World Coalition
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Plan Stratégique 2023-2027 de la Coalition Mondiale
Article(s)
Flurry of initiatives against the death penalty at ACATs in the past year
on 7 August 2007
During the past year, the 28 member associations in the FIACAT network have given their abolitionist activities a boost. The issue of the death penalty is at the heart of their mission.
2007
Belgium
Burundi
Canada
Democratic Republic of the Congo
France
Luxembourg
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Document(s)
Death Penalty in India – Annual Statistics Report 2021
By Project 39A, on 4 February 2022
2022
Academic report
India
More details See the document
Project 39A at the National Law University, Delhi published the sixth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report which provides an annual update on the use of the death penalty in India along with legislative and international developments on the issue. As on 31st December 2021, there were 488 prisoners on death row across India (a steep rise of nearly 21% from 2020), with Uttar Pradesh having the highest number at 86. This is the highest the death row population has been since 2004 as per the data from the Prison Statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list India
Document(s)
European Court for Human Rights cases involving the death penalty
By European Court for Human Rights Press Unit, on 24 June 2022
2022
International law - Regional body
Regional body report
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Death Row Conditions
Fair Trial
More details See the document
“[T]he [European Court of Human Rights] in Öcalan did not exclude that Article 2 [of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting the right to life,] had already been amended so as to remove the exception permitting the death penalty. Moreover, … the position has evolved since then. All but two of the Member States have now signed Protocol No. 13 [to the Convention, concerning the abolishment of the death penalty in all circumstances,] and all but three of the States which have signed have ratified it. These figures, together with consistent State practice in observing the moratorium on capital punishment, are strongly indicative that Article 2 has been amended so as to prohibit the death penalty in all circumstances. Against this background, the Court does not consider that the wording of the second sentence of Article 2 § 1 continues to act as a bar to its interpreting the words ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ in Article 3 [of the Convention, prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment,] as including the death penalty …” (Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v. the United Kingdom judgment of 2 March 2010, § 120).
- Document type International law - Regional body / Regional body report
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions / Fair Trial
Document(s)
Chinese Netizens’ Opinions on Death Sentences
By Bin Liang and Jianhong Liu, The University of Michigan Press, on 4 November 2021
2021
Academic report
China
Public Opinion
More details See the document
The People’s Republic of China no doubt leads the world in both numbers of death sentences and executions. Despite being the largest user of the death penalty, China has never conducted a national poll on citizens’ opinions toward capital punishment, while claiming “overwhelming public support” as a major justification for its retention and use. Based on a content analysis of 38,512 comments collected from 63 cases in 2015, this study examines the diversity and rationales of netizens’ opinions of and interactions with China’s criminal justice system. In addition, the book discusses China’s social, systemic, and structural problems and critically examines the rationality of netizens’ opinions based on Habermas’s communicative rationality framework. Readers will be able to contextualize Chinese netizens’ discussions and draw conclusions about commonalities and uniqueness of China’s death penalty practice.
- Document type Academic report
- Countries list China
- Themes list Public Opinion
Article(s)
“Die-in” against the death penalty in the US
on 4 July 2007
For the seventh consecutive year, 200 people showed their support for American death-row prisoners and their opposition to capital punishment in an event in Paris organised by ACAT France and Amnesty International France.
2007
France
United States
Document(s)
Chinese Executions: Visualising their Differences with European Supplices
By Bourgon J / European Journal of East Asian Studies, on 1 January 2003
2003
Article
China
More details See the document
European executions obeyed a complex model that the author proposes to call ‘the supplice pattern’. The term supplice designates tortures and tormented executions, but it also includes their cultural background. The European way of executing used religious deeds, aesthetic devices and performing arts techniques which themselves called for artistic representations through paintings, theatre, etc. Moreover, Christian civilisation was unique in the belief that the spectacle of a painful execution had a redemptive effect on the criminals and the attendants as well. Chinese executions obeyed an entirely different conception. They were designed to show that punishment fitted the crime as provided in the penal code. All details were aimed to highlight and inculcate the meaning of the law, while signs of emotions, deeds, words, that could have interfered with the lesson in law were prohibited. In China, capital executions were not organized as a show nor subject to aesthetic representations, and they had no redemptive function. This matter-of-fact way of executing people caused Westerners deep uneasiness. The absence of religious background and staging devices was interpreted as a sign of barbarity and cruelty. What was stigmatised was not so much the facts that their failure to conform to the ‘supplice pattern’ that constituted for any Westerner the due process of capital executions.
- Document type Article
- Countries list China
- Themes list Networks,
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)
A Tale of Two (and Possibly Three) Atkins: Intellectual Disability and Capital Punishment Twelve Years after The Supreme Court’s Creation of a Categorical Bar
By John H. Blume / Sheri Lynn Johnson / William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, on 8 September 2020
2020
Article
United States
More details See the document
The article, with three co-authors, examines empirically the capital cases decided by the lower courts since the United States Supreme Court created the categorical ban against the execution of persons with intellectual disability twelve years ago in the Atkins decision.
- Document type Article
- Countries list United States
- Themes list Mental Illness,
Article(s)
Death Penalty in Iran: Sharp Increase in Executions
By Anissa Aguedal, on 10 June 2022
An alarming situation On 28 April 2022, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) released their 14th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, revealing an increase in the number of executions in 2021. At least 333 people were executed and 83,5% of these executions were not announced by […]
2022
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
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,
Article(s)
Capital punishment abolished in Suriname
By Parliamentarians for Global Action, on 6 March 2015
The Parliament of Suriname (photo) has abolished the death penalty in law, setting an example for the Greater Caribbean – a major front line in the global fight against capital punishment. World Coalition member organisation Parliamentarians for Global Action provided crucial support for abolition in Suriname.
2015
Suriname
Suriname
Article(s)
Philippines: one step forward in the reintroduction of the death penalty
By Lorène du Crest, on 3 March 2017
The Philippines are a step closer to the reintroduction of the death penalty, violating their international obligations.
2017
Drug Offenses
Philippines
PHIL_2_page_handout_EN
on 10 August 2021
2021
Article(s)
End the death penalty for drug-related offences
on 26 June 2009
June 26 is a world day of action against drugs. Several international NGOs have joined their voices to condemn the use of capital punishment against drug users and traffickers.
2009
China
Drug Offenses
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Article(s)
Burkina Faso has joined the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty in Africa
By International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), on 6 June 2018
On 31 May, the Burkinabe Parliament abolished the death penalty by adopting a new criminal code that excludes it from the arsenal of sentences regardless of crimes considered and circumstances in which they were committed. Thus, Burkina Faso become the 144th States in the World and the 40th African State abolitionist in law and in practice. Our organizations welcome this major step which strengthens the Burkinabe legal framework for the protection of human rights and is part of regional and international movement in favour of the abolition of this inhuman, ineffective and irreversible punishment.
2018
Burkina Faso
Article(s)
Puerto Rico hosts a week of World Coalition events
on 16 February 2011
International abolitionists gathered on the Caribbean territory to promote their message and to show solidarity with the local authorities against capital punishment.
2011
Murder Victims' Families
Public Opinion
Puerto Rico
United States
Article(s)
EU-NGO forum: death penalty is a priority
on 6 August 2010
At a meeting in Brussels in July, European institutions and NGOs restated their commitment to a long-term partnership to oppose the death penalty worldwide.
2010
Innocence
Japan
Murder Victims' Families
Article(s)
National conference gives Lebanese abolitionist movement a boost
By Thomas Hubert, on 14 February 2014
Several hundred activists, experts and political leaders met in Beirut at the end of January to push the abolitionist cause with the Lebanese authorities and organise their movement at the national level.
2014
Lebanon
Moratorium
Document(s)
The death penalty in Egypt: Ten year after the uprising
By Jeed Basyouni - Reprieve, on 10 August 2021
2021
NGO report
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Death Row Conditions
Egypt
Fair Trial
More details See the document
Reprieve wrote this report about the use of the death penalty in Egypt.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Egypt
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions / Fair Trial
Document(s)
Women and the Death Penalty in Iran
By Iran Human Rights, on 8 October 2021
2021
NGO report
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Women
More details See the document
In observation of the 2021 World Day Against the Death Penalty dedicated to women, Iran Human Rights is providing a report on the women executed in Iran over the last 12 years (2010-2021). The executions in this period are by no means representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s complete history of executing women; the number of female political prisoners executed in the 1980s must be acknowledged due to their sheer volume and abhorrent nature. But even today, there is ample evidence of their cruel and inhuman treatment of female prisoners, which will be highlighted in this report.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
- Themes list Women
Article(s)
Moving towards an inter-Arab coalition against the death penalty
on 1 May 2007
As of today, no country in North Africa and the Middle-East has yet abolished the death penalty. However, there are positive signs that the region is now ready to debate the issue – as can be seen from the profusion of discussions and exchanges that took place during the 3 rd World Congress against the Death Penalty.
2007
Public Opinion
Women
Article(s)
Two perspectives on assistance to foreign nationals facing the death penalty
By Thomas Hubert, on 13 June 2013
World Coalition member Reprieve and the Mexican government share their experience of helping those facing a capital case overseas.
2013
Legal Representation
Mexico
United States
Article(s)
European Union tightens rules on export of death drug
By Emile Carreau, on 20 January 2012
On 20 December 2011 the European Commission added sodium thiopental to the list of goods that are subject to tight export controls to ensure they do not find their way into overseas death chambers.
2012
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Denmark
United States
Article(s)
Iran: indiscriminate executions continue
By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 4 November 2013
The United Nations, the European Union and the international community must put the situation of the death penalty at the top of the agenda in their dialogue with Iran.
2013
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
Fair Trial
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Document(s)
Facing their last moments with a smile: The Chinese women about to be executed for drug smuggling
By Rick Dewsbury / Mail Online, on 1 January 2011
2011
Campaigning
More details See the document
The moving images could show any group of young women as they go about their daily lives in prison. But just hours – and in some cases minutes – after the pictures were taken, each of the four women were led into a concrete yard and executed.
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Death Row Conditions,
Article(s)
Taiwan’s top court rejects appeal to suspend executions
on 7 June 2010
As the legal action taken by local activists to block the use of the death penalty failed, abolitionists across Asia have been calling for an end to the death penalty in their region.
2010
Fair Trial
Taiwan
Taiwan
Article(s)
After the debates, the victims’ emotions
on 28 February 2010
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.
2010
Article(s)
Launching of death penalty abolition project in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
By Jessica Corredor, on 25 July 2018
The 22 and 23 June 2018, the Greater Caribbean for Life, the Death Penalty Project, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association, the University of the West Indies and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty met in Barbados to launch their joint three year project in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
2018
Barbados
Public Opinion
Article(s)
Geneva 2010: organising for stronger campaigning
on 7 February 2010
The programme of the World Congress Against the Death Penalty is intended to give abolitionists an opportunity to reflect on their joint actions, including campaigns coordinated by the World Coalition.
2010
Benin
France
Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Article(s)
Puerto Rican abolitionists gain support from their government
on 5 March 2008
The Puerto Rican Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the Puerto Rican secretary of justice are joining forces to resist death sentences imposed by US federal courts.
2008
United States
Article(s)
Africa raises its voice against the death penalty
By Tiziana Trotta, on 21 October 2016
Many African organizations and institutions raised their voices on the occasion of the 14th World Day against the Death Penalty, whose last edition, celebrated on October 10, was dedicated to the use of death penalty for terrorism-related crimes.
2016
Terrorism
Article(s)
Every voice counts to oppose the death penalty in California
on 24 June 2009
Abolitionists are given a unique opportunity to voice their position as Californian authorities seek comments from the public on the review of the lethal injection process.
2009
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment
United States
Document(s)
FHRI and PRI submission to the UN Sec-Gen report on the status of the death penalty in East Africa – Kenya and Uganda April 2012
By Penal Reform International, on 8 September 2020
2020
NGO report
Kenya
More details See the document
To date, Kenya and Uganda have not signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and are not party to any international or regional treaty prohibiting the death penalty. While Kenya abstained from voting in the 2010 UN General Assembly moratorium resolution, Uganda voted against it and signed the note verbale of issociation.
- Document type NGO report
- Countries list Kenya
- Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Discrimination, Country/Regional profiles,
Article(s)
FIDH report on Vietnam: an update on death penalty statistics
on 19 September 2010
The FIDH and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights released a new report, From Visions to Facts: Human Rights in Vietnam under its Chairmanship of ASEAN, on 16 August 2010.
2010
Drug Offenses
Moratorium
Viet Nam
Viet Nam
Member(s)
Puerto Rican Coalition Against Death Penalty
on 30 April 2020
The Puerto Rican Coalition against the Death Penalty (PCADP) is a non-party, non-sectarian organisation incorporated in Puerto Rico in March 2005 to promote the elimination of the capital punishment.The PCADP aims to join efforts among the different abolitionist organisations and activists in Puerto Rico. Its Statement of Principles emphasises that it does not believe in […]
2020
Puerto Rico
Document(s)
Palestine – Committee Against Torture – Death Penalty – June 2022
on 21 July 2022
2022
NGO report
World Coalition
State of Palestine
More details Download [ pdf - 1747 Ko ]
The State of Palestine on 1 April 2014 ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. On 28 December 2017, the State of Palestine signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. On 18 March 2019, the State of Palestine also ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which aims to abolish the death penalty. The State of Palestine has not yet abolished the death penalty. Indeed-as described herein-the 14 June 2007 split in power between the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the West Bank under President Abbas, and the Hamas movement in Gaza, has been followed by many documented executions in Gaza without the requisite signature of President Abbas, and Gazan military courts conduct trials of civilians, where they can be sentenced to death.
This report considers the prevalence of torture and other issues ancillary to the death penalty itself: confessions under torture or degrading treatment, due process, access to legal counsel, death-row conditions, and methods of execution.
- Document type NGO report / World Coalition
- Countries list State of Palestine
Article(s)
Hands Off Cain holds moratorium conference in Gabon
on 11 December 2007
The Italian-based abolitionist group organised the event in Libreville on December 10, Human Rights Day 2007, with the government of Gabon and financial backing from the Dutch government.
2007
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gabon
Gabon
Mali
Moratorium
Article(s)
1,700-mile “Walk4Life” across the US
on 13 March 2008
American hip-hop artist Andre Latallade, also known as Capital-“X”, will walk 1,700 miles from New Jersey to Texas from March 31 to campaign against the death penalty.
2008
Drug Offenses
United States
Article(s)
Global outrage at Iranian juvenile execution
on 6 May 2009
Human rights organisations and governments worldwide have slammed the Iranian authorities for the illegal execution of Delara Darabi, a young woman convicted of a murder committed when she was 17.
2009
Innocence
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Article(s)
Mongolian president calls for abolition
on 18 January 2010
In a vibrant speech before the parliament on January 14, President Elbegdorj Tsakhia of Mongolia developed all the arguments put forward by the abolitionist community.
2010
Clemency
Mongolia
Moratorium
Article(s)
Youths must stand up against the death penalty!
on 17 September 2007
The Federation of Liberal Students (FEL), a Belgian political organisation, has just joined the World Coalition. FEL president Arnaud Van Praet explains his organisation’s mobilisation against capital punishment.
2007
Belgium
Article(s)
DPIC Report on the 2019 Death Penalty Usage in the US
By Dinda Royhan, on 20 December 2019
A year-end report by the Death Penalty Information Center highlights the continuing trend towards abolition with New Hampshire’s latest abolition, California’s moratorium, and the near-record low numbers of executions.
2019
United States
Member(s)
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain
on 7 January 2022
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) fosters awareness of and support for democracy and human rights in Bahrain and Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC). ADHRB has launched an Anti-Death Penalty Campaign during the summer of 2020 which involved local, national, and international engagements to advocate and lobby for the abolition of the […]
2022
Bahrain
Member(s)
Human Rights Watch
on 30 April 2020
Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up of more than 275 staff members around the globe. Its staff consists of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Human Rights Watch is known for its accurate fact-finding, impartial reporting, effective use of media, […]
2020
France
Document(s)
Nobody To Talk To: Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for Family Members of Individuals Sentenced to Death and Executed
By Texas After Violence Project, on 1 January 2019
2019
NGO report
More details See the document
Four decades after the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States, the harmful impact of death sentences and executions on persons other than the individual offender is still not widely recognized – not even among mental health professionals who specialize in responding to individual and community needs in the aftermath of traumatic events.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Mental Illness, Murder Victims' Families,
Member(s)
Abolition Death Penalty of Iraq Organization
on 30 June 2023
According to the Abolition Death Penalty of Iraq Organization, capital punishment is the state’s terminology for murder. Individuals murder each other, but states sentence individuals to ‘capital punishment.’ The demand to end capital punishment and prohibit murder stems from opposition to intentional, deliberate and planned murder of one by the other. That a state or […]
2023
Iraq
Article(s)
Experts analyse the relationship between poverty and the death penalty
By Dr. Lina M. Torres Rivera, on 18 June 2018
The International Studies Programme Overseas Relations Assembly and the Institute for Human Rights Research and Promotion (INIPRODEH) organised a forum: The Death Penalty and Poverty on the 89th anniversary of abolition of the death penalty in Puerto Rico. Eminent figures from the abolitionist movement and academia reviewed and analysed research into this issue.
2018
Puerto Rico
Article(s)
Amnesty 2010 stats: retentionist countries increasingly isolated
on 28 March 2011
Countries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated following a decade of progress towards abolition, Amnesty International has said in its new report Death Sentences and Executions in 2010.
2011
China
Drug Offenses
Egypt
Fair Trial
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Juveniles
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Libya
Malaysia
Moratorium
Pakistan
Sudan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United States
Yemen
Article(s)
After more than 20 years without executions, a trend toward an official moratorium?
By Clémentine Etienne, on 27 June 2018
On 18 June 2018, the Korean National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) called on the South Korean President to declare an official moratorium on the death penalty to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10.
2018
Republic of Korea
Document(s)
Death Penalty in Liberia. When will it be abolished?
By FIACAT, on 1 January 2019
2019
Arguments against the death penalty
More details See the document
The FIACAT and ACAT Liberia organized an awareness-raisingworkshop on 17 and 18 September 2019 in Monrovia (Liberia) for 30 participants: Muslim and Christian religious leaders, traditional chiefs, members of civil society organizations, journalists, members of the Independent National Commissionon Human Rights (INCHR) and parliamentarians. This workshop resulted in the production of this publication to raise awareness among opinion leaders on the abolition of the death penalty in Liberia, considering the specific characteristicsand needs of the country.
- Document type Arguments against the death penalty
Article(s)
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines launches a campaign against the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country
By Thalia Gerzso, on 26 October 2017
Despite its national and international commitment not to carry out any executions, Philippines is taking worrying measures toward the reinstatement of the death penalty for drug offenses. Determined to thwart the government’s plan, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has taken various actions, including an awareness campaign for the 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty.
2017
Philippines
Public Opinion
Article(s)
ASEAN countries step back on the path towards abolition
By Tiziana Trotta, on 27 October 2016
Asia has the highest number of retentionist countries in the world. Eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) retain the death penalty and four of them carried out executions in 2015.
2016
Drug Offenses
Terrorism
Article(s)
US Federal Executions Resume
By Louis Linel, on 28 July 2020
It has been 17 years since the United States decided on a de facto moratorium on federal executions, which can be carried out only for certain federal criminal offences. This moratorium, however, ended in July.
2020
Moratorium
United States
Article(s)
Death penalty in 2019: Facts and figures
By Amnesty International, on 22 April 2020
Amnesty International published its annual report on death sentences and executions worldwide on 21 April 2020. It showed that the number of known executions decreased slightly on the 2018 total, reaching the lowest figure in more than 10 years, despite Iraq nearly doubling its tally and Saudi Arabia having its highest executions total in any given year.
2020
Article(s)
Abolitionists of Central Africa met in Kinshasa
By Amina Jacquemin with CPJ and ECPM, on 12 April 2012
ECPM (Together against the death penalty) and CPJ (Culture for Peace and Justice) organized a conference in late March on strategies for abolition at the regional level. The Congolese government has reaffirmed its commitment to abolish the death penalty.
2012
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kenya
Uganda
United Republic of Tanzania
Article(s)
Benin on track to achieve abolition
on 7 February 2010
Benin’s President Thomas Yayi Boni, one of the World Congress’s guests, has asked the parliament to enshrine the abolition of the death penalty in the constitution. Justice Minister Victor Tokpanou details Benin’s path to abolition.
2010
Benin
Benin
Public Opinion
Jobs
ASIA PACIFIC
on 19 September 2024
Available grants are indicated below, with the specific target countries and the specific maximum amounts for each Worldwide Grant Grant Asia 1 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 2 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 3 All Asia Pacific countries Grant Asia 4 Bangladesh Grant Asia 5 Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa Grant Asia 6 […]
2024
Jobs
SOUTH ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST (SAME)
on 19 September 2024
Available grants are indicated below, with the specific target countries and the specific maximum amounts for each Worldwide Grant Grant SAME 1 All South Asia and Middle East countries Grant SAME 2 Target country: Jordan How to apply? Worldwide Grant 8 grants of maximum 1,000 EUR each on data collection gathering on intersectional discrimination faced […]
Article(s)
A World Without the Death Penalty – IX Congress of the Ministers of Justice
By Federica Merenda, on 29 February 2016
On 22 February 2016, the representatives of more than twenty countries gathered in Rome for the 9th International Congress of the Ministers of Justice « A World without the death penalty », organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio and hosted by the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Congo, El Salvador, Guinea Conakry, Cȏte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mongolia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe are the countries who joined Italy in the last edition of this annual conference.
2016
Member(s)
Comitato Paul Rougeau
on 30 April 2020
Paul Rougeau was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of an off-duty policeman. He always maintained he was innocent. In 1992, after he had spent 15 years on death row, the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto printed a letter by Paul Rougeau on its front page. A group of Italian citizens then decided to […]
2020
Italy
Jobs
AFRICA
on 19 September 2024
Available grants are indicated below, with the specific target countries and the specific maximum amounts for each Worldwide Grant Grant Africa 1 Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zambia Grant Africa 2 Cameroon and DRC Grant Africa 3 Kenya Grant Africa 4 Kenya Grant Africa 5 Target countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda […]
2024
Document(s)
Facts and Figures 2011
By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2011
2011
Campaigning
Trend Towards Abolition
frMore details Download [ pdf - 100 Ko ]
Facts and Figures 2011
- Document type Campaigning
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
- Available languages Faits et chiffres 2011
Member(s)
International Commission of Jurists
on 30 April 2020
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is dedicated to promoting rule of law and advancement of human rights around the world. The ICJ statute provides: The Commission carries out activities at the global, regional, national and local level and in particular takes effective steps to: 1. Support and advance the Rule of Law and human […]
2020
Switzerland