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701 Document(s) 90 Member(s) 845 Article(s) 14 Page(s)

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

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 502 Ko ]

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

arfr
More details Download [ pdf - 1095 Ko ]

Leaflet for the 21th World Day against the death penalty (2023), on torture and the death penalty.

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...

fr
More 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.

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

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 265 Ko ]

Document(s)

Mobilization Kit 2008

By World Coalition against the death penalty , on 10 October 2008


2008

Campaigning

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More 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(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

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 455 Ko ]

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,
Annual Report on the death penalty in Iran 2021

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

Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

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,
logo Abolition Death Penalty of Iraq

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

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 100 Ko ]

Facts and Figures 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