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Document(s)

Report No. 211/20. Case 13.570. Report on admissibility and mertis. Lezmond C. Mitchell. United States of America

By Inter-american Commission on Human Rights, on 24 August 2020


2020

Regional body report

es
More details See the document

Document(s)

Recommendations on the Capital Punishment System

By Japan Federation of Bar Associations, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report

en
More details See the document

This report details the reasons for the Japan Federation of Bar Associations recommendation that an immediate moratorium on death sentences takes place.

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Tennessee’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Tennessee’s death penalty system, the Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency proceedings; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. Following a preliminary chapter on Tennessee’s death penalty law, the Tennessee Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these twelve issues. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then concludes the extent to which the State of Tennessee is in compliance with the ABA’s Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Pennsylvania’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Pennsylvania’s death penalty system, the Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’scapital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. Following a preliminary chapter on Pennsylvania’s death penalty law, the Pennsylvania Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the relevant law and concludes with a discussion of the extent to which the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in compliance with the ABA’s Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Ohio’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Ohio’s death penalty system, the Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues, which follow a preliminary chapter on Ohio death penalty law (for a total of 13 chapters). Each of the issue chapters begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then reaches conclusions about the extent to which the State of Ohio complies with the ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Due Process ,

Document(s)

Arab Charter on Human Rights

By League of Arab States, on 1 January 2004


2004

Regional body report

arfr
More details See the document

Article 51. Every human being has the inherent right to life.2. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.Article 6Sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes inaccordance with the laws in force at the time of commission of the crime and pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.Article 71. Sentence of death shall not be imposed on persons under 18 years of age, unlessotherwise stipulated in the laws in force at the time of the commission of the crime.2. The death penalty shall not be inflicted on a pregnant woman prior to her deliveryor on a nursing mother within two years from the date of her delivery; in all cases, the best interests of the infant shall be the primary consideration.

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Indiana’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Indiana’s death penalty system, the Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Indiana Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues, which follow a preliminary chapter on Indiana death penalty law (for a total of 13 chapters). Each of the issue chapters begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then reaches conclusions about the extent to which the State of Indiana complies with the ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Georgia’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Georgia’s death penalty system, the Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Team researched twelve issues: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state postconviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Georgia Death Penalty Assessment Report summarizes the research on each issue and analyzes the level of compliance with the relevant ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Tanzania Human Rights Report 2008: Progress through Human Rights

By Sarah Louw / Clarence Kipobota / Legal and Human Rights Centre, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


More details See the document

Tanzania is one of 25 countries in the world that continues to retain the death penalty in its legislation.56 However, de facto, Tanzania is an abolitionist country, as there have been no executions in Tanzania since 1994. Chapter 2.1.1 describes the position of the death penalty in Tanzania.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Position Paper No. 2 on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

By Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, on 1 January 2007


2007

Government body report


More details See the document

This paper outlines the case for abolition of the death penalty in Kenya from a human rights perspective, including the position of the National Commissionon the subject. It seeks to persuade the public, and policy makers on the need to abolish capital punishment. Informed by the various theories of punishmentand human rights principles, the paper addresses arguments by the proponents of the death penalty; builds a case for abolition of the death penalty; andfi nally makes recommendations to policy makers and other stakeholders for necessary action towards abolition of the death penalty.

  • Document type Government body report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Florida’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Florida’s death penalty system, the Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team researched the twelve issues that the American Bar Association identified as central to the analysis of the fairness and accuracy of a state’s capital punishment system: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state post-conviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report devotes a chapter to each of these issues, which follow a preliminary chapter on Florida death penalty law (for a total of 13 chapters). Each of the issue chapters begins with a discussion of the relevant law and then reaches conclusions about the extent to which the State of Florida complies with the ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Arizona Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Arizona’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2006


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Arizona’s death penalty system, the Arizona Death Penalty Assessment Team researched twelve issues: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state postconviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Arizona Death Penalty Assessment Report summarizes the research on each issue and analyzes the State’s level of compliance with the relevant ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

EVALUATING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN STATE DEATH PENALTY SYSTEMS: The Alabama Death Penalty Assessment Report: An Analysis of Alabama’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2006


NGO report


More details See the document

To assess fairness and accuracy in Alabama’s death penalty system, the Alabama Death Penalty Assessment Team researched twelve issues: (1) collection, preservation, and testing of DNA and other types of evidence; (2) law enforcement identifications and interrogations; (3) crime laboratories and medical examiner offices; (4) prosecutorial professionalism; (5) defense services; (6) the direct appeal process; (7) state postconviction proceedings; (8) clemency; (9) jury instructions; (10) judicial independence; (11) the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities; and (12) mental retardation and mental illness. The Alabama Death Penalty Assessment Report summarizes the research on each issue and analyzes the level of compliance with the relevant ABA Recommendations.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

I don’t want another kid to die: Families of Victims Murdered by Juveniles Oppose Juvenile Executions

By Robert Renny Cushing / Susannah Sheffer / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

“I don’t want another kid to die” is a report about the juvenile death penalty from the perspective of family members of victims killed by juvenile offenders and parents of juvenile offenders who have been executed.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Juveniles, Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Report to the Committee on Defender Services Judicial Conference of the United States – Update on the Cost and Quality of Defense Representation in Federal Death Penalty Cases

By Lisa Greenman / Jon B. Gould / Office of Defender Services of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Part I of this report offers an introduction and overview of the research. Part II examines the way prosecution policies and practices have developed from 1989, the beginning of the modern federal death penalty era, through the end of 2009. Parts III, IV, and V of this report discuss the costs associated with defending a federal capital case. Section VI describes qualitative data obtained through interviews of federal judges who had presided over a federal death penalty case and experienced federal capital defense counsel on topics such as the quality of defense representation, case budgeting and case management practices, the role of experts, and the death penalty authorization process. Finally, in Sections VII and VIII, the Recommendations of the 1998 Spencer Report are reaffirmed, and the Commentary associated with those recommendations is updated to reflect the past 12 years of experience with federal capital litigation.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Financial cost,

Document(s)

Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


More details See the document

The death penalty in the U.S. is an enormously expensive and wasteful program with no clear benefits. All of the studies on the cost of capital punishment conclude it is much more expensive than a system with life sentences as the maximum penalty. In a time of painful budget cutbacks, states are pouring money into a system that results in a declining number of death sentences and executions that are almost exclusively carried out in just one area of the country. As many states face further deficits, it is an appropriate time to consider whether maintaining the costly death penalty system is being smart on crime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Financial cost,

Document(s)

Tanzania Human Rights Reports 2009: Incorporating Specific Part on Zanzibar

By Clarence Kipobota / Legal and Human Rights Centre, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

The statistical information suggests that despite the executions that were done between 1961 and 1995, incidents of offences punishable by the death penalty were increasing and are still on the rise, from 46 convicts in 1961 to 2,562 in 2007. This report briefly describes the death penalty system in Tanzania.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

Complicity or Abolition?: The Death Penalty and International Support for Drug Enforcement

By Damon Barrett / Rick Lines / Patrick Gallahue / International Harm Reduction Association, on 1 January 2010


NGO report


More details See the document

This report exposes the links between the carrying out of executions and the financial contributions from European governments, the European Commission and the UNODC to support drug enforcement operations in countries that use the death penalty such as China, Iran and Viet Nam. The report notes that such operations continue to be funded without appropriate safeguards despite the fact that the abolition of the death penalty is a requirement of entry into the Council of Europe and the European Union and that the United Nations advocates strongly against capital punishment

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Mental Illness and the Death Penalty

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


More details See the document

This overview discusses the intersection of the law and the challenges faced by mentally ill capital defendants at every stage from trial through appeals and execution. It provides examples of some of the more famous cases of the execution of the mentally ill. Lastly, it describes current legislative efforts to exempt those who suffer from a serious mental illness from execution and the importance of such efforts.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

PUBLIC OPINION ON THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY IN TRINIDAD: A SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS OF A SURVEY

By Florence Seemungal / Roger Hood / The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


More details See the document

A survey of the opinions of a representative sample of 1,000 residents of Trinidad, almost all of them citizens, on the very topical subject of the death penalty, in particular the support for and use of the mandatory death penalty for murder under current Trinidadian law, has just been completed. The data was collected in Trinidad (but not Tobago for reasons largely of the cost involved in collecting a small sample of interviews) by face-to-face interviews between 16th November and 16th December 2010.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

State Secrets: China’s Legal Labyrinth

By Andrew Nathan / ChristineLoh / Liu Baopu / Fu Hualing / Jerome A. Cohen / Human Rights In China, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

China


More details See the document

This report describes and examines the PRC state secrets system and shows how itallows and even promotes human rights violations by undermining the rights tofreedom of expression and information. The PRC state secrets system, implementedthrough a CPC-controlled hierarchy of government bodies, is comprised of statesecrets laws and regulations that work in tandem with the PRC’s state security,criminal procedure and criminal laws, to create a complex, opaque system that controlsthe classification of—and criminalizes the disclosure or possession of—statesecrets. By guarding too much information and sweeping a vast universe of informationinto the state secrets net, the complex and opaque state secrets system perpetuatesa culture of secrecy that is not only harmful but deadly to Chinese society

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Transparency,

Document(s)

CHINA’S DEATH PENALTY REFORMS

By Bonny Ling / Si-si Liu / Cliff Ip / Human Rights In China, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

The Chinese authorities have introduced reforms to the death penalty system aimed at “killing fewer, and killing carefully.” Key systemic challenges remain, however, in ensuring that the criminally accused are not arbitrarily deprived of their inherent right to life.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Juvenile Death Penalty: Is It Cruel and Unusual in Light of Contemporary Standards

By American Bar Association / Adam Caine Ortiz, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report


More details See the document

Reviews the use of the death penalty on juveniles in light of contemporary standards.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles,

Document(s)

The Persistent Problem of Racial Disparities in The Federal Death Penalty

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

This paper details the profoundly troubling evidence that racial disparities continue to plague the modern federal death penalty. Of the next six federal inmates scheduled for execution, all are African-American defendants. Defendants of color make up the majority of federal death row and the majority of modern federal executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Minorities, Discrimination,

Document(s)

Mental Illness and the Death Penalty in North Carolina

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2007


NGO report


More details See the document

As this report lays bare, entrenched obstacles within the criminal justice system impede efforts to recognize those with severe mental illness and to treat them fairly. As detailed in this report, these obstacles include the fact that: 1, mentally ill offenders, because of their impairments, often undermine their own defenses in a variety of ways that contribute directly to their convictions, death sentences and executions; 2, although state law exclusively defines mental illness as a mitigating factor for sentencing purposes, juries often perceive mental illness as an aggravating (rather than mitigating) factor. 3, the law governing mental illness in the context of the death penalty does not often align itself with clinical realities; thus mental health experts must often answer legal questions that do not conform to their medical analyses.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

The Forgotten Population: A Look at Death Row in the United States Through the Experiences of Women

By American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report


More details See the document

This report — the first-ever national survey of women currently on Death Row — found that women who have been sentenced to death are often subjected to harsh living conditions, including being forced to live in virtual isolation, and many are sentenced for crimes that don’t result in a death sentence for men.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Women,

Document(s)

Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy

By Equal Justice Initiative, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

Today in America, there is perhaps no arena of public life or governmental administration where racial discrimination is more widespread, apparent, and seemingly tolerate than in the selection of juries. Nearly 135 years after Congress enacted the 1875 Civil Rights Act to eliminate racially discriminatory jury selection, the practice continues, especially in serious criminal and capital cases.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

A Crisis of Confidence: Americans’ Doubts About the Death Penalty

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

According to a national public opinion poll conducted in 2007, the public is losing confidence in the death penalty. People are deeply concerned about the risk of executing the innocent, about the fairness of the process, and about the inability of capital punishment to accomplish its basic purposes. Most Americans believe that innocent people have already been executed, that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, and that a moratorium should be placed on all executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public opinion,

Document(s)

Death In Decline ’09: Los Angeles Holds California Back as Nation Shifts to Permanent Imprisonment

By American Civil Liberties Union / Northern California, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

The tide is turning in the United States from death sentences to permanent imprisonment. A growing number of states are choosing permanent imprisonment over the death penalty, fueled by growing concerns about the wrongful conviction of innocent people and the high costs of the death penalty in comparison to permanent imprisonment. In 2009, the number of new death sentences nationwide reached the lowest level since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. California lags behind in this national trend. The Golden State sent more people to death row last year than in the seven preceding years. By the close of 2009, California’s death row was the largest and most costly in the United States.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Sentencing Alternatives, Networks,

Document(s)

SLAMMING THE COURTHOUSE DOORS – Denial of Access to Justice and Remedy in America

By American Civil Liberties Union / Washington, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

According to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) entitled, “Slamming the Courthouse Doors: Denial of Access to Justice and Remedy in America,” many states severely restrict access to justice for capital defendants and limit the availability of remedies to correct errors. The problem of inadequate counsel continues to pervade death penalty systems across the country: “Few states provide adequate funds to compensate lawyers for their work or to investigate cases properly. In addition to inadequate funding, the majority of death-penalty states lack adequate competency standards. Many states require only minimal training and experience for attorneys handling death penalty cases, and in some cases capital defense attorneys fail to meet the minimum guidelines for capital defense set by the American Bar Association (ABA),” according to the ACLU. The report also states that the absence of a right to counsel in post-conviction appeals leaves capital defendants with few options to address serious errors during their trial.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Broken Justice: The death penalty in Alabama

By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Alabama, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report


More details See the document

This report documents unfairness and unreliability that plague the death penalty system in Alabama and makes several recommendations, including a moratorium on executions. The major areas of focus the report examines are: Inadequate Defence, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Judicial Overrides, Execution of the Mentallly Retarded, Racial Discrimination, and Geographic Disparities.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Unequal, Unfair and Irreversible: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Laura LaFay / American Civil Liberties Union / Virgina, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report


More details See the document

This report examines four key aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and race. During its preparation, another issue became apparent: the state’s record keeping.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Broken Justice: The Death Penalty in Virginia

By Rachel King / American Civil Liberties Union / Virginia, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report


More details See the document

In April of 2000, the ACLU of Virginia published its first report on the status of the death penalty in Virginia. Since that time, a remarkable number of changes have taken place on this issue both in Virginia and throughout the country, which necessitated a second edition of the report. The first report examined four aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused at trial, appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty and the role of race. This report will look at those four areas and also add several other issues: the problem of prosecutorial misconduct in capital cases, the problem of executing mentally retarded offenders, the question of executing juvenile offenders and the danger of executing wrongfully convicted persons, as shown by the growing number of individuals who have been exonerated while on death row.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Hidden Death Tax: The Secret Cost of Seeking Execution in California

By Natasha Minsker / American Civil Liberties Union, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report


More details See the document

California taxpayers pay at least $117 million each year at the post-conviction level seeking execution of the people currently on death row, or $175,000 per inmate per year. The largest single expense is the extra cost of simply housing people on death row, $90,000 per year per inmate more than housing in the general prison population. Executing all of the people currently on death row or waiting for them to die naturally – which will happen first – will cost California an estimated $4 billion more than if all the people on death row were sentenced to die of disease, injury or old age.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth

By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report


More details See the document

Blind Justice is a report which focuses on the problems of the death penalty from the perspective of jurors. While jurors have always occupied an esteemed position in the broader criminal justice system in the United States, in capital cases the responsibility of jurors is even more critical as they decide whether defendants should live or die. Even with this unique authority in capital cases, they are treated less than respectfully. Frequently, they are kept in the dark regarding key information about the case and are often barred from serving based on their beliefs or their race.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The Death penalty for Drug Offences: A Violation of International Human Rights Law

By Rick Lines / Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report


More details See the document

The report calls for an end to the use of the death penalty for drug offences around the world, and concludes that the on-going execution of drug offenders is a violation of international human rights law. The report emphasises how the harms faced by people who use drugs do not only include health harms such as HIV and hepatitis C infections, but also the effects of repressive law enforcement activities.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2010

By Rick Lines / Patrick Gallahue / Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2010


2010

NGO report


More details See the document

The report is the first detailed country by country overview of the death penalty for drugs, monitoring both national legislation and state practice of enforcement. Of the states worldwide that retain the death penalty, 32 jurisdictions maintain laws that prescribe the death penalty for drug offences. The study also found that in some states, drug offenders make up a significant portion – if not the outright majority – of those sentenced to death and/or executed each year.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty – recent developments

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Viet Nam


More details See the document

This document contains information about the recent developments in Vietm Nam regarding the death penalty. Amnesty International welcomes the reduction in the number of offenses punishable by the death penalty. However, the organization remains concerned that there is still a broad range of offenses which are punishable by the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Viet Nam

Document(s)

Physicians Willingness to Participate in the Process of lethal Injection for Capital Punishment

By Joan Weiner / Brian M. Aboff / Neil J. / Farber / Annals of Internal Medecine 135(10), 884-888 / Elizabeth B. Davis / E. Gil Boyer / Peter A. Ubel, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

Occasionally, physicians’ personal values conflict with their perceived societal duties. One example is the case of lethal injection for the purpose of capital punishment. Some states require that such lethal injections be performed by physicians. At the same time, leading medical societies have concluded that physicians should avoid participating in capital punishment. Physicians’ attitudes toward involvement in capital punishment may depend on how they balance their responsibilities to individuals against their duties to society. Other factors may include a desire to provide a more painless death for the prisoner or concern over the competency of other health care personnel. In a previous survey, we found that a majority of physicians condoned involvement of their fellow physicians in capital punishment. For the current study, we conducted another survey to ascertain physicians’ attitudes about their own involvement in capital punishment, as well as factors associated with these attitudes.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Lethal Injection,

Document(s)

Singapore: The death penalty – A hidden toll of executions

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Singapore

fr
More details See the document

More than 400 prisoners have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, giving the small city-state possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population of just over four million people. This report examines the use of the death penalty for drug offences, murder and firearms offences. It emphasizes the cruel and arbitrary nature of the death penalty and shows how it has been imposed on the most marginalized or vulnerable members of society including drug addicts, the poorly educated, the impoverished or unemployed, and migrant workers.

Document(s)

Ghana: Briefing on death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

As the Presidential elections approach in Ghana, Amnesty International is renewing its call for steps towards abolishing the death penalty, after seven years without any executions. This document describes the current use of the death penalty, giving details of those currently under sentence of death and describing the death penalty under Ghanaian law and international law

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 2000

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

This paper covers events around the exercise of the death penalty during the year 2000, including such subjects as significant national and international court cases and decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the mentally ill and those with mental retardation; its use against the `innocent’ and against women; medical and religious perspectives and public opinion polls and surveys.

Document(s)

Japan: “Will this day be my last?” The death penalty in Japan

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Japan

enes
More details See the document

This report examines a number of concerns related to the application of the death penalty in Japan, where approximately 87 prisoners currently remain on death row. These concerns include the fact that a prisoner is notified of the execution on the morning of the day it is to be carried out. In some cases the prisoner is not notified at all. This means that prisoners live with the constant fear of execution, not knowing whether they will be alive the next day. Amnesty International calls on the Japanese government to abolish the death penalty as a matter of urgency.

Document(s)

Death Sentencing in Black and White: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Jurors’ Race and Jury Racial Composition

By William J. Bowers / Marla Sandys / Benjamin D. Steiner / University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, on 1 January 2001


2001

Article

United States


More details See the document

Do black jurors view a crime or its appropriate punishment differently than their white counterparts? Are their perspectives influenced by the race of the defendant or victim? Are blacks on white-dominated capital juries intimidated or coerced into voting for the death penalty?

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 1999

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper is an attempt to cover developments during 1999 and provide information current at the end of the year concerning the death penalty worldwide, different aspects of its use and attempts to abolish it or reduce its application.

Document(s)

Convicting the Innocent

By Samuel R. Gross / Annual Review of Law and Social Science, on 1 January 2008


2008

Article

United States


More details See the document

Almost everything we know about false convictions is based on exonerations in rape and murder cases, which together account for only 2% of felony convictions. Within that important but limited sphere we have learned a lot in the past 30 years; outside it, our ignorance is nearly complete. This review describes what we now know about convicting the innocent: estimates of the rate of false convictions among death sentences; common causes of false conviction for rape or murder; demographic and procedural predictors of such errors. It also explores some of the types of false convictions that almost never come to light—innocent defendants who plead guilty rather than go to trial, who receive comparatively light sentences, who are convicted of crimes that did not occur (as opposed to crimes committed by other people), who are sentenced in juvenile court—in fact, almost all innocent defendants who are convicted of any crimes other than rape or murder. Judging from what we can piece together, the vast majority of false convictions fall in these categories. They are commonplace events, inconspicuous mistakes in ordinary criminal investigations that never get anything close to the level of attention that sometimes leads to exoneration.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

Japan: Hanging by a thread: Mental health and the death penalty in Japan

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report


More details See the document

The use of the death penalty is in decline globally. Japan is one of the few industrialized countries to continue to use it, hanging a small number of prisoners each year. This report discusses the legal basis for exempting mentally ill prisoners from the death penalty and documents the situation faced by such prisoners on death row in Japan. It calls on the authorities to ensure that mentally ill prisoners are not executed and to implement a moratorium on the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

Death sentences and executions in 2008

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


NGO report

arrufres
More details See the document

This document summarises Amnesty International’s global research on the death penalty. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and interviews with survivors of human rights violations.

Document(s)

The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2002

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

This paper covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2002. Other subjects covered in this paper include significant judicial decisions; important studies; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; reductions in the scope of the death penalty; moratoria and commutations; and moves to restrict appeals in capital cases.

Document(s)

The exclusion of child offenders from the death penalty under general international law

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2003


NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In October 2002 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held that “a norm of international customary law has emerged prohibiting the execution of offenders under the age of 18 years at the time of their crime” and that “this rule has been recognized as being of a sufficiently indelible nature to now constitute a norm of jus cogens”. This paper examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against child offenders (people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18) is prohibited under customary international law and as a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens).

Document(s)

Voting record – Draft resolution A/C.3/75/L.41 as amended, Moratorium on the use of the death penalty

By United Nations General Assembly, on 18 November 2020


2020

International law - United Nations

zh-hant
More details See the document
  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Available languages

Document(s)

Not “Waiving” But Drowning: The Anatomy of Death Row Syndrome and Volunteering for Execution

By Amy Smith / Boston University Public Interest Law Journal, on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

United States


More details See the document

Within the international community, other countries have recognized the potential for harm caused by our current system, and as a result have refused to extradite back to the United States individuals who might face the death penalty. These countries cite not only the possibility of execution as reason for refusal, but the waiting process which attends that death as a separate, independent violation of human rights. If we remain unpersuaded by the international community, the behavioral trends of those individuals awaiting execution are telling as well. Within one week in 2008, two individuals awaiting death in Texas committed suicide, reflecting the heightened suicide rates on death row, estimated at ten times greater than those in society at large and several times greater than those in a general prison population. In addition, the widely-recognized practice of “volunteering” for execution permits condemned inmates to waive their state and federally mandated rights to appeal in order to speed up the execution process, in essence “volunteering” to be executed.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Death Row Phenomenon, Extradition,

Document(s)

Death Penalty: Majority of States Continue to Support UN Call for Moratorium on Executions at Committee Vote

on 1 January 2020


2020

NGO report

Antigua and Barbuda

Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Dominica

Eswatini

Guinea

Lebanon

Libya

Nauru

Niger

Pakistan

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Sierra Leone

Solomon Islands

South Sudan

Tonga

Uganda

Zimbabwe


More details See the document
  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Antigua and Barbuda / Congo / Democratic Republic of the Congo / Djibouti / Dominica / Eswatini / Guinea / Lebanon / Libya / Nauru / Niger / Pakistan / Philippines / Republic of Korea / Sierra Leone / Solomon Islands / South Sudan / Tonga / Uganda / Zimbabwe

Document(s)

USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report


More details See the document

More than 1,000 men and women have been put to death in the USA since executions resumed there in 1977. Dozens of these people had histories of mental impairment, either from before the crimes for which they were sentenced, or at the time of their execution. The report discusses many cases and includes an illustrative list of 100 people. It does not attempt to answer the complex question of precisely which defendants should be exempt from the death penalty on the grounds of mental illness at the time of the crime.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Saudi Arabia: Defying world trends – Saudi Arabia’s extensive use of capital punishment

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Saudi Arabia

arfr
More details See the document

This document examines the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and how it is sustained by a mixture of legal, judicial and political factors, whose redress requires a strong political will from the Saudi Arabian government together with a consistent concern and assistance by the international community.

Document(s)

Myanmar: The Administration Of Justice – Grave And Abiding Concerns

By Amnesty International, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

Myanmar


More details See the document

This report discusses Amnesty International’s concern about political imprisonments in Myanmar. Arbitrary arrests; torture and ill-treatment during incommunicado detention; unfair trials; and laws which greatly curtail the rights to freedom of expression and assembly continue as major obstacles to the improvement in the State Peace and Development Council’s human rights record. The section dedicated to the death penalty talks about the death penalty system in relation to specific cases.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Myanmar
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

ICCPR Case Law on Detention, the Prohibition of Cruel Treatment and Some Issues Pertaining to the Death Row Phenomenon

By Eva Rieter / Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, on 1 January 2002


2002

Article


More details See the document

This paper discusses some case law on detention issues by the Human Rights Committee (HRC) that supervises the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as HRC case law on the so-called “death row phenomenon,” which involves forcing a person to live under conditions that spawn intense fear, distress, and the virtual destruction of the personality while awaiting execution.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Phenomenon,

Document(s)

ON REDUCING WHITE SUPPORT FOR THE DEATH PENALTY: A PESSIMISTIC APPRAISAL

By Steven F. Cohn / Steven E. Barkan / Criminology and Public Policy, on 1 January 2005


2005

Article

United States


More details See the document

As Soss et al. (2003) point out, whites are the most influential racial groupand support the death penalty much more than blacks do. In the 2002GSS, 69.8% of whites favored the death penalty, compared with only42.1% of blacks. If white support for the death penalty was as low as blacksupport, it would be much more difficult for the Supreme Court to believethat “evolving standards of decency” had not evolved against capitalpunishment.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Public opinion, Public debate,

Document(s)

Hope and Fear: Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report

ar
More details See the document

Amnesty International received information from a number of sentenced prisoners indicating that their trials had not met international fair trial standards. Some had been tried in secret locations, rather than in properly established courts of law. Some trials had been completed within an hour. A number of prisoners complained that they had been convicted on the basis of false “confessions” which they had been forced to make under torture or other illtreatment during pre-trial detention. Detainees commonly were denied access to lawyers in the early stages of their detention, when they were usually held incommunicado, and were interrogated by the Asayish.

Document(s)

Ten Years of Payne: Victim Impact Evidence in Capital Cases

By John H. Blume / Cornell Law Review, on 1 January 2003


2003

Article

United States


More details See the document

Part I of this Article will discuss the Court’s prior decisions in Booth and Gathers, and Parts II and III will briefly attempt to clarify the parameters of the Payne holding. Part IV of this Article will survey the current legal landscape of state and federal practice regarding the admissibility of VIE and argument. Finally, this Article will offer in conclusion some brief perspectives on several unresolved issues in this particularly thorny (and misguided) area of capital punishment jurisprudence.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Murder Victims' Families,

Document(s)

Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty Debate

By John J. Donohue / Stanford Law Review / Justin Wolfers, on 1 January 2005


2005

Article

United States


More details See the document

Over much of the last half-century, the legal and political history of the death penalty in the United States has closely paralleled the debate within social science about its efficacy as a deterrent. The injection of Ehrlich’s conclusions into the legal and public policy arenas, coupled with the academic debate over Ehrlich’s methods, led the National Academy of Sciences to issue a 1978 report which argued that the existing evidence in support of a deterrent effect of capital punishment was unpersuasive. Over the next two decades, as a series of academic papers continued to debate the deterrence question, the number of executions gradually increased, albeit to levels much lower than those seen in the first half of the twentieth century

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

A Thousand People Face the Death Penalty in Iraq

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report

arfres
More details See the document

Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. At least 1,000 people are believed to be under sentence of death, 150 of whom have exhausted all legal remedies available to them and are therefore at serious risk of being hanged. This document describes the use of the death penalty in Iraq, including issues of transperancy, crimes punishable by death, unfair trials, the death penalty as used in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and some individual cases are discussed.

Document(s)

India: Lethal Lottery: The Death Penalty in India – A study of Supreme Court judgments in death penalty cases 1950-2006

By Amnesty International / Bikram Jeet Batra, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

India


More details See the document

The report shows that contrary to the majority Bench’s views and intentions in Bachan Singh, errors and arbitrariness have not been checked by the safeguards in place, and no small role in this has been played by the judges themselveswho have rarely adhered to the requirements laid down in Bachan Singh, making it clear that it is commonly the judge’s subjective discretion that eventually decides the fate of the accused-appellant.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list India
  • Themes list Due Process , Statistics,

Document(s)

Breaking new ground: The need for a protocol to the African Charter on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa

By Lilian Chenwi / African Human Rights Law Journal, on 1 January 2005


2005

Article


More details See the document

The question addressed in this article is whether there is need for a protocol on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter)2 makes no mention of the death penalty or the need to abolish it.3 Further, only six African states have ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Since the protocol would, most likely, take into consideration the unique problems of the continent, it stands a better chance of effectively supplementing the provisions of the African Charter than the Second Optional Protocol.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Public debate,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty V. Human Rights: Why Abolish the Death Penalty?

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report

fres
More details See the document

In this document Amnesty International calls on the UN General Assembly, 62nd session, (2007) to adopt a resolution affirming the right to life and stating that abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of human rights and to report on the implementation of the moratorium to the next session of the UNGA. It also calls on retentionist countries to establish a moratorium on executions and to respect international standards that guarantee the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.

Document(s)

The death penalty in Africa

By Dirk van Zyl Smit / African Human Rights Law Journal, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article


More details See the document

This article examines the situation of the death penalty in Africa. It does so byaddressing three main questions: First, to what extent is the death penalty inAfrica in fact an issue about which one should be particularly concerned?Second, what are the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Third, whatis to be done to strengthen the restrictions on the death penalty in Africa? Inaddition, the article examines the question whether article 4 of the AfricanCharter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its related provisions will inspirethe abolition of the death penalty. It is suggested that challenging mandatorydeath sentences, advancing procedural challenges, open debate onalternatives to the death penalty, and improving the national criminaljustice system will strengthen restrictions on the death penalty in Africa. Thearticle concludes that positive criminal justice reform rather than moralisticcondemnation is the most effective route to the eventual abolition of thedeath penalty in Africa.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Commonwealth of Independent States: Positive trend on the abolition of the death penalty but more needs to be done

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report

ru
More details See the document

On 28 November the meeting of the heads of the states in the Commonwealth of Independent States takes place in Minsk, Belarus. On the eve of the meeting Amnesty International calls on the heads of CIS states to put the issue of the abolition of the death penalty high on their agenda and to do all within their power to make the region a death penalty-free zone. Amnesty international is concerned that the conditions on death row in the region fall far short of international standards.

Document(s)

Mental retardation and the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


2001

NGO report


More details See the document

This paper attempts to summarise the issues arising from the practice of executing prisoners who have mental retardation. It draws mainly on the US experience but makes reference to other jurisdictions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Intellectual Disability,

Document(s)

Zambia: Time to abolish the death penalty

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2001


NGO report


More details See the document

This report aims at focusing attention on the country’s use of the death penalty, particularly as Zambia does not apply international standards for fair trials in its use of the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death without Justice: A Guide for Examining the Administration of the Death Penalty in the United States

By American Bar Association, on 1 January 2001


2001

Working with...


More details See the document

This guide was created because of the growing flaws in the adminstration of the death penatly, it provides a guide to the death penalty administration process and vulnerable populations in death row administration.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Study on the question of the death penalty in Africa

By African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights / Working Group on the Death Penalty in Africa, on 1 January 2011


2011

Book

fr
More details See the document

The document broadly looks at the historical, human rights law, and practical aspects of the death penalty. It takes a comprehensive approach to the question of the death penalty, bearing in mind the need to provide the African Commission with sufficient information that will enable it to take an informed position on the matter.

Document(s)

A Guide to Sentencing in Capital Cases

By The Death Penalty Project, on 1 January 2007


2007

Working with...


More details See the document

Recent years have seen a number of ground-breaking judicial decisions on the mandatory death penalty in various Caribbean and African jurisdictions. In analysing these developments, this manual addresses the key issues that arise in the sentencing and resentencing of offenders following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty for particular crimes. It deals with the general test to be applied when deciding whether an offender should be sentenced to a discretionary death penalty. It also addresses the aggravating and, in particular, mitigating considerations relevant to the sentencing exercise and procedural issues that arise as a result of the discretion now vested in the courts to impose an appropriate sentence in each case.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Networks,

Document(s)

Bangladesh: Mandatory death penalty declared void after 14-year legal battle

By Child Rights International Network, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

Sentenced to death for a crime allegedly committed when he was just 14, a Bangladeshi boy’s case became the centre of a lengthy legal battle which ultimately led to mandatory executions being declared unconstitutional.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Trend Towards Abolition, Mandatory Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

International Affairs Forum. Capital Punishment Around the World

By Center for International Relations, on 1 January 2015


2015

International law - Regional body


More details See the document

The summer issue of International Foreign Affaires focuses on the topic of capital punishment around the world. It collects articles and interviews dealing with the issues of death penalty, the path towards abolition, and the situation of capital punishment in the world.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Row Conditions, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Drugs and the Death Penalty

By Patrick Gallahue / Open Society Foundations, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

Experience has proved that for certain governments it is not easy to balance international drug laws with human rights, public health, alternatives to incarceration, and experimentation with regulation.This Report intends to provide a primer on why governments must not turn a blind eye to pressing human rights and public health impacts of current drug policies.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Justice Crucified: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

By Reprieve, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

The Reprieve’s report analyses data on prisoners currently on death row in Saudi Arabia. It finds that 72 per cent of those prisoners whose alleged offences Reprieve has been able to determine were sentenced to death for non-violent crimes, including attendance at political protests and drug offences. Reprieve has also established that many prisoners estimated to have been executed in Saudi Arabia, since January 2014, had been sentenced to death for non-violent offences.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty: Myths and Realities

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2015


NGO report


More details See the document

The Penal Reform International’s Report “Myths and Realities” provides ‘quick answers to common questions’ about the death penalty.The ‘myths’ covered include: ‘The death penalty keeps societies safer’, ‘the death penalty is applied fairly’, ‘there is nothing in international law to stop countries using the death penalty’, and ‘victims and relatives are in favour’. The booklet is a useful guide for activists and advocates of abolition, giving them the arguments they need to tackle common pre- and misconceptions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public opinion, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

America has abandoned the death penalty

By The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice / Harvard Law School, on 1 January 2015


Academic report


More details See the document

In 2015, America had the lowest number of executions in 25 years. Of the 28 people executed, 68% suffered from severe mental disabilities or experienced extreme childhood trauma and abuse according to a new report released by Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. A significant number of the executed individuals had multiple mental impairments. Two individuals were executed despite doubts about their guilt.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Joint Statement: The death penalty for drug-related offences

By Harm Reduction International, on 1 January 2015


Multimedia content


More details See the document

Joint Statement signed by Amnesty International, Anti Death Penalty Asia Network, Harm Reduction International, International Drug Policy Consortium, Penal Reform International and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty to highlight to Member States of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the preparatory Board of the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs the continued use by some countries of the death penalty for drug-related offences despite clear restrictions set out in international law.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Drug Offences,

Document(s)

Crime and Justice. Abolishing the Death Penalty

By IPS, on 1 January 2007


2007

Book


More details See the document

The IPS ‘Death Penalty Abolition Project’, supported bythe European Union, has recorded the voices of many of those who have played a key role in the recently fast-moving journey towards a death-penalty-free world. In doing so, IPS has been guided by the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Collected here are some 100 reports from dozens ofcountries and every continent. The voices of those who have spoken out here – many hundreds in number – include activists,academics, lawyers and, of course, those waiting for that dreaded last knock on their cell door.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Moratorium , Trend Towards Abolition, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

The lethal injection quandary: how medicine has dismantled the death penalty

By Deborah W. Denno, on 1 January 2007


Article

United States


More details See the document

On February 20, 2006, Michael Morales was hours away from execution in California when two anesthesiologists declined to participate in his lethal injection procedure, thereby halting all state executions. The events brought to the surface the long-running schism between law and medicine, raising the question of whether any beneficial connection between the professions ever existed in the execution context. History shows it seldom did. Decades of botched executions prove it. This Article examines how states ended up with such constitutionally vulnerable lethal injection procedures, suggesting that physician participation in executions, though looked upon with disdain, is more prevalent— and perhaps more necessary —than many would like to believe. The Article also reports the results of this author’s unique nationwide study of lethal injection protocols and medical participation. The study demonstrates that states have continued to produce grossly inadequate protocols that severely restrict sufficient understanding of how executions are performed and heighten the likelihood of unconstitutionality. The analysis emphasizes in particular the utter lack of medical or scientific testing of lethal injection despite the early and continuous involvement of doctors but ongoing detachment of medical societies. Lastly, the Article discusses the legal developments that led up to the current rush of lethal injection lawsuits as well as the strong and rapid reverberations that followed, particularly with respect to medical involvement. This Article concludes with two recommendations. First, much like what occurred in this country when the first state switched to electrocution, there should be a nationwide study of proper lethal injection protocols. An independent commission consisting of a diverse group of qualified individuals, including medical personnel, should conduct a thorough assessment of lethal injection, especially the extent of physician participation. Second, this Article recommends that states take their execution procedures out of hiding. Such visibility would increase public scrutiny, thereby enhancing the likelihood of constitutional executions. By clarifying the standards used for determining what is constitutional in Baze v. Rees, the U.S. Supreme Court can then provide the kind of Eighth Amendment guidance states need to conduct humane lethal injections.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Methods of Execution, Lethal Injection,

Document(s)

The abolition of the death penalty in the United Kingdom. How it happened and why it still matters

By Death Penalty Project / Julian B. Knowles QC, on 1 January 2015


2015

NGO report


More details See the document

Drawing on his own extensive advocacy experience in individual death row cases, Knowles traces the history of capital punishment in the UK, and in particular, the sequence of events that led to its abolition and analyses the impact that domestic and international law would have on any attempt to reintroduce it.Many lessons can be learnt from the United Kingdom’s experience. The movement to abolition was brought about by a combination of factors, including Parliamentary campaigning; changing attitudes towards social and penal affairs; and significantly, public disquiet over three controversial executions in the 1950s and a shocking series of miscarriages of justice cases that came to light in subsequent years.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Advocacy Toolkit on Abolition of the Death Penalty in West Africa

By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2016


2016

Lobbying

fr
More details See the document

This toolkit is for the use of activists who are working on the abolition of the death penalty in West Africa. It is intended to equip activists with some key advocacy tools to effectively influence the institutions and individuals who can make abolition a reality.

Document(s)

DO EXECUTIONS LOWER HOMICIDE RATES?: THE VIEWS OF LEADING CRIMINOLOGISTS*

By Michael L. Radelet / Tracy Lacock / The journal of criminal law and criminology, on 1 January 2009


2009

Article


More details See the document

This study is about the question of whether the death penalty is a more effective deterrent than long-term imprisonment has been debated for decades or longer by scholars, policy makers, and the general public. In this Article the authors report results from a survey of the world’s leading criminologists that asked their expert opinions on whether the empirical research supports the contention that the death penalty is a superior deterrent.

  • Document type Article
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

China’s death penalty: reforms on capital punishment

By Hong Lu / East Asian Institute (EAI), on 8 September 2020


2020

Article

China


More details See the document

This paper covers the death penalty situation in China, which is, according to the author, unlikely to abolish the death penalty in the near future. China topped the world in the imposition of the death penalty in 2008, while wrongful convictions and erroneous executions have been found, despite China’s official policy to prevent excessive executions.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list China
  • Themes list Juveniles, Capital offences, Legal Representation, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Missouri’s Death Penalty in 2016: The Year in Review

By Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

MADP’s 2016 report has compiled the death penalty data for the State of Missouri in 2016 and notices a significant decline of executions (6 in 2015, 1 in 2016). Moreover, no new death sentences were handed down in Missouri in 2016

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions, Discrimination, Death Penalty, Statistics, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Death Row’s Children: Pakistan’s Unlawful Executions of Juvenile Offenders

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


More details See the document

On 16 December 2014, the Government of Pakistan lifted a six-year de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Whilst the Government claims that the lifting of the moratorium is designed to curb terrorism, an analysis of the 423 executions that have taken place till February 2017 reveals that the death penalty has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable of all populations including juvenile offenders. Even though Pakistan’s international obligations and domestic laws prohibit sentencing juvenile offenders to death, at least 6 have been executed in the past two years.Through this report, the Justice Project Pakistan highlights the fundamental weaknesses under Pakistan’s juvenile justice system that lead to the unlawful and arbitrary implementation of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Juveniles, Fair Trial, International law, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Advancing drug policy reform: a new approach to decriminalization

By Global Commission on Drug Policy, on 1 January 2016


2016

NGO report


More details See the document

The Global Commission produces technical and policy reports to ground evidence-based recommendations in human rights, health and development. Political reports focus on drug policy reform generally and provide recommendations to countries in areas such as decriminalization; health and security; alternatives to incarceration for low-level people involved in the production, transport or selling of drugs; more intelligent measures against violent organizations and policy innovations such as legal, regulated markets.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Sentencing Alternatives, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Proceedings 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


2017

Academic report

fr
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This publication brings together the contributions of experts and discussions among participants at the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty held in Oslo, Norway, in June 2016.

Document(s)

Annual report on the death penalty in Iran 2016

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) / Iran Human Rights (IHR), on 1 January 2017


NGO report

fr
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The 9th annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHR) on the death penalty provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2016 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report sets out the number of executions in 2016, the trend compared to previous years, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions

Document(s)

Counting executions: data analysis by justice project pakistan

By Justice Project Pakistan, on 1 January 2017


Academic report


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Facts and figures of the executions in Pakistan from december 2014 to May 2017

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Terror on Death Row: The Abuse and Overuse of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Legislation

By Reprieve / Justice Project Pakistan, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Pakistan


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This report is a result of death row prisoner data from 38 prisons across Pakistan’s four provinces(Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (‘KPK ’),Punjab and Sindh. For most of Pakistan, the data runs to December 2012, thereby covering all those who are presently subject to execution dates. However, the report reflects further data on the province of Sindh running to October 2014

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Pakistan
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Press article: reporting the death penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


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  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

India and the Death Penalty Using the Media: How an Event Can Influence the Establishment of the Death Penalty

By Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), on 1 January 2017


NGO report


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  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Public debate, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

What Caused The Crime Decline?

By Brennan Center for Justice / Oliver Roeder / Lauren-Brooke Eisen / Julia Bowling, on 1 January 2015


2015

Article

United States


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A new study by the Brennan Center for Justice examined several possible explanations for the dramatic drop in crime in the U.S. in the 1990s and 2000s. Among the theories studied was use of the death penalty, which the report found had no effect on the decline in crime.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Deterrence ,

Document(s)

European Aid for Executions : How European Counternarcotics Aid Enables Death Sentences & Executions in Iran and Pakistan

By Reprieve, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report


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Information gathered by Reprieve andpublished for the first time in this reportexposes how counter-narcotics aidprovided to Iran and Pakistan by Europeangovernments has ended up enabling andencouraging death sentences and executionsfor drug offences in those countries. Thereport’s findings are the product of two yearsof research, synthesising unpublished deathrow data obtained from Iranian and Pakistaniprisons with data on European counter-narcotics aid delivered through the UnitedNations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Drug Offences, Networks, Statistics,

Document(s)

The Bahamas: Death Penalty Joint Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review

By The Advocates for Human Rights, on 1 January 2017


2017

NGO report


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  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list International law, Member organizations, Death Penalty,

Document(s)

Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends, and Perspectives

By United Nations / Ivan Šimonovic, on 1 January 2014


2014

International law - United Nations


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Why yet another book on the death penalty? The answer is simple: Aslong as the death penalty exists, there is a need for advocacy against it.This book provides arguments and analysis, reviews trends and sharesperspectives on moving away from the death penalty.

  • Document type International law - United Nations
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

The death penalty, terrorism and international law

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2014


Academic report


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The death penalty is retained for terrorism offences in many countries, but how does it conform with international standards? The global community has had much to say about both terrorism and capital punishment; this paper brings together the key arguments to identify the appropriate state responses in the face of terrorism.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list International law, Terrorism,