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On July 1, 2021, Virginia ended a 413-year tradition by abolishing the death penalty.
Many of those convicted from 1608 to 2017 deserved harsh punishment – but Virginia took harsh to a whole new level with its “finality over fairness” philosophy. Four hundred years of her racist, mob-driven capital punishment system ensnared many innocent and undeserving victims under the toxic guises of protecting white citizens or being “tough on crime.” So many of those killed by the state died with their guilt or innocence lost to history.
Virginia leads the nation with 1,390 executions. After a 1976 Supreme Court decision, Virginia institutionalized and streamlined the parade to the death chamber more efficiently than any other state, executing between 1976 and 2017 a breathtaking 73 percent of all who received death sentences. The national average is 16 percent.

• Document type Book
• Countries list United States

The University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, led by Professor Carolyn Hoyle, along with a network of human rights NGOs, including The Death Penalty Project, Eleos Justice, Harm Reduction International, Justice Project Pakistan, Project 39a, and ADPAN, have cooperated on a mapping project of foreign nationals at risk of capital punishment in Asia and the Middle East, initially funded by the ESRC.
These regions have a disproportionate number of migrants and others without citizenship detained for capital offences, including those convicted for drug crimes. Building on research, knowledge and expertise within the network, this collaborative database aims to collate and make available information on foreign nationals executed or under sentence of death.

• Document type Multimedia content

An increasing number of countries have recognized that state killing undermines human dignity and respect for human rights, such as the discriminatory use of the death penalty, the use of forced confession that increases the possibility of executing an innocent person, and the lack of deterrence effect of capital punishment. This move towards abolition of the death penalty is being witnessed in all regions of the world regardless of political system, religion, culture or tradition. As of today, at least 110 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while at least eight countries have abolished for ordinary crimes, while less than 20 countries have reportedly
carried out executions in 2021.
This publication is a supplement to the ICDP´s 2018 work on “How States Abolish the Death Penalty: 29 Case Studies.”

• Document type NGO report

National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) role as influential human rights actors is paramount, and as such their contributions to abolition of the death penalty should not be underestimated when developing an anti-death penalty strategy. Expertly written by the President of the of the Beninese Commission on Human Rights, this guide’s content has been bolstered by examples and advice coming from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the field. Working with NHRIs can seem like a daunting task, especially for civil society organizations that do not have previous experience working with them. As such, this guide has been specifically designed for abolitionist civil society groups around the world, both beginners and advanced activists, with a focus on the African continent.

• Document type Working with... / World Coalition
• Themes list Trend Towards Abolition
• Available languages Comment travailler avec les institutions nationales des droits de l’homme pour abolir la peine de mort ?

Most of the workers NPR interviewed reported suffering serious mental and physical repercussions. But only one person said they received any psychological support from the government to help them cope. The experience was enough to shift many of their perspectives on capital punishment. No one who NPR spoke with whose work required them to witness executions in Virginia, Nevada, Florida, California, Ohio, South Carolina, Arizona, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Oregon, South Dakota or Indiana expressed support for the death penalty afterward, NPR found.

• Document type Article
• Countries list United States

One of the most compelling forces behind the evolution of international attitudes towards capital punishment in recent decades has been the increasing recognition of the potential for error in its use – that those states that choose to retain the practice may be taking the lives of innocent individuals. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on wrongful convictions and the death penalty.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Fair Trial

The most common justification for the retention of the death penalty among the minority of states that continue to sentence to death and execute individuals who are found guilty of committing certain serious offences is a belief that this punishment has a unique deterrent effect. The Death Penalty Project produced this resource on deterrence and the death penalty.

• Document type NGO report
• Themes list Public Opinion