INDEX

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) reports an alarming escalation in executions in Saudi Arabia in 2024, marking a historic high with 345 individuals executed—double the number from 2023. This report highlights the extensive use of the death penalty, with executions for drug-related offenses, political charges, and discretionary judgments (Taazir) significantly increasing. The grim statistics reveal a judicial system fraught with human rights violations, including torture, lack of legal defense, and the execution of minors and women. Amid international criticism, Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty underscores a blatant disregard for justice and human dignity, perpetuating fear and repression while pursuing an international image of progressiveness.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Saudi Arabia
• Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Drug Offenses / Juveniles
• Available languages عهد الدم: رقم تاريخي للإعدام في السعودية ٢٠٢٤

This report examines important developments regarding the death penalty in Texas in 2024, highlighting cases of individuals convicted despite evidence of innocence, racial and geographic disparities, and issues related to lethal injections.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Clemency / Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions / Fair Trial / Innocence / Intellectual Disability / Legal Representation / Mental Illness / Moratorium / Trend Towards Abolition
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The Global Commission on Drug Policy’s report, Beyond Punishment: From Criminal Justice Responses to Drug Policy Reform, exposes how punitive drug policies have driven mass incarceration and grave human rights violations. In 2023 alone, over 3.1 million people were arrested for drug-related offenses, with 20% of the global prison population detained for such crimes – nearly half for simple possession.

The report underscores the devastating consequences of prohibitionist policies, including over one million overdose deaths in the U.S. in the past two decades and 40,000 in Canada in just eight years. It also highlights systemic inequities, such as Indigenous peoples in Canada being six times more likely to face drug-related arrests than white counterparts. Furthermore, the report illustrates the disproportionate burdens on women and children, deepening cycles of poverty and marginalization.

It examines the broad spectrum of criminal justice responses to drug offenses, ranging from stop-and-search practices that disproportionately target marginalized communities to extreme measures like the death penalty and enforced treatment. These approaches often violate human rights, perpetuate stigma, and fail to address the root causes of substance use.

Offering a roadmap for reform, the report advocates for evidence-based strategies, including harm reduction measures (e.g., Overdose Prevention Centers, naloxone distribution, and safer supply programs), decriminalization and the legal regulation of drug markets. These approaches not only save lives but also reduce societal harms, foster dignity, and promote health and equity.

• Document type NGO report
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• Themes list Drug Offenses
• Available languages De l’échec de la pénalisation à la réforme des politiques en matière de drogues

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) has released a detailed report exposing the inhumane conditions at Qarchak Prison in Iran, a facility originally designed as a poultry farm. The prison detains over 2,000 women and children in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, with a lack of healthcare, contaminated drinking water, and inadequate nutrition. Children, some born in the prison, are exposed to severe hardships, including unhygienic environments, insufficient food, and inadequate medical care, and are often separated from their mothers at the age of two.

The report also highlights the use of solitary confinement for women, including death row prisoners awaiting execution. These cells lack ventilation and basic facilities, exacerbating the psychological and physical suffering of detainees. Mothers detained with their children face additional challenges, including threats of separation and the absence of educational or recreational resources for their children.

IHRNGO calls for the immediate closure of Qarchak Prison and urges the international community to take action against these egregious human rights violations. This report underscores the urgent need to protect the dignity and rights of all prisoners, particularly the most vulnerable women and children.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Iran (Islamic Republic of)
• Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Death Row Conditions / Women
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Project 39A has launched Capital Letters from death row India, a unique digital exhibition curated by reFrame. Featuring letters, artwork, audio recordings, and photographs created by prisoners on death row, the exhibition offers a deeply humanizing look into their lived experiences. Through eight thematic sections, visitors can explore the complex realities of life on death row and engage with stories of hope, trauma, and resilience.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list India
• Themes list Death Row Conditions
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Human Rights Watch highlights a dramatic increase in unlawful executions in Iraq in 2024. At least 50 men were executed in September, often without fair trials or prior notice to families. Reports reveal torture, inhumane detention conditions, and arbitrary practices. The organization calls for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and urgent reforms to Iraq’s judicial and prison systems.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Iraq
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As we commemorate the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Justice Project Pakistan presents the third edition of its annual statistics report, Death Penalty in Pakistan: Data Mapping Capital Punishment. This report offers a thoroughly updated and comprehensive analysis of the implementation of the death penalty in Pakistan.

Over the past decade, significant developments have shaped the landscape of capital punishment in Pakistan. This report delves into the data and provides an insightful overview of a period marked by a profound re-evaluation of the death penalty. Its aim is to highlight these developments through detailed statistical analysis and contextual insights.

Since the lifting of the moratorium on executions in December 2014, the administration of death sentences has undergone substantial changes. The statistics reflect a complex interplay of legal processes, judicial decisions, and evolving societal attitudes that influence the application of capital punishment. This edition captures these shifts and provides key findings on trends, patterns, and the underlying drivers.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Pakistan
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On February 9, 2024, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lifted the moratorium on executions that had been in place since 2003. This decision comes amid a deteriorating security situation in the eastern part of the country and increasing restrictions on civic space. Since the moratorium was lifted, human rights defenders who publicly oppose this decision have faced heightened repression from Congolese authorities. This note documents the violations suffered by these defenders in several provinces of the country, including:

– death threats and acts of physical violence;
– arbitrary arrests and detentions;
– baseless accusations and fabricated judicial proceedings;
– violations of property rights and freedom of movement;
– harassment targeting their relatives and collaborators.

These violations are mainly perpetrated by agents of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), the Military Detection of Unpatriotic Activities (Démiap), and security forces. The impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators allows this repression to continue.

This note also highlights the considerable impact that the criminalization of defenders has on their living conditions and those of their families, including:

– the inability to continue their activities due to fear of reprisals;
– economic and social consequences (loss of employment, marginalization);
– disruption of family life (forced relocations, separations);
– forced exile for some particularly threatened defenders.

The growing phenomenon of repression described in this note is part of a broader context of civic space restrictions in the DRC, exacerbated by the state of siege in place in some eastern provinces. This repression risks having a significant deterrent effect on the entire abolitionist movement and, more broadly, on any form of opposition to the government.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages Rapport sur la situation des défenseur.es abolitionnistes en République Démocratique du Congo

LGBTQ+ people, especially people of color and low income, experience high levels of policing and criminalization, leading to an overrepresentation of these individuals in the incarcerated population. A 2017 study from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, suggests that LGBTQ+ people are three times as likely to be incarcerated than the general population. Once incarcerated, LGBTQ+ people are often subjected to violence from correctional staff and fellow prisoners, as well denied medical care and access to mental health services.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Fair Trial
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Key Findings

Elected supreme court justices in Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio are twice as likely to affirm death penalty cases during an election year than in any other year. This effect is statistically significant when controlling for the number of cases each year.

Changing public opinion means that zealous support for the death penalty is no longer a litmus test for elected officials in many death penalty jurisdictions. Today’s elections feature viable candidates who criticize use of the death penalty and pledge reforms or even non-use, reflecting the significant decline in public support for the death penalty.

Elected governors were more likely to grant clemency in the past when they did not face voters in an upcoming election. Concerns about voter “backlash” have eased today with declining public support and low numbers of new death sentences and executions, and have led to an increased number of prisoners benefiting from clemency grants, especially mass grants, in recent years.

• Document type NGO report
• Countries list United States
• Themes list Public Opinion
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