INDEX
Document(s)
USA: More about politics than child protection: The death penalty for sex crimes against children
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2006
2006
NGO report
esMore details See the document
On 8 June, the Governor of South Carolina signed a bill allowing the death penalty for a person convicted for a second time of sex crimes against children under the age of 11 and a day later, the Governor of Oklahoma signed a similar bill. Amnesty International urges all legislative, executive and judicial authorities in the United States to meet their human rights obligations by not permitting any expansion of the death penalty to non-lethal crimes such as sexual assault. The organization renews its call for a total moratorium on executions in the United States.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Most Serious Crimes,
- Available languages ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA : Cuestión de política, más que de protección de menores : La pena de muerte por delitos sexuales cometidos contra menores de edad
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Taiwan: Towards Abolition?
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Sharon Hom / Penelope Martin / Siobhan Ni Chulachain, on 1 January 2006
NGO report
More details See the document
This report highlights serious concerns regarding the conditions of detention of prisoners in Taiwan. Although there has been some improvement in conditions in recent years, FIDH and TAEDP report severe problems of overcrowding and inadequate medical treatment for prisoners, requiring urgent attention. In addition, the mission found that the use of shackles, in violation of international standards, is widespread. Prisoners, in particular those on death row, regularly have their legs chained together for 24 hours per day, in violation of the prohibition against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Despite recent reforms to the criminal justice system, FIDH and TAEDP found that serious failings continue to lead to miscarriages of justice. The report highlights persistent problems including discrimination, limited access to legal representation, piecemeal and only partially implemented reforms and unsatisfactory appeals procedures. FIDH and TAEDP found that training and supervision for actors within the system, including police, is grossly inadequate, leading to failures in the collection and preservation of evidence, whilst prosecutors and judges are inclined to “rubber stamp” police findings.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Trend Towards Abolition, Death Row Conditions, Country/Regional profiles,
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)
Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth
By Death Penalty Information Center / Richard C. Dieter, on 1 January 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)
Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind
By Robert Renny Cushing / Susannah Sheffer / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
More details See the document
This report, released appropriately on International Human Rights Day, serves to strip away the “conspiracy of silence” and give voice to a group of victims who have for too long been largely ignored in the debate surrounding the death penalty: the families of the executed.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Murder Victims' Families,
Document(s)
THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN BRIEF 2004 (and up to September 15, 2005)
By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
enfrMore details See the document
The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2004 and the first half of 2005. There are currently 138 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 86 are totally abolitionist; 11 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observing a moratorium on executions; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 35 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years). Since the beginning of 2004, 3 countries have passed from retention to an extent of abolition, whereas 5 countries have advanced within the categories of the abolitionist group.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2004 (e dei primi mesi del 2005)LES FAITS LES PLUS IMPORTANTS DE 2004 (ET DES PREMIERS NEUF MOIS DE 2005)
Document(s)
The death penalty wordwide: developments in 2004
By Amnesty International, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
fresMore details See the document
This document covers significant events concerning the death penalty during the year 2004. Five countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes, bringing to 84 the number of totally abolitionist countries at year end. Scores of death sentences were commuted in Malawi and Zambia, and moratoria or suspensions of executions were being observed in several other countries. Other subjects covered in this document include significant judicial decisions; the use of the death penalty against the innocent; resumptions of executions; and campaigning activities to promote abolition.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Statistics,
- Available languages La peine de mort dans le monde: évolution en 2004La pena de muerte en el mundo: noticias del año 2004
Document(s)
The death penalty in Thailand
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Julie Morizet / Sinapan Samidoray / Siobhan Ni Chulachain, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
More details See the document
The present report shows that, although the formal judicial process which leads to the imposition of the death penalty is theoretically in accordance with the international legal standards, serious miscarriages of justice can result in condemnations to the capital punishment. By lasting up to 84 days, the long police custody creates conditions that favour possible cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments. The difficult access to legal aid, both during police custody and the trial process, does not provide sufficient safeguards that the rights of the defence are fully respected. The conditions of detention in prisons, and notably the fact that death row inmates are chained 24 hours a day, may amount to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
Document(s)
The Death Penalty in Egypt
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Etienne Jaudel / Alya Chérif Chammari / Nabeel Rajab, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
arfrMore details See the document
The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic. Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the basis of the sentence. The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Country/Regional profiles,
- Available languages عقوبة العدام في مصرLa peine de mort en Egypte
Document(s)
Tanzania: the death sentence institutionnalised
By International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) / Eric Mirguet / Arnold Tsunga, on 1 January 2005
NGO report
enfrMore details See the document
Individuals are regularly sentenced to death in murder cases, but no statistics are published about the number of condemnations. Under the Tanzanian Penal Code, the death sentence remains a mandatory penalty for murder while it can also be applied for treason. As of April 2003, 370 persons (359 males and 11 females) were awaiting execution in the prisons of mainland Tanzania in conditions that might amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. There are a number of dysfunctions in the Tanzanian legal system, which seems to represent a threat to the rule of law, and an obstacle to reform: the unwillingness of the Executive to have its decisions challenged in judicial proceedings, and; the existence of a Penal System essentially based on retaliation towards the offenders rather than rehabilitation ; e.g. corporal punishments can still be applied for numerous offences, in spite of the fact that they clearly violate international and regional human rights instruments. Furthermore, pervasive corruption in the police and the judiciary represents a serious threat to the due process of law, including in death penalty cases.
- Document type NGO report
- Themes list Transparency, Mandatory Death Penalty,
- Available languages Swahili : Tanzania: Adhabu ya Kifo Imerasimishwa?Tanzanie: La peine de mort institutionnalisée