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104 Document(s) 14 Member(s) 5 Article(s)

Document(s)

Index of Paralegal Services in Africa

By Penal Reform International, on 1 January 2012


2012

Book


More details See the document

This Index of Paralegal Services in Africa is the latest resource in PRI’s paralegal series. It lists paralegal services, paralegal networks and university legal clinics in 21 African countries and, where the information was available, provides contact details, a summary of the main services offered, a list of donors and examples of important results achieved.

  • Document type Book
  • Themes list Fair Trial,

Document(s)

The Egypt Death Penalty Index

By Reprieve / Daftar Ahwal Data Research Center, on 1 January 2019


2019

Multimedia content


More details See the document

The Egypt Death Penalty Index is a joint initiative of Reprieve and the Daftar Ahwal Data Research Center. The Index tracks Egypt’s use of capital punishment between 25 Janurary 2011 and 23 Septembrer 2018.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Themes list Death Penalty, Country/Regional profiles,

Document(s)

Amnesty International Global Report : Death Sentences and Executions 2021

on 25 May 2022


2022

NGO report

aresfr
More details Download [ pdf - 2638 Ko ]

2021 saw a worrying rise in executions and death sentences as some of the world’s most prolific executioners returned to business as usual and courts were unshackled from Covid-19 restrictions, Amnesty International said today in its annual review of the death penalty.

Article(s)

E Book review: a guidebook to the death penalty in Asia

on 10 March 2009

A new, authoritative study sheds a new light on capital punishment across Asia and may help abolitionists enhance their strategies.

2009

China

Japan

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Taiwan

Viet Nam

Article(s)

Increased use of the death penalty in Egypt since 2013

By Abdoul Razak Ahmadou Youssoufou, on 13 June 2019

Since the fall of the Morsi regime in 2013, the use of the death penalty has increased considerably in Egypt with a death sentence rate estimated at 2443 people between 2013 and 2018 according to Reprieve.

2019

Egypt

Document(s)

From Advocacy To Abolition: How The Universal Periodic Review Can Shape The Trajectory Of The Abolition Of The Death Penalty

By Amy Bergquist, California Western, School of Law, on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

Trend Towards Abolition


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

This article assesses whether there is evidence to suggest that the UPR can influence the timing of a country’s decision to abolish the death penalty. The evidence arises out of the examination of thirty case studies of countries that abolished the death penalty, or ratifiedthe leading treaty calling for abolition. This article concludes that in some circumstances the UPR does appear to influence that timing. These conclusions can assist civil society organizations as they refine their advocacy to encourage more countries to abolish the death penalty.

Part I of this article offers an introduction to the global abolitionist movement and two of its advocacy targets: the U.N. Human Rights Council and the UPR. Part II makes the case for focusing on the UPR to assess the efficacy of U.N. advocacy. Part III describes the process of abolition and offers several theories as to how the UPR might influence a country’s trajectory toward abolition. Part IV sets out the study’s methodology and encompasses the analysis of the case studies, focusing first on countries that have abolished the death penalty early in a UPR cycle, then on countries that have abolished at mid-cycle, and finally on countries that have abolished during the tail end of the cycle. The conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for civil society organizations working toward abolition of the death penalty.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition

Document(s)

Amnesty International Global Report : Death Sentences and Executions 2022

By Amnesty International, on 16 May 2023


2023

NGO report

aresfrzh-hant
More details See the document

This report covers the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2022. Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation. In many countries governments do not publish information on their use of the death penalty.

Document(s)

Deathworthy: a mental health perspective of the death penalty

By Project 39A, on 7 October 2021


2021

Academic report

India

Mental Illness


More details See the document

A first of its kind report, Deathworthy, presents empirical data on mental illness and intellectual disability among death row prisoners in India and the psychological consequences of living on death row. The report finds that an overwhelming majority of death row prisoners interviewed (62.2%) had a mental illness and 11% had intellectual disability. The proportion of persons with mental illness and intellectual disability on death row is overwhelmingly higher than the proportion in the community population. The report also establishes correlations between conditions of death row incarceration and mental illness and ill-health. Led and conceptualised by Maitreyi Misra (Head, Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Project 39A, National Law University Delhi), the study was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Pratima Murthy (Director, NIMHANS), Dr Sanjeev Jain (Senior Professor, Deptt of Psychiatry, NIMHANS) and Dr Gitanjali Narayanan (Associate Professor, Deptt of Psychology, NIMHANS).

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list India
  • Themes list Mental Illness

Document(s)

Data Mapping: Women on Death Row

By World Coalition against the Death Penalty , on 1 August 2023


2023

NGO report

Gender

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 813 Ko ]

In 2021, the 19th edition of the World Day Against the Death Penalty (“World Day” on October 10) was dedicated to the invisible reality of women on death row, paving the way for new data on the issue of women sentenced to death. Many members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (“World Coalition”), in preparation for 10 October, conducted research to document the situations of women facing the death penalty around the world. To systematize the information collected and have a global understanding of women sentenced to death, the World Coalition conducted a data systematization exercise.
This short report presents the main conclusions of this country exercise. These findings are a compilation of existing data available to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and its members organization up to December 2022.

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in 2021: Year End Report

By Death Penalty Information Center, on 14 January 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details See the document

The death penalty in the USA in 2021 was defined by two competing forces: the continuing long-term erosion of capital punishment across most of the country, and extreme conduct by a dwindling number of outlier jurisdictions to continue to pursue death sentences and executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

The Road to Abolition?: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States

By Charles J. Ogletree and Austin Sarat, on 24 August 2023


2023

Book

United States


More details See the document

At the start of the twenty-first century, America is in the midst of a profound national reconsideration of the death penalty. There has been a dramatic decline in the number of people being sentenced to death as well as executed, exonerations have become common, and the number of states abolishing the death penalty is on the rise. The essays featured in The Road to Abolition? track this shift in attitudes toward capital punishment, and consider whether or not the death penalty will ever be abolished in America.The interdisciplinary group of experts gathered by Charles J. Ogletree Jr., and Austin Sarat ask and attempt to answer the hard questions that need to be addressed if the death penalty is to be abolished. Will the death penalty end only to be replaced with life in prison without parole? Will life without the possibility of parole become, in essence, the new death penalty? For abolitionists, might that be a pyrrhic victory? The contributors discuss how the death penalty might be abolished, with particular emphasis on the current debate over lethal injection as a case study on why and how the elimination of certain forms of execution might provide a model for the larger abolition of the death penalty.

  • Document type Book
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Living Under Sentence of Death

on 22 April 2022


2022

Academic report

NGO report

Bangladesh

Death Row Conditions 


More details See the document

In 2019-20, The Department of Law at the University of Dhaka, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and The Death Penalty Project, conducted a study to investigate socio-economic characteristics and experiences of death row prisoners in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh continues to retain and implement the death penalty, with several executions taking place each year. Excluding laws relating to the defence forces and international crimes, there are currently 33 crimes punishable by death. 25 of these offences are non-lethal and arguably do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ under international law.

Inspired by similar studies in other countries, a pilot study was commissioned to examine the demographics and experiences of those sentenced to death. Consistent with those studies around the world, our findings evidence that the death penalty in Bangladesh is disproportionately used against the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of society.

72% of prisoners were classified as economically vulnerable
53% of prisoners were in low-paid work or unemployed
87% of prisoners had no qualifications beyond secondary school level
15% of prisoners had no formal education.

The study also raised serious concerns around the treatment of prisoners, the length of time prisoners spent in prison under the sentence of death and the integrity of criminal investigations and trial.

33% of prisoners’ families alleged their relative had been tortured in police custody, 5% suspected this and 15% refused to comment
60% of respondents were not satisfied with the trial process, with some claiming that the courts had failed to properly appreciate the evidence
On average it took over 10 years for death row cases to be disposed by the HCD (where sentences are confirmed). Prolonged time spent in isolation on death row, has been declared inhumane and degrading in many countries.

The sample consisted of 39 individuals on death row, evidence from their case files and face-to-face interviews with their families were conducted under rigorous ethical guidelines to reveal their profiles and experiences. Despite its small size, the sample is indicative of the general prison population allowing us to draw conclusions on possible trends.

  • Document type Academic report / NGO report
  • Countries list Bangladesh
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

Mass Injustice: Statistical Findings on the Death Penalty in Egypt

By Reprieve, on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

This report, Mass Injustice, presents the Egypt Death Penalty Index (“the Index”), a first-of-its-kind website and statisticaldatabase on Egypt’s application of thedeath penalty. The report provides background information on Egypt’s growing unlawful application of the death penalty, and explains how the Index was compiled.

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

Document(s)

World Coalition Activity Report 2022

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 323 Ko ]

Document(s)

World Psychiatric Association position statement mental health and the death penalty

By World Psychiatric Association, on 30 November 2023


2023

Arguments against the death penalty

Fair Trial

Intellectual Disability

zh-hant
More details See the document

International law and laws of various countries prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on persons
with mental illness or developmental and intellectual disabilities due to the special barriers faced by
them in defending themselves; their limited moral culpability; and their diminished ability to
understand the nature and reason for their execution. However, due to lack of accommodations in
criminal proceedings and legal safeguards, persons with mental illness, developmental and intellectual
disabilities are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and having their fair trial rights denied.

Authors:
Maitreyi Misra, Director (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law University
Delhi.
Namrata Sinha, Research Associate (Mental Health and Criminal Justice), Project 39A, National Law
University Delhi.
Neeraj Gill, Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra and Griffith University,
School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Soumitra Pathare, Consultant Psychiatrist, Director, Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, ILS
Law College, Pune.
Afzal Javed, President, World Psychiatric Association.

Document(s)

The Culture of Capital Punishment in Japan

By David T. Johnson, on 4 July 2020


2020

Academic report

Japan


More details See the document

Japan retains the death penalty for three main reasons: because it missed a major opportunity for abolition in the postwar Occupation, because of the long hegemony of the (conservative) Liberal Democratic Party, and because (like the United States and China) it has sufficient size, economic influence, and political clout to enable it to defy human rights norms. Capital punishment also persists in Japan because it performs welcome functions for politicians, prosecutors, media, and the public.
Despite widespread belief to the contrary, capital punishment in Japan does not deter homicide better than long terms of imprisonment do.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list Japan

Document(s)

Prison Conditions in Jamaica

on 19 April 2011


2011

NGO report

Death Row Conditions 

Jamaica


More details Download [ pdf - 396 Ko ]

In criminal justice matters, Jamaica has been rightly praised for its de-facto abolitionist
stance on the death penalty: nobody has been executed on the island since 1988.
However, the alternative to death is imprisonment. For many years, NGOs, the UN
Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and
various independent and internal reports have expressed serious concern about the
conditions in which Jamaica detains its prisoners.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Jamaica
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions 

Document(s)

The Philippines – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – March 2022

on 31 March 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Philippines


More details Download [ pdf - 320 Ko ]

1. This report addresses the Philippines’ compliance with its international human rights
obligations with respect to the death penalty. For years, the Philippines imposed the death
penalty, particularly for so-called heinous crimes. In 2006, President Gloria MacapagalArroyo abolished the death penalty.1 Since then, however, lawmakers have introduced
numerous bills to reinstate the death penalty, with the House adopting Bill No. 7814 as
recently as March 2, 2021.2

2. The report examines the current state of the death penalty in the Philippines, including (1)
acceptance of international norms; (2) proposed legislation reintroducing the death penalty;
(3) torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in enforcing drug control; (4)
conditions of detention; and (5) administration of justice and fair trial.

3. This report recommends that the Philippines continue the abolition of the death penalty,
refrain from reintroducing the death penalty, honor its international commitments, and
implement a human rights-based approach to anti-drug policy

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Philippines

Document(s)

Lebanon – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women – Death Penalty

on 12 January 2022


2022

NGO report

World Coalition

Lebanon

Women


More details Download [ pdf - 1599 Ko ]

This report addresses Lebanon’s compliance with human rights obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women regarding its use of the death penalty.

Lebanon has not abolished the death penalty or established a de jure moratorium on the death penalty. The legal system does not protect women in conflict with the law from discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. Nor does it limit capital offenses to the “most serious” crimes.

Women migrant domestic workers appear to be at an elevated risk of being sentenced to death. Indeed, all three women known to be on death row in Lebanon are Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers. Such women face heightened obstacles to realizing their right to a fair trial. Moreover, there is no evidence that sentencing authorities take into account a woman’s history of abuse when determining an appropriate sentence. Finally, women under sentence of death face degrading conditions of detention.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Lebanon
  • Themes list Women

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India – Annual Statistics Report 2021

By Project 39A, on 4 February 2022


2022

Academic report

India


More details See the document

Project 39A at the National Law University, Delhi published the sixth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report which provides an annual update on the use of the death penalty in India along with legislative and international developments on the issue. As on 31st December 2021, there were 488 prisoners on death row across India (a steep rise of nearly 21% from 2020), with Uttar Pradesh having the highest number at 86. This is the highest the death row population has been since 2004 as per the data from the Prison Statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list India

Document(s)

2020 Activity Report

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 9 September 2021


2021

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 496 Ko ]

Activity Report of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty for 2020, as adopted by its General Assembly on 18 June 2021

Document(s)

The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Members States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

By Nael Georges, ECPM, on 27 November 2020


2020

NGO report

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Brunei Darussalam

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Chad

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Indonesia

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Iraq

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Lebanon

Libya

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Morocco

Mozambique

Niger

Nigeria

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Sierra Leone

Somalia

Sudan

Suriname

Tajikistan

Togo

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

arfr
More details See the document

As the 47th session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is being held on 27-28 November 2020 in Niamey, Niger, ECPM and Nael Georges release this study, “The Process of Abolishing the Death Penalty in Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation”.

Document(s)

The Myth of Autonomy Rights

By Kathryn E. Miller, on 20 July 2022


2022

Article

United States


More details See the document

Supreme Court rhetoric, scholarly discussion, blackletter law, and ethical rules have perpetuated a myth that individual rights protect the autonomy of defendants within the criminal legal system. To expose this myth, I examine six rights that the Court has enshrined as essential decision points for criminal defendants due to the rights’ purported expressive and consequential functions: (1) the right to self-representation; (2) the right to plead guilty; (3) the right to waive a jury; (4) the right to testify; (5) the right to waive appeals; and (6) the right to maintain innocence at a capital trial. I conclude that each of these rights fails to protect defendant autonomy.

I then argue that genuine displays of autonomy under the criminal legal system take the form of resistance to the law, legal advocates, and the legal system. Thus, the autonomy of criminal defendants occurs not because of law but in spite of it. As such, scholarly discussions of the personal autonomy of criminal defendants should focus not on rights and rules but on acts of resistance. The current autonomy rights discourse is harmful because it obscures the system’s defects by framing discussions around individual rights instead of structural limitations. This lends itself to solutions involving procedural tinkering to better actualize individual rights instead of radical structural reform or abolition. By obscuring these structural defects and stressing the system’s protective qualities, the autonomy rights discourse presents the system not only as legitimate, but as functional, and potentially even successful. As such, a new scholarly frame is warranted: autonomy as resistance to law and the legal system. By illuminating the ways in which autonomy in the criminal legal system resembles autonomy under the American institution of slavery, the autonomy as resistance frame exposes the need for radical structural change and facilitates a reimagining of the criminal legal system.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Uganda – Universal Periodic Review – Death Penalty – July 2021

on 21 July 2021


2021

NGO report

World Coalition

Uganda


More details Download [ pdf - 336 Ko ]

This report addresses Uganda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. The report examines and discusses the current state of the death penalty in Uganda, including (1) the broad scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; (2) the lack of effective access to counsel in capital cases; (3) the occurrence of extrajudicial killings.

This report recommends that Uganda adopt a number of key steps to better align its death penalty practices with Uganda’s international human rights obligations. These steps include the following: establishing an official, de jure moratorium on the death penalty; reducing the number and scope of crimes that are eligible for the death penalty; reducing the maximum possible sentence from death to one that is fair, proportionate and in compliance with international human rights standards; and other measures

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Uganda

Document(s)

Estimating the effect of death penalty moratoriums on homicide rates using the synthetic control method

By Stephen N. Oliphant, on 18 September 2022


2022

Academic report

Moratorium

United States


More details See the document

Research examining death penalty deterrence has been characterized as inconclusive and uninformative. The present analysis heeds a recommendation from prior research to examine single-state changes in death penalty policy using the synthetic control method. Data from the years 1979–2019 were used to construct synthetic controls and estimate the effects of death penalty moratoriums on homicide rates in Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Moratoriums on capital punishment resulted in nonsignificant homicide reductions in all four states.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Moratorium

Document(s)

Gender, Violence, and the Death Penalty

By Sandra Babcock and Nathalie Greenfield, California Western International Law Journal , on 1 February 2024


2024

Academic Article

Gender

Women


More details See the document

Published in 2023.

This article is the first in a series that will systematically explore how gender has affected the criminal proceedings of women currently on death row. For this inaugural article, we have undertaken the first—and, to our knowledge, only comprehensive analysis of gender-based violence (“GBV”) in the lives of all women currently on death row, examining the prevalence of GBV and how it has shaped the lives and affected the criminal prosecutions of women facing execution. Our research reveals, for the first time, that almost every woman on death row in the United States has experienced GBV. Indeed,the great majority have experienced more than one incident of GBV in their lifetime. Our findings align with previous studies demonstrating that women’s pathways to incarceration are paved with physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Our research further shows that both in the United States and around the world, defense attorneys frequently fail to present evidence of GBV in women’s capital trials. When they do introduce such evidence, they fail to fully explain the nature of their clients’ victimization and the harm they have suffered as a result. Moreover, prosecutors frequently rely on gendered tropes to discredit women’s accounts of violence such as childhood sexual abuse, rape, and intimate partner violence. Consequently, those who sentence women to die rarely comprehend the extensive trauma that the women have endured throughout their lives, and how that trauma relates to their legal and moral culpability.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Themes list Gender / Women

Document(s)

Impact of the World Coalition’s Strategic Plan 2018–2022

By World Coalition Agianst the Death Penalty, on 22 August 2023


2023

World Coalition

Trend Towards Abolition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 265 Ko ]

Document(s)

How to Insert Gender issues in Abolitionist Advocacy?

By World Coalition against the Death Penalty, on 1 August 2023


2023

Lobbying

Gender

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 710 Ko ]

This tool was developed by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (World Coalition) in partnership with the Advocates for Human Rights (TAHR), after noting the limited integration of gender issues into the abolitionist advocacy of the World Coalition’s member organizations. This tool has also been edited and enrichened by the World Coalition’s Gender Working Group.
As part of the “Leave No Woman Behind on Death Row” project, this tool aims to assist World Coalition members and partners in implementing gender-sensitive abolitionist advocacy.
In this document, intended to be a practical tool, guidance is provided on how to incorporate gender-specific recommendations into abolitionist advocacy with human rights bodies. This tool focuses recommendations made by civil society organizations (CSOs) to international and regional human rights bodies, intended to encourage national authorities to act in a certain way. Human rights mechanisms and bodies serve as crucial actors in legitimizing and supporting CSOs work on the ground. A recommendation made by a CSO can, in turn, be accepted by a human rights special mechanism and be transformed into an official recommendation to the State. From there, CSOs can continue to use this official recommendation in their national advocacy to strengthen their claim and position, fulfilling a virtuous circle in advocacy work.
In this document, the recommendations made are done pending full abolition of the death penalty. They are seen as transitional steps towards full abolition of the death penalty in law and in practice.
This tool is divided into two sections. The first part focuses on how to increase visibility of the discrimination faced by women in the judicial process leading to the death penalty. The second part focuses on the discrimination faced by LGBTQIA+ people during the same judicial process. In both sections, definitions are provided as well as background information in order to understand the issues at stake in each of the themes.

Document(s)

ULUSLARARASI AF ÖRGÜTÜ KÜRESEL RAPORU ÖLÜM CEZALARI VE İNFAZLAR 2022

By ULUSLARARASI AF ÖRGÜTÜ, on 16 May 2023


2023

NGO report


More details See the document

Bu rapor, Ocak-Aralık 2022 dönemi için ölüm cezasının adli kullanımını kapsamaktadır. Uluslararası Af Örgütü yalnızca infazlar, ölüm cezaları ve ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin diğer hususlar (cezanın hafifletilmesi ve beraat gibi) hakkında makul teyitlerin olduğu durumlarda raporlama yapmaktadır. Birçok ülkede hükümetler ölüm cezasının kullanımına ilişkin bilgi yayınlamamaktadır.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Compendium of case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the death penalty and extrajudicial execution

By Jeremy McBride, Council of Europe, on 24 April 2022


2022

International law - Regional body

Legal Representation


More details See the document

The compendium’s aim is to assist national judges, prosecutors and lawyers from the 46 member states of the Council of Europe to deal with extradition or deportation cases when there is a risk of the death penalty being imposed in third countries or of extrajudicial execution. It also aims at enabling legal professionals from countries where the death penalty still exists to develop arguments based upon the reasoning of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It contains relevant extracts from the Court’s case law, structured in a user-friendly way.

  • Document type International law - Regional body
  • Themes list Legal Representation

Document(s)

A Deadly Distraction, Why the Death Penalty is not the Answer to Rape in South Asia

on 25 May 2022


2022

Arguments against the death penalty

NGO report

Bangladesh

India

Pakistan

Sri Lanka


More details See the document

Since 2010, persons convicted of rape offences were executed in at least 9 countries, including India and Pakistan. Moreover, public protests against the rape epidemic, which led governments to introduce capital rape laws, illustrates the need to shine a spotlight in South Asia.

The report examines the use of the death penalty for rape in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and explores ways that anti-death penalty activists can challenge this concerning trend.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty / NGO report
  • Countries list Bangladesh / India / Pakistan / Sri Lanka

Document(s)

Getting to Death: Race and the Paths of Capital Cases after Furman

By Fagan, Jeffrey and Davies, Garth and Paternoster, Raymond, Columbia Public Law Research Paper, Forthcoming, Cornell Law Review, Vol. 107, No. 1565, 2022, on 13 January 2023


2023

Academic report

Fair Trial

United States


More details See the document

Decades of research on the administration of the death penalty have recognized the persistent arbitrariness in its implementation and the racial inequality in the selection of defendants and cases for capital punishment. This Article provides new insights into the combined effects of these two constitutional challenges. We show how these features of post-Furman capital punishment operate at each stage of adjudication, from charging death-eligible cases to plea negotiations to the selection of eligible cases for execution and ultimately to the execution itself, and how their effects combine to sustain the constitutional violations first identified 50 years ago in Furman. Analyzing a dataset of 2,328 first- degree murder convictions in Georgia from 1995–2004 that produced 1,317 death eligible cases, we show that two features of these cases combine to produce a small group of persons facing execution: victim race and gender, and a set of case-specific features that are often correlated with race. We also show that these features explain which cases progress from the initial stages of charging to a death sentence, and which are removed from death eligibility at each stage through plea negotiations. Consistent with decades of death penalty research, we also show the special focus of prosecution on cases where Black defendants murder white victims. The evidence in the Georgia records suggests a regime marred less by overbreadth in its statute than capriciousness and randomness in the decision to seek death and to seek it in a racially disparate manner. These two dimensions of capital case adjudication combine to sustain the twin failures that produce the fatal lottery that is the death penalty.

  • Document type Academic report
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Fair Trial

Document(s)

The Power of Example: Whither The Biden Death Penalty Promise?

on 21 July 2022


2022

NGO report

United States


More details Download [ pdf - 4342 Ko ]

“The President, his administration and Congress must recognize that respect for human dignity and retention of the death penalty are incompatible; that respect for the rule of law must include international human rights law guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty; that upholding universal rights must include upholding the right of everyone to life and freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and that making international institutions stronger must include implementing the conclusions of UN human rights treaty bodies,”

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

United States – Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Death Penalty – May 2022

on 21 July 2022


NGO report

United States


More details Download [ pdf - 703 Ko ]

1. The Committee last reviewed the United States’ compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2014. Among the 2014 Concluding Observations are two recommendations relevant to this Report. 2. The Committee stated that it “remain[ed] concerned that members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, continue to be disproportionately arrested, incarcerated and subjected to harsher sentences, including life imprisonment without parole and the death penalty.” Among other things, the Committee encouraged “[a]mending laws and policies leading to racially disparate impacts in the criminal justice system … and implementing effective national strategies or plans of action aimed at eliminating structural discrimination.” The Committee specifically encouraged “[i]mposing a moratorium on the death penalty, at the federal level, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”1 3. The Committee also commented on “the ongoing challenges faced by indigent persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities to access legal counsel in criminal proceedings in practice.” The Committee encouraged the adoption of “all necessary measures to eliminate the disproportionate impact of systemic inadequacies in criminal defence programmes on indigent defendants belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, including by improving the quality of legal representation provided to indigent defendants.”2 4. This report addresses the United States’ compliance with its human rights obligations under the Convention with regard to the death penalty, including with respect to those areas identified in the Committee’s 2014 Concluding Observations as described above.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Document(s)

Tunisia – Committee Against Torture (LOIPR) – Death Penalty – June 2022

on 21 July 2022


NGO report

World Coalition

Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Tunisia


More details See the document

Tunisia carried out its last execution in 1991, over 30 years ago. Despite this de facto moratorium on executions, Tunisian courts continue to sentence people to death. Courts sentence people to death every year for a variety of crimes, especially terrorism. The current administration is undoing many of the positive changes to the Tunisian judicial system brought about by the 2011 revolution, and public opinion is divided over whether to move forward with abolition, maintain the status quo, or even resume executions, a course of action that some politicians and officials within the government support. Tunisia continues to support the UN resolutions aiming to establish a global moratorium on executions but has refused to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

This report recommends that Tunisia maintain its commitment to the UN moratorium and move to ratify the Second Optional Protocol, while also working to restore the independence of its judiciary and reducing the total number of crimes punishable by death in the short term. In the long-term Tunisia should completely and unconditionally abolish the death penalty.

  • Document type NGO report / World Coalition
  • Countries list Tunisia
  • Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Document(s)

Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, The Role of Prosecutors, Police and Other Law Enforcement

By Samuel R. Gross, Maurice J. Possley, Kaitlin Jackson Roll, Klara Huber Stephens , on 20 July 2022


2022

Academic report

Innocence


More details See the document

This is a report about the role of official misconduct in the conviction of innocent people. We
discuss cases that are listed in the National Registry of Exonerations, an ongoing online archive
that includes all known exonerations in the United States since 1989, 2,663 as of this writing.
This Report describes official misconduct in the first 2,400 exonerations in the Registry, those
posted by February 27, 2019

  • Document type Academic report
  • Themes list Innocence

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2009 (and the first six months of 2010)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

en
More details See the document

THE SITUATION TODAY The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than ten years, was again confirmed in 2009 and the first six months of 2010. There are currently 154 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 96 are totally abolitionist; 8 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 6 have a moratorium on executions in place and 44 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).

Document(s)

Detailed Factsheet – World Day 2022

By the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 4 July 2022


2022

World Coalition

fr
More details Download [ pdf - 893 Ko ]

Detailed factsheet on torture and the death penalty, for the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty (2022).

Document(s)

The Public Opinion Myth. Why Japan retains the death penalty

By Mai Sato & Paul Bacon, on 5 August 2015


2015

Academic report


More details See the document

In this report, Mai Sato and Paul Bacon go beyond the simple results of opinion polls conducted
recently by the Japanese government, which show very high levels of support for the death penalty.
Using a similar methodology and sample, the authors reveal that the majority of the population form
their views on the death penalty with limited information and based on often inaccurate perceptions
– for example, believing that the crime rate is increasing. Sato and Bacon also demonstrate that
people have a relatively low level of ‘psychological ownership’ when it comes to the future of the death
penalty: the majority think that the government and experts should decide. Furthermore, discussions
about the death penalty among participants increased tolerance towards those with different views –
which, in turn, facilitated potential reform and change.

  • Document type Academic report

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN BRIEF 2004 (and up to September 15, 2005)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2005


2005

NGO report

enfr
More 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(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2008 (and the first six months of 2009)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2009


2009

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The Worldwide Situation to Date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2008 and the first six months of 2009. There are currently 151 countries and territories that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 96 are totally abolitionist; 8 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 42 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).

Document(s)

Portuguese : Tribunal Africano dos Direitos Humanos e dos Povos

By African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 8 September 2020


2020

Academic report

fren
More details See the document

O Tribunal Africano dos Direitos Humanos e dos Povos foi estabelecido pelo Protocolo à Carta Africana dos Direitos Humanos e dos Povos relativamente ao Estabelecimento do Tribunal Africano dos Direitos Humanos e dos Povos. A missão do Tribunal consiste em complementar e reforçar as funções da Comissão promovendo e protegendo os direitos, as liberdades e as obrigações do homem e dos povos nos Estados membros da União Africana. O Tribunal é composto por onze (11) juízes cidadãos dos Estados membros da União Africana e eleitos em função de suas capacidades individuais.

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2009 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2010)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

LA SITUAZIONE AD OGGI : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2009 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2010. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 154. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 6; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 44.

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2008 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2009)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2008 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2009. I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 151. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 96; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 8; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 42.

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2007 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2008)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La Moratoria Onu delle esecuzioni : Il 18 dicembre 2007, la 62ª Assemblea Generale delle Nazioni Unite ha approvato con 104 voti a favore, 54 contrari e 29 astensioni una Risoluzione che chiede agli Stati membri di “stabilire una moratoria delle esecuzioni, in vista dell’abolizione della pena di morte.”

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2006 (e dei primi sette mesi del 2007)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata anche nel 2006 e nei primi sette mesi del 2007. I paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 146. Di questi, i paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 93; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 9; 1 paese, la Russia, in quanto membro del Consiglio d’Europa è impegnato ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attua una moratoria delle esecuzioni; quelli che hanno introdotto una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 4; i paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono cioè sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni, sono 39.

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIù IMPORTANTI DEL 2005 (e dei primi sei mesi del 2006)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da almeno dieci anni, si è confermata anche nel 2005 e nei primi sei mesi del 2006. I paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 142. Di questi, i paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 90; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 10; 1 paese, la Russia, in quanto membro del Consiglio d’Europa è impegnato ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attua una moratoria delle esecuzioni; quelli che hanno introdotto una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono cioè sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni, sono 37.

Document(s)

Italian : SINTESI DEI FATTI PIU’ IMPORTANTI DEL 2004 (e dei primi mesi del 2005)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

fren
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da almeno dieci anni, si è confermata anche nel 2004 e nei primi mesi del 2005. I paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 138. Di questi, i paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 86; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 11; 1 paese, la Russia, in quanto membro del Consiglio d’Europa è impegnato ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attua una moratoria delle esecuzioni; quelli che hanno introdotto una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono cioè sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni, sono 35. Dall’inizio del 2004, 3 paesi sono passati dal fronte dei mantenitori a quello a vario titolo abolizionista, mentre altri 5 hanno fatto ulteriori passi in avanti all’interno dello stesso fronte abolizionista.

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIU´ IMPORTANTI DEL 2003 (e dei primi mesi del 2004)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : La situazione della pena di morte nel mondo è ulteriormente e positivamente cambiata in senso abolizionista nell´ultimo anno. I paesi o i territori che a vario titolo hanno deciso di rinunciare a praticarla sono oggi 133. Di questi 81 sono totalmente abolizionisti; 14 sono abolizionisti per crimini ordinari; 1 (la Russia) in quanto membro del Consiglio d´Europa è impegnato ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attua una moratoria delle esecuzioni; 5 hanno stabilito una moratoria delle esecuzioni; 32 sono abolizionisti di fatto (non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni).

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIU´ IMPORTANTI DEL 2002

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

La situazione ad oggi : La situazione della pena di morte nel mondo è quanto mai cambiata negli ultimi anni. I paesi o i territori che in un modo o nell´altro hanno deciso di rinunciare a praticarla sono oggi 130. Di questi 78 sono totalmente abolizionisti; 14 sono abolizionisti per crimini ordinari; 2 in quanto membri del Consiglio d´Europa sono impegnati ad abolirla e, nel frattempo, attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni; 6 attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni; 30 sono abolizionisti di fatto (non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni). I paesi mantenitori della pena di morte sono 66, anche se non tutti la praticano con assiduità. Nel 2002, solo 34 di questi paesi hanno compiuto esecuzioni che sono state almeno 4.078, un po´ in calo rispetto al 2001 quando erano state almeno 4.700.

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2001

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

Il 2001 ha confermato l´evoluzione verso l´abolizione della pena di morte in corso ormai da dieci anni. Nell´anno, la Repubblica Federale di Iugoslavia è diventata totalmente abolizionista, il Cile ha abolito la pena di morte per i crimini ordinari, l´Irlanda l´ha abolita anche dalla Costituzione, il Burkina Faso è entrato a fare parte del gruppo degli abolizionisti di fatto non avendo eseguito sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni, il Libano ha deciso di attuare una moratoria delle esecuzioni.

Document(s)

Italian : Sintesi dei fatti più rilevanti del 2000

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

In questi anni, abbiamo assistito ad un progressivo rafforzamento del processo abolizionista, ed anche i fatti registrati nel 2000 confermano questo trend positivo. Al 31 dicembre 2000, sono 123 i paesi abolizionisti a vario titolo: 77 sono totalmente abolizionisti, 12 abolizionisti per crimini ordinari, 30 abolizionisti di fatto, 2 impegnati ad abolire la pena di morte in quanto membri del Consiglio d´Europa, 2 attuano una moratoria legale delle esecuzioni. I paesi mantenitori sono 73.

Document(s)

Portuguese : PENA DE MORTE: SOLUÇÃO DA VIOLÊNCIA OU VIOLAÇÃO DO DIREITO À VIDA?

By Jean Frederick Silva e Souza / Revista Direito e Liberdade, on 8 September 2020


Article

Brazil


More details See the document

Visa o presente artigo a destacar a preocupação do homem com a criminalidade, procurando encontrar meios que possam minimizá-la. Objetiva tornar o assunto objeto de discussão. O tema, dividido em subtemas, procura, no contexto da História, demonstrar como foi tratado esse assunto, verificando a constatação do problema, tomando como medida a paz social. Trata, também, dos aspectos constitucionais sobre o direito à vida, e da sua importância para o ser humano. Detém-se este trabalho à inconstitucionalidade da pena de morte em nosso país, através de uma análise da doutrina a mais científica possível, capaz de conduzir à conscientização inalienada sobre o tema em pauta. Este texto jurídico demonstra que a pena capital não é a solução para a violência, mas uma forma de violar o nosso maior direito, a vida.

  • Document type Article
  • Countries list Brazil
  • Themes list Right to life,

Document(s)

Italian : I FATTI PIÙ IMPORTANTI DEL 2011 (E DEI PRIMI SEI MESI DEL 2012)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

en
More details See the document

L’evoluzione positiva verso l’abolizione della pena di morte in atto nel mondo da oltre dieci anni, si è confermata nel 2011 e anche nei primi sei mesi del 2012.I Paesi o i territori che hanno deciso di abolirla per legge o in pratica sono oggi 155. Di questi, i Paesi totalmente abolizionisti sono 99; gli abolizionisti per crimini ordinari sono 7; quelli che attuano una moratoria delle esecuzioni sono 5; i Paesi abolizionisti di fatto, che non eseguono sentenze capitali da oltre dieci anni o che si sono impegnati internazionalmente ad abolire la pena di morte, sono 44.

Document(s)

Capital Punishment, 2016 – Statistical Brief

By Bureau of Justice Statistics / Elizabeth Davis, on 8 September 2020


NGO report

United States


More details See the document

Presents statistics on persons under sentence of death at year-end 2016, including summary trends in the population, admissions to and releases from death row, the number of persons executed, and an advance count of executions in 2017. Data are from BJS’s National Prisoner Statistics(NPS-8 series.Highlights:- At year-end 2016, a total of 32 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) held 2,814 prisoners under sentence of death, which was 58 (2%) fewer than at year-end 2015.- California (26%), Florida (14%), and Texas (9%) held nearly half (49%) of the nation’s prisoners under sentence of death at year-end 2016; in 2016, Texas executed seven prisoners, Florida executed one, and California did not execute any prisoners.- In 2016, the number of prisoners under sentence of death decreased for the sixteenth consecutive year.- Twelve states received a total of 32 prisoners under sentence of death in 2016.- Five states executed a total of 20 prisoners in 2016, with Georgia (9) and Texas (7) accounting for 80% of executions.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list United States

Member(s)

Ordine Provinciale dei Medici-Chirurgi e degli Odontoiatri di Firenze

on 30 April 2020

The Provincial Order of Doctors, Surgeons and Dentists in Florence is a member of the World Coalition.

2020

Italy

Member(s)

Magistrats européens pour la démocratie et les libertés (MEDEL)

on 30 April 2020

European Judges and Public Prosecutors for Democracy and Fundamental Rights (Magistrats européens pour la démocratie et les libertés – MEDEL)) is an association regrouping 18 national judges and prosecutors associations. Its activities are centred on debates and studies on the independence of the judiciary and international judicial co-operation, in connection with the protection of human […]

Germany

Document(s)

Who Are We Hanging?

on 1 January 2019


2019

NGO report


More details See the document

The index, created by Justic Project Pakistan, gives statistical information on the use of the death penalty in Pakistan.

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

Document(s)

HANDS OFF CAIN’S 2015 REPORT. The Most Important Facts of 2014 (And the First Six Months of 2015)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report


More details See the document

The 2015 HANDS OFF CAIN’s Report analyses the current status of executions around the world, providing detailed regional overviews. The Report confirms the worldwide trend towards abolition, even though the death penalty is still applied for violent and non-violent crimes, as in the contexts of the “war on drugs” and the “war on terror”.

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

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2007 (and the first six months of 2008)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2008


2008

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The U.N. Moratorium on Executions : On December 18, 2007, with 104 votes in favour, 54 votes against and 29 abstentions, the United Nations 62nd General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a Resolution that calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to “Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”

Document(s)

Racial Bias

By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014


2014

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This webpage provides information on the link between racism and the death penalty in the United States.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Discrimination,

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2006 (and the first seven months of 2007)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2007


2007

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2006 and the first six months of 2007. There are currently 146 countries and territories that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these, 93 are totally abolitionist, 9 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 1 (Russia) is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe and currently observes a moratorium on executions, 4 have a moratorium on executions in place and 39 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. – no executions have taken place in the last ten years).

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2005 (AND THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2006)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2006


2006

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for at least a decade, was again confirmed in 2005 and the first half of 2006. There are currently 142 countries that to different extents have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 90 are totally abolitionist; 10 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 37 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. no executions have taken place in those countries for at least ten years).

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2003

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2004


2004

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The worldwide situation concerning the death penalty has once again registered a trend towards abolition in the past year. The countries or territories that to different extents have decided to give up the practice of capital punishment total 133, including the first months of 2004. Of these 81 have abolished the death penalty completely; 14 have abolished it for ordinary crimes; 1, Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe is committed to abolish it and in the meanwhile apply a moratorium on executions; 5 are observing moratoriums and 32 countries are de facto abolitionist, not having carried out executions for at least 10 years.

Document(s)

SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2002

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2003


2003

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The worldwide situation to date: The practice of the death penalty has drastically diminished in the past few years. Today the countries or territories that have abolished it or decline to apply it number 130. Of these: 78 are totally abolitionist; 14 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 2 are committed to abolition as members of the Council of Europe and in the meanwhile observe a moratorium; 6 countries are currently observing a moratorium and 30 are de facto abolitionist, not having executed any death sentences in the past ten years.

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2001

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2002


2002

NGO report

en
More details See the document

The year 2001 has confirmed the accelerated trend towards the abolition of the death penalty on course for the past ten years. In 2001 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became totally abolitionist, Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, Ireland removed all references to the death penalty from its constitution, Burkina Faso joined the group of de facto abolitionists not having carried out any executions for more than ten years, and Lebanon has imposed a moratorium on executions.

Document(s)

The most important facts in 2000

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2000


2000

NGO report

en
More details See the document

This is the fourth consecutive year that Hands off Cain is publishing its report on the death penalty. The events registered in 2000 reveal a positive trend towards abolition.As of 31/12/2000, there were 123 abolitionist countries of various types: 77 were fully abolitionist, 12 were abolitionist for ordinary crimes, 30 were de facto abolitionist (they haven´t carried out a death sentence in at least ten years), 2 were engaged in abolishing the death penalty as members of the Council of Europe, 2 had a legal moratoria on executions. Seventy three states retained the death penalty.

Document(s)

Dangerousness, Risk Assessment, and Capital Sentencing

By Aletha M. Claussen-Schulza / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Marc W. Pearceb / Robert F. Schopp, on 1 January 2004


2004

Article

United States


More details See the document

Judges, jurors, police officers, and others are sometimes asked to make a variety of decisions based on judgments of dangerousness. Reliance on judgments of dangerousness in a variety of legal contexts has led to considerable debate and has been the focus of numerous publications. However, a substantial portion of the debate has centered on the accuracy and improvement of risk assessments rather than the issues concerning the use of dangerousness as a legal criterion. This article focuses on whether dangerousness judgments can play a useful role in capital sentencing decisions within the framework of “guided discretion” and “individualized assessment” set forth by the Supreme Court of the United States. It examines the relationship between these legal doctrines and contemporary approaches to risk assessment, and it discusses the potential tension between these approaches to risk assessment and these legal doctrines. The analysis suggests that expert testimony has the potential to undermine rather than assist the sentencer’s efforts to make capital sentencing decisions in a manner consistent with Supreme Court doctrine. This analysis includes a discussion of the advances and limitations of current approaches to risk assessment in the context of capital sentencing.

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

Document(s)

Stuck in the Dark Ages: Supreme Court Decision Making and Legal Developments

By James R.P. Ogloff / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Sonia R. Chopra, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

In the latter quarter of the 20th century, the United States Supreme Court has generally refused to narrow the procedural and substantive conditions under which adults may be sentenced to death for capital murder. The current status of social science evidence is briefly reviewed to evaluate the Court’s treatment of 3 specific categories of evidence: The death-qualified jury, prejudicial capital sentencing, and juror comprehension of capital-sentencing instructions. The role of perceptions of public opinion in the perseverance of capital punishment statutes is considered. It appears that the Court, in general, does not place much weight on social science evidence. Suggestions are made for future areas of research and practice for social scientists interested in capital punishment.

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

Document(s)

Exploring the Effects of Altitudes Toward the Death Penalty on Capital Sentencing Verdicts

By Kevin O’Neil / Psychology, Public Policy and Law / Marc W. Patry / Steven D. Penrod, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

Attitudes toward the death penalty are multifaceted and strongly held, but little research outside of the death-qualification literature has focused on the role that such attitudes and beliefs play in jurors’ capital sentencing verdicts. A single item is insufficient to properly measure attitudes toward the death penalty; therefore, a new 15-item, 5-factor scale was constructed and validated. Use of this scale in 11 studies of capital jury decision making found a large effect of general support of the death penalty on sentencing verdicts as well as independent aggravating effects for the belief that the death penalty is a deterrent and the belief that a sentence of life without parole nonetheless allows parole. These effects generally were not completely mediated by, nor did attitudes moderate the effects of, aggravating and mitigating factors.

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

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in the United States: A Crisis of Conscience

By Richard L. Wiener / Craig Haney / Psychology, Public Policy and Law, on 1 January 2004


Article

United States


More details See the document

The articles in this issue discuss many appellate court decisions that turned on due process problems in the guilt and penalty phases of capital murder trials and the troubling role of race in capital prosecutions. Governor Ryan of Illinois cited many of these issues when he declared a moratorium on the death penalty and appointed a blue-ribbon panel to study the prosecution of capital murder in 2000. Governor Ryan commuted the sentences of all Illinois death row inmates in January 2003, in part, because the legislature was unable to address these issues that again appeared in the panel’s report. These issues raise serious questions about the reliability of the capital murder system and recommend a continued public debate about its fairness.

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

Document(s)

Cost

By National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 1 January 2014


2014

Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This document provides information on the cost of death penalty cases in the United States.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty
  • Themes list Networks, Financial cost,

Document(s)

Summary of Hands Off Cain 2014 Report

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2014


NGO report


More details See the document

The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than fifteen years, was again confirmed in 2013 and the first six months of 2014.There are currently 161 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 100 are totally abolitionist; 7 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 6 have a moratorium on executions in place and 48 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. Countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).Countries retaining the death penalty worldwide declined to 37 (as of 30 June 2014), compared to 40 in 2012. Retentionist countries have gradually declined over the last few years: there were 43 in 2011, 42 in 2010, 45 in 2009, 48 in 2008, 49 in 2007, 51 in 2006 and 54 in 2005.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Statistics,

Document(s)

EU Policy on Death Penalty

By Council of Europe, on 1 January 2014


Arguments against the death penalty


More details See the document

This page contains videos and documents on issues dealing with the death penalty.

  • Document type Arguments against the death penalty

Document(s)

African Court on Human and Peoples Rights Quick Facts

By African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, on 1 January 2006


2006

Working with...

enfr
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The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Court’s Protocol). The Court’s mission is to complement and reinforce the functions of the Commission in promoting and protecting human and peoples’ rights, freedoms and duties in African Union Member States.

Document(s)

The State of Criminal Justice 2011

By American Bar Association / Ronald Tabak, on 1 January 2011


2011

NGO report


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The State of Criminal Justice 2011 contains a chapter on death penalty by Ronald Tabak (Ch. 19). Tabak explores legislative changes, the declining use of the death penalty, important Supreme Court decisions and the adequacy of representation.

  • Document type NGO report

Document(s)

Into the Abyss

By Werner Herzog / Skellig Rock (Werner Herzog Film) / Channel 4 (Spring Films), on 1 January 2011


Legal Representation


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We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes. There are interviews (video).

  • Document type Legal Representation
  • Themes list Death Row Conditions,

Document(s)

MVFHR 飄洋過海來看你:看見被害人 20100704 台北信義誠品

By Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty / Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights / YouTube, on 1 January 2011


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en
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這部短片是2010年美國被害人團體來台的報導(很抱歉,晚了一年才整理出來),今年,MVFHR將再度來台,並且也邀請日本的被害人團體一起在台灣巡迴演講「夜照亮了夜­:身為被害人」(http://www.taedp.org.tw/index.php?load=read&id=964)

Document(s)

Hands Off Cain 2011 Report

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 1 January 2011


NGO report


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Hands Off Cain 2011 Report. The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than ten years, was again confirmed in 2010 and the first six months of 2011.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS OF 2011 (and the first six months of 2012)

By HANDS OFF CAIN, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

en
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THE SITUATION TODAY The worldwide trend towards abolition, underway for more than ten years, was again confirmed in 2011 and the first six months of 2012. There are currently 155 Countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty. Of these: 99 are totally abolitionist; 7 are abolitionist for ordinary crimes; 5 have a moratorium on executions in place and 44 are de facto abolitionist (i.e. Countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or Countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty).

Document(s)

Paradise Lost: Purgatory

By Bruce Sinofsky / Joe Berlinger / HBO documentaries, on 1 January 2011


2011

Multimedia content

United States


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Joe Berlinger’s third film about the West Memphis 3, Paradise Lost: Purgatory

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list United States
  • Themes list Innocence,

Document(s)

WMA Resolution to Reaffirm the WMA’s Prohibition of Physician Partecipation in Capital Punishment

By World Medical Association, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report


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The World Medical Association has strengthened its opposition to capital punishment with a resolution at its recent conference in Bangkok that “physicians will not facilitate the importation or prescription of drugs for execution.”

  • Document type NGO report
  • Themes list Trend Towards Abolition,

Document(s)

Handbook of Forensic Psychiatric Practice in Capital Cases

By The Death Penalty Project / Nick Green / Nigel Eastman / Richard Latham / Marc Lyall, on 1 January 2018


2018

Working with...


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This Handbook represents a stand alone, single-volume practionners’ handbook for the use of psychiatrists and psychologists, sollicitors, barristers, prosecuting authorities and the courts, who are required to deal with homicide, and other cases, in jurisdictions and circumstances where the death penalty can apply.

  • Document type Working with...
  • Themes list Mental Illness,

Document(s)

The Death Penalty in Japan: A report on Japan’s legal obligations under the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and an assessment of public attitudes to capital punishment

By Saul Lehrfreund / Death Penalty Project, on 8 September 2020


2020

NGO report

Japan


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This report was commissioned by the Death Penalty Project in order to assess Japan’s legal obligations on the use of the death penalty under the ICCPR, and to examine the related subject of public attitudes toward capital punishment in Japan.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Japan
  • Themes list International law, Public opinion,

Document(s)

Just Punishment

By Kim Beamish / Liz Burke Films, on 1 January 2006


2006

Multimedia content

Australia


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In December 2005 Van Nguyen, a 24 year-old Australian, was hanged by the state of Singapore for heroin trafficking. Filmed across two years, ‘Just Punishment’ tells the remarkable story behind the fight to save his life.

  • Document type Multimedia content
  • Countries list Australia
  • Themes list Foreign Nationals,

Document(s)

Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2023

By Project 39A, on 15 February 2024


2024

NGO report

India


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Published in 2023.

This is the eighth edition of the Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report. This annual publication presents changes in the death row population as well as political and legal developments in the administration of the death penalty in India each year. The statistics are compiled through a combination of data mining of court websites, media monitoring and Right to Information applications.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list India