Brazil
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist for ordinary crimes
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
- News items in the archive
- 56
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Brazil is classified as Abolitionist for ordinary crimes in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 56 news items on Brazil, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JUNE 8, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian court on sentenced Marco Archer Cardoso...
An Indonesian court on sentenced Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, a Brazilian, to death after convicting him of trying to smuggle 13
- MAY 26, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Brazilian government acknowledged, as the recently-released...
The Brazilian government acknowledged, as the recently-released Amnesty International report said, that "serious problems still exist" in the country on the human rights front, but it said the administration was fighting hard to end abuses
- MAY 12, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian prosecutors said they were seeking the death...
Indonesian prosecutors said they were seeking the death penalty for Brazilian national Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira on trial for trying to smuggle 13 kilograms (29
- APRIL 21, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution...
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 11, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil said
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil said
- FEBRUARY 23, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Many people are shot dead by police forces who do not...
Many people are shot dead by police forces who do not follow United Nations standards on using lethal force only where necessary and in self-defence, Amnesty International said
- JANUARY 27, 2004BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Police in Rio de Janeiro, already facing criticism...
Police in Rio de Janeiro, already facing criticism from human rights groups for their tough tactics, had shot dead 34 people in sweeping crackdowns on drug gangs in the city's infamous shantytowns since November 2003, officials said
- OCTOBER 26, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
A government study concluded that death squads operated...
A government study concluded that death squads operated in 15 of Brazil's 26 states
- OCTOBER 9, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
A Brazilian man shot dead after testifying before a...
A Brazilian man shot dead after testifying before a UN envoy on police-sanctioned death squads in Brazil, became the second such witness killed in two weeks, police said
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
A report entitled "Summary Executions in Brazil 1997-2003"...
A report entitled "Summary Executions in Brazil 1997-2003" compiled by the Center for Global Justice and the Center for Afro-Brazilian Studies (NEN) names Brazil as one of the world's most brutal countries with a system of "extermination and oppression" p
- MAY 29, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
An Amnesty International report that accused Brazilian...
An Amnesty International report that accused Brazilian police of torturing and killing thousands of people in 2002 "reflects the truth," the country's top human rights official said
- APRIL 24, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution...
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- JANUARY 1, 2003BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil said at Art
- JULY 26, 2002BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Silvia Ferreira Giordano's only son was just a normal,...
Silvia Ferreira Giordano's only son was just a normal, soccer-loving Brazilian teenager when he was picked up by police after a fight on a summer night
- APRIL 25, 2002BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted for the resolution...
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted for the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 11, 2002BrazilDEATH PENALTY
According to research conducted on 2,048 people in...
According to research conducted on 2,048 people in 131 of the country's cities by the 'Brasmarket SBT/HOJE EM DIA' institute between the 20th and the 28th of March 2002, 50
- JANUARY 1, 2002BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil said at Art
- APRIL 25, 2001BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution...
Brazil was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001
- JANUARY 1, 2001BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil said at Art
- DECEMBER 6, 2000BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil's human rights record suffered a setback this...
Brazil's human rights record suffered a setback this year due to an upsurge in police brutality and the government's failure to act against it, the non-governmental Global Justice Center (CJG) warned
- APRIL 26, 2000BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil cosponsored and voted in favour of the resolution...
Brazil cosponsored and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- FEBRUARY 29, 2000BrazilDEATH PENALTY
A human rights group reported that civil and military...
A human rights group reported that civil and military police in Latin America's most populous nation had participated in 2,500 killings since 1997, a figure that some activists and federal law enforcement officials considered a conservative estimate
- JANUARY 18, 2000BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Lebanese and Brazilian negotiators concluded two draft...
Lebanese and Brazilian negotiators concluded two draft agreements aimed to facilitate the extradition of fugitives and improve judicial co-operation between the two countries
- JANUARY 1, 2000BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (1988) said at Art
- APRIL 28, 1999BrazilDEATH PENALTY
Brazil was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death...
Brazil was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 28 (1999/61)
- JANUARY 1, 1999BrazilDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil...
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (1988) said at Art