Italy
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1998
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- NOVEMBER 12, 1998 · On 12 November 1998, Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan,...
- News items in the archive
- 712
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Italy is classified as Abolitionist 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 712 news items on Italy, from 1998 to today.
Italy abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in the Constitution of 1948, removed it from the military penal code of war in 1994 and, in 2007, amended article 27 of the Constitution to delete the last reference to it. Since then it has supported a universal moratorium in international forums.
The Italian news in this archive concerns above all the association's other front: conditions inside places of detention, meaning overcrowding, suicides, access to care, life imprisonment without parole and alternative measures, together with the prison visits the association carries out and publishes reports on.
Latest news
- OCTOBER 22, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
ZAMBIA. SUCCESSFUL JOINT MISSION BY ITALIAN SENATE AND HOC
October 22, 2004: a joint delegation of members of the Italian Senate’s and HOC officials has concluded a four-day visit to Zambia. The mission aimed to discuss and support moves towards death penalty abolition.
- OCTOBER 22, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. UN DECLINES TO TRAIN IRAQIS FOR SADDAM TRIAL
the United Nations has rejected a request from Iraqi leaders to train some 30 judges and prosecutors who would be trying former President Saddam Hussein, in part because Baghdad has the death penalty, a UN spokesman said.
- OCTOBER 21, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A four-day visit to Zambia by a delegation from the...
A four-day visit to Zambia by a delegation from the Italian Senate's Human Rights Commission and HOC officials marked the point of no return in the process towards abolition in the country judging from political commitments made and the huge public exposu
- OCTOBER 21, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A resolution committing the Italian government to "intervene...
A resolution committing the Italian government to "intervene with the competent organs with the aim of suspending the execution" of Dominique Green slated for October 26 in the US state of Texas was tabled in the Chamber of Representatives by a bipartisan
- OCTOBER 11, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The 75 dissidents - many of whom supporters of the...
The 75 dissidents - many of whom supporters of the 'Varela project' that aims to gather signatures for a referendum to propose the introduction of a multi-party system in Cuba - were arrested by Castro's regime on March 18, 2003
- OCTOBER 11, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
As concern for the 75 civil liberties activists arrested...
As concern for the 75 civil liberties activists arrested in Cuba in March 2003 and currently jailed under harsh detention conditions rises, Hands Off Cain and the Italian Helsinki Committee are promoting an exhibition in Rome to draw attention to their pl
- JULY 27, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Italian government accepted a motion to withhold...
The Italian government accepted a motion to withhold co-operation with the Iraqi authorities in cases in which the death penalty may be applied, even for former dictator Saddam Hussein
- JULY 26, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HOC Secretary General Sergio D'Elia slammed Libyan...
HOC Secretary General Sergio D'Elia slammed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's comments against Turkey's EU membership
- JULY 23, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Senate deputy speakers Cesare Salvi and Lamberto Dini...
Senate deputy speakers Cesare Salvi and Lamberto Dini and Senators-for-life Francesco Cossiga and Rita Levi-Montalcini were the first signatories of the motion in which the Italian Senate asks the government to withhold collaboration from the Iraqi author
- JULY 22, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HOC Secretary General Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta...
HOC Secretary General Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, editor of HOC's 2004 Report on the Death Penalty Worldwide, brought the capital punishment issue to the attention of the Human Rights Committee of the Italian Chamber of Representatives
- JULY 4, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
As concern for the 75 civil liberties activists arrested...
As concern for the 75 civil liberties activists arrested in Cuba a year ago and currently jailed under harsh detention conditions rises, the Tuscan Regional Government, Hands Off Cain and the Italian Helsinki Committee are promoting an exhibition to draw
- JULY 2, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
ITALY. PARLIAMENTARY MOTION ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN IRAQ
Vicepresident of the Chambers of Deputy, Alfredo Biondi, presented a parliamentary motion on the death penalty in iraq.
- JUNE 29, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain greeted the new Iraqi government that...
Hands Off Cain greeted the new Iraqi government that took power on June 28, two days before the scheduled handover from coalition authorities led by the US
- JUNE 23, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain's 2004 report, edited by Elisabetta...
Hands Off Cain's 2004 report, edited by Elisabetta Zamparutti and published in Italian by Marsilio, is dedicated to Levy Mwanawasa, the President of Zambia
- JUNE 11, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HOC General Secretary Sergio D'Elia requested Italian...
HOC General Secretary Sergio D'Elia requested Italian authorities to ensure that Jury Angione, the Italian national risking the firing squad for drug charges in Indonesia, gets all the consular assistance necessary, and said the association is informing o
- JUNE 10, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
An Italian national is risking the firing squad for...
An Italian national is risking the firing squad for drug charges in Indonesia
- MAY 27, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Oliviero Toscani's new video clip against the death...
Oliviero Toscani's new video clip against the death penalty in promotion of Hands Off Cain's international campaign for a universal moratorium on executions established by the UN General Assembly, was shown this morning at the European Institute of Design
- MAY 25, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Assembly chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov, who...
Bulgarian Assembly chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov, who was leading a delegation to Rome met with Senate President of Marcello Pera, aksed Italy for assistance regarding the Bulgarian medical professionals, sentenced to death by the Benghazi Criminal Court on
- MAY 7, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
On occasion of the visit to Italy of Chinese Prime...
On occasion of the visit to Italy of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jibao, the Italian government and the Italian economists seemed positively impressed solely by the figures associated with Chinese development
- MAY 6, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Following a visit to the Italian Senate by a delegation...
Following a visit to the Italian Senate by a delegation of Vietnamese parliamentarians, a communiqué was released stating, "the president of the parliamentary foreign commission, Gustavo Selva, highlighted the lack of human rights in the country, demonstr
- MAY 3, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio d’Elia heavily criticised...
Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio d’Elia heavily criticised...
- APRIL 21, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Italy was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution...
Italy was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 19, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HANDS OFF CAIN AT THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Hands Off Cain, together with the Transnational Radical Party, will be present at the UN Commission on Human Rights in order to add its weight to the support for the death penalty resolution which will be presented this year by current EU Presidency holde
- APRIL 8, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Italy became totally abolitionist in 1994, when the death penalty was abolished from the Military Codes.
Italy became totally abolitionist in 1994, when the death penalty was abolished from the Military Codes.
- APRIL 8, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
ITALY: EX ILLINOIS GOVERNOR GEORGE RYAN EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR PANNELLA’S NON VIOLENT ACTION
April 8, 2004: The following is a letter sent by ex-Illinois Governor George Ryan, currently Hands Off Cain’s Honorary President, to The Radical Party.
- MARCH 26, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A delegation of Italian Radicals, led by MEP Emma Bonino,...
A delegation of Italian Radicals, led by MEP Emma Bonino, held talks in Baghdad with the Iraqi Justice Minister, among others
- MARCH 15, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
An Italian court ordered the extradition to Morocco...
An Italian court ordered the extradition to Morocco of Moroccan cleric Mohammed Rafik wanted in connection with the 2003 Casablanca bombings after the court received assurances the suspect wouldn't face the death penalty if convicted
- MARCH 3, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Some 318 members of the 630-seat Italian lower house...
Some 318 members of the 630-seat Italian lower house of parliament, a majority including leftists and conservatives, supported a petition by the Mujahedeen Khalq, an Iranian opposition group, that thousands of their fighters not be extradited from Iraq to
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain held an international two-day conference...
Hands Off Cain held an international two-day conference in Rome on February 13-14, concurrent with the meeting of HOC's board of directors
- FEBRUARY 14, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HOC INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR A MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS ENDS
February 14, 2004: the international two-day conference held in Rome and the concurrent meeting of HOC’s board of directors, ended Saturday.