The abolition of the death penalty
Archive theme
The association places countries in four states: retentionist, abolitionist in practice — no executions for at least ten years —, abolitionist for ordinary crimes, and abolitionist for all crimes. Moving from one state to the next is almost always slow: first the executions stop, then the law changes.
This page collects the news on abolitions, legislative reforms, constitutional rulings and changes of state. The current legal status of every country is in the database.
Latest news
- JANUARY 1, 2003SlovakiaDEATH PENALTY
Slovakia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1990
Slovakia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1990
- JANUARY 1, 2003HawaiiDEATH PENALTY
Hawaii does not have the death penalty, having abolished...
Hawaii does not have the death penalty, having abolished it in 1956 before becoming a state
- JANUARY 1, 2003BermudaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished in 2000
The death penalty was abolished in 2000
- JANUARY 1, 2003CanadaDEATH PENALTY
Canada abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes...
Canada abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1976 and for military offenses on December 10, 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2003ColombiaDEATH PENALTY
Colombia abolished the death penalty in 1910
Colombia abolished the death penalty in 1910
- JANUARY 1, 2003AngolaDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution approved in 1992 abolished the death...
The Constitution approved in 1992 abolished the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2003PeruDEATH PENALTY
Peru has been abolitionist for common crimes since...
Peru has been abolitionist for common crimes since 1979, when the last execution was held
- JANUARY 1, 2003ParaguayDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of Paraguay (1992) at Art
The Constitution of Paraguay (1992) at Art
- JANUARY 1, 2003LibyaDEATH PENALTY
A large number of offenses, including political offenses...
A large number of offenses, including political offenses and "economic crimes," are punishable by death
- DECEMBER 23, 2002KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
Kyrgyzstan's human rights commissioner, Tursunbai Bakiruulu,...
Kyrgyzstan's human rights commissioner, Tursunbai Bakiruulu, said he wrote to President Askar Akayev to propose abolishing the death penalty in the country, which declared a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000 and has extended it every year since
- DECEMBER 21, 2002KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
A public hearing regarding retention or abolishment...
A public hearing regarding retention or abolishment of capital punishment was held in Kyzylorda
- DECEMBER 20, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
A bipartisan group of Japanese lawmakers opposed to...
A bipartisan group of Japanese lawmakers opposed to capital punishment asked Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama to impose a moratorium on capital punishment for the duration of the Diet recess, the lawmakers said
- DECEMBER 19, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Stoning is to be abolished in Iran as a form of capital...
Stoning is to be abolished in Iran as a form of capital punishment, according to official assurances given to a European Union human rights delegation to Tehran
- DECEMBER 18, 2002UkraineDEATH PENALTY
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed into law the...
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed into law the bill on ratification of Protocol 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, dealing with abolition of death penalty under all circumstances
- NOVEMBER 28, 2002UkraineDEATH PENALTY
The Ukrainian parliament ratified Protocol 13 to the...
The Ukrainian parliament ratified Protocol 13 to the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms concerning the abolition of death penalty under all circumstances
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
Lawmakers opposed to Japan's use of the death penalty...
Lawmakers opposed to Japan's use of the death penalty revealed that they would submit to next year's Diet a bill to set up an ad hoc commission to debate whether it should be abolished
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgarian Ambassador Yuri Sterk, signed Protocol No
Bulgarian Ambassador Yuri Sterk, signed Protocol No
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
Lawmakers opposed to Japan's use of capital punishment...
Lawmakers opposed to Japan's use of capital punishment plan to submit to the 2003 Diet a bill to set up an ad hoc death penalty commission to encourage public discussions on whether or not it should be abolished, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 18, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Catanduanes Rep
Catanduanes Rep
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002UgandaDEATH PENALTY
Human-rights groups in Uganda stepped up their campaign...
Human-rights groups in Uganda stepped up their campaign against the death penalty, with several of them submitting strong memoranda to the Constitution Review Commission urging for its removal from the statute books
- NOVEMBER 10, 2002RwandaDEATH PENALTY
Rwandan delegates who reviewed the country's pre-draft...
Rwandan delegates who reviewed the country's pre-draft constitution in a national constitutional conference over the weekend rejected a proposal to abolish the death penalty
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002United NationsDEATH PENALTY
At the Third Committee Ellen Margrethe Loj from Denmark,...
At the Third Committee Ellen Margrethe Loj from Denmark, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said capital punishment ought to be a feature of the past
- NOVEMBER 4, 2002South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Sister Helen Prejean, the author and real life protagonist...
Sister Helen Prejean, the author and real life protagonist of the book that inspired the movie "Dead Man Walking", visited South Korea to join a death penalty abolishment campaign currently underway in the country
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death...
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, a Hong Kong-based group, launched a signature campaign along with religious and human rights organisations in Italy, Australia, France, the US and Taiwan
- OCTOBER 22, 2002United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Britain announced the abolition of capital punishment...
Britain announced the abolition of capital punishment for treason and piracy in the Turks and Caicos Islands, with the agreement of the government of that territory
- OCTOBER 21, 2002Central African RepublicDEATH PENALTY
Human rights have suffered a serious setback in the...
Human rights have suffered a serious setback in the aftermath of the May 2001 coup in the Central African Republic
- OCTOBER 21, 2002TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The Taiwan government says it will abolish capital...
The Taiwan government says it will abolish capital punishment by 2004, but a recent poll saw 77% of its respondents express opposition
- OCTOBER 14, 2002IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Campaign for Custodial Justice and Abolition of...
The Campaign for Custodial Justice and Abolition of Torture has called for repeal of all detention laws, including the National Security Act, saying preventive arrests are tantamount to torture
- OCTOBER 7, 2002ArmeniaDEATH PENALTY
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian held a meeting...
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian held a meeting with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Alvares Jil-Robles
- OCTOBER 4, 2002ArmeniaDEATH PENALTY
A seminar was held at the Armenian Strategic and National...
A seminar was held at the Armenian Strategic and National Research Center to discus issues concerning the European convention of defence of human rights and freedom and problems concerning the ratification of the 6th protocol of the convention by Armenia,