The people on death row
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On death row live the people who have been sentenced and are waiting to be executed. The wait can last years or decades, often in isolation, with a date that arrives or is put off again and again. It is a punishment inside the punishment, and in many countries the number of people held there is the hardest figure of all to obtain.
This page collects the news on the people on death row, on the conditions they are held in, and on the numbers the association is able to document.
Latest news
JULY 1, 2021Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: DEATH ROW PRISONERS END HUNGER STRIKE
Death row prisoners in Sri Lanka, who were on a hunger strike demanding commutation of their sentences, similar to the Presidential pardon extended to a former parliamentarian facing capital punishment earlier in the week, have ended their protest after o
JULY 1, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Attorney General Merrick Garland suspends federal executions
"Not enough"
JULY 1, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Death row inmate Nicholas Davis dies after contracting COVID-19
Davis is 1 of 56 inmates who have died of COVID-19 in Oklahoma
JUNE 25, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - 'Capital Punishment 2019' Reports Number on Death Row Down
Average Time on Death Row Approaches 19 Years
- JUNE 16, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - White House Reasserts Opposition to Death Penalty
After the controversy over the Tsarnaev case
JUNE 14, 2021BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: DEATH ROW PRISONER VIKTAR PAULAU ‘MOST LIKELY EXECUTED’, CONVICT’S SISTER SAID
Death row inmate Viktar Paulau was ‘most likely executed’, the convict’s sister Raisa told Andrey Paluda, coordinator of the campaign ‘Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus’.
JUNE 9, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Gerald Marshall's second message
From Texas' death row
JUNE 9, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Raymond Riles resentenced to life
After 45 years on death row
JUNE 9, 2021NebraskaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Nebraska. Aubrey Trail sentenced to death
- JUNE 8, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
UNITED KINGDOM: FOREIGN SECRETARY URGED TO INTERVENE IN SAUDI ARABIA DEATH PENALTY CASES
The relatives of two men awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia on 7 June 2021 asked British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to press for their release while he visits the kingdom.
- MAY 25, 2021CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Committee Recommends Repeal of Death Penalty
The state holds 1/3 of death row detainees of US
MAY 17, 2021South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - South Carolina. Governor signs bill adding firing squad and elettrocution as options for executions
The new law becomes effective on May 17
MAY 3, 2021BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: LUKASHENKO PARDONS 2 BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Illya Kostseu (21) and Stanislau Kostseu (19), who were sentenced to death in January 2020, have been pardoned, human rights centre Viasna reported on 30 April 2021 with reference to the family.
MAY 3, 2021CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Sandi Dawn Nieves' death sentence overturned
For murdering her 4 young daughters
APRIL 27, 2021KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: DEATH ROW CONVICT FREED, CO-ACCUSED SENTENCED TO DEATH
A death row convict Dickson Amalemba Lisanza has been freed after seven years in jail, The Standard reported on 27 April 2021.
APRIL 20, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TRAIN BLAST CONVICT DIES OF COVID-19
Kamal Ansari (51), a death row convict of 2006 Mumbai serial train blast case, died of Covid-19 in a Nagpur hospital on 19 April 2021.
- APRIL 19, 2021DEATH PENALTY
GLOBAL DEATH PENALTY REPORT: EXECUTIONS FOR DRUG OFFENSES DOWN 75% WORLDWIDE
Executions for drug offenses plummeted worldwide during 2020, according to a new report by the global drug-policy monitor Harm Reduction International (HRI).
- APRIL 15, 2021ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. State Paid $1.5 Million for Execution Drugs
While Facing a Budget Crisis
- APRIL 13, 2021NevadaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nevada. House repeals death penalty
Sends AB395 to Senate
APRIL 5, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 12 women on Urmia's death row
they are Kurdish, sentenced for murder
APRIL 1, 2021St. LuciaDEATH PENALTYSAINT LUCIA JUSTICE MINISTER: ‘WE SHOULD USE THE DEATH PENALTY’
Justice and National Security Minister, Senator Hermangild Francis has said that the death penalty should be used in Saint Lucia, considering it remains on the law books, the Loop reported on 31 March 2021.
MARCH 29, 2021North CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - North Carolina. Bar Suspends License of Lawyer Who Defrauded Death-Row Exonerees
Patrick Megaro Defrauded Henry McCollum and Leon Brown
FEBRUARY 25, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Supporters of Jones submitted more 6.2 million signatures (including HoC’s)
supporting his petition for clemency
FEBRUARY 18, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - DPIC Adds Eleven Cases to Innocence List
185 death-row exoneration from 1973 to today
FEBRUARY 15, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal Executions Were Likely COVID Superspreader Events
Associated Press Finds
FEBRUARY 10, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED FOR TWO MENTALLY ILL CONVICTS
In a landmark ruling, Pakistan's top court on 10 February 2021 commuted the death sentences of two mentally ill prisoners who have spent decades on death row, the first such ruling in this conservative Muslim-majority nation.
FEBRUARY 9, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Christopher Williams Released From Prison After Being Cleared of Another Murder
In 1989 he was charged with 6 murders, none of which he committed
FEBRUARY 8, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Harris County DA Seeks to Vacate Sentence for Raymond Riles
Nation’s Longest-Serving Death-Row Prisoner
FEBRUARY 5, 2021VirginiaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Virginia. After Senate, House voted to abolish death penalty
Governor is expected to sign
FEBRUARY 3, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SUPREME COURT ORDERS MAN ACQUITTED IN PEARL MURDER OFF DEATH ROW
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on 2 February 2021 ordered the Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl off death row and moved to a so-called government “safe house.”