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
- NOVEMBER 13, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. US REPORTS DECLINE IN EXECUTIONS
the number of people sentenced to death in the United States and the number executed fell again in 2004, according to the latest government figures.
- NOVEMBER 2, 2005GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Ghana still retains the death penalty for armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder.
Ghana still retains the death penalty for armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder.
- OCTOBER 27, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. 14-YEAR-OLD BOY FACES EXECUTION
a 14-year-old Egyptian boy faces execution in Saudi Arabia after a flawed trial in which he was convicted for the murder of another child, Human Rights Watch said.
- OCTOBER 26, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. PRESIDENT CALLS FOR COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON DEATH PENALTY
continuing the debate in India on pardons for death row convicts, President A P J Abdul Kalam said a policy should be laid down after all aspects relating to the death penalty had been discussed in Parliament.
- OCTOBER 25, 2005GhanaDEATH PENALTY
GHANA. A-G WANTS DEATH PENALTY ABOLISHED
the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice joined other key players in the administration of Ghana’s justice system in a call for the abolition of the death penalty.
- OCTOBER 22, 2005IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. FOURTEEN CONDEMNED INMATES ON DEATH ROW, PRIME MINISTER
fourteen condemned prisoners sit on death row in Iraq following the execution on September 1 of three for terror activities, Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told reporters.
- OCTOBER 17, 2005IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. DEATH ROW MILITANTS FOR BALI BOMBS GET CHANCE FOR PARDON
Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra on death row for their role in the 2002 Bali bombings would be given one more chance to request a pardon, officials told activists who held a protest to demand immediate executions for the convicts.
- OCTOBER 14, 2005ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
Clarence David Hill, who spent nearly 16 years on Arizona's death row, is now a free man.
Clarence David Hill, who spent nearly 16 years on Arizona's death row, is now a free man.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. WOMAN TO BE EXECUTED FOR STOPPING RAPE
a young woman was waiting execution in Saudi Arabia for killing a man who was trying to rape her, the Saudi newspaper Arab News reported.
- AUGUST 18, 2005JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA. 25 DEATH ROW PRISONERS HAVE SENTENCE COMMUTED TO LIFE
it was reported that some 25 inmates of the Catherine Adult Centre Correctional Centre, Jamaica, were taken off death row and had their sentences commuted to life following the August 16 stabbing of former death row Prisoner Stephen Palmer, 32.
- AUGUST 18, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. STATE FAILS TO SET ASIDE DEATH ROW SENTENCES
South African constitutional Court judges expressed their disappointment at the government's failure to present a report on what it had done to set aside sentences of 59 prisoners still on death row.
- AUGUST 8, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTY
TEXAS, USA. MEXICANS COMPLAIN OF ABUSES ON TEXAS DEATH ROW
several Mexican inmates on death row on the penitentiary in Texas, known as the Polunsky Unit, said their isolation for 23 hours a day in a small cell amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
- JULY 16, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. GOVERNMENT TO BUILD PRISON FOR CONDEMNED AS DEATH-ROW NUMBERS ROCKET
Bangladesh would build a new jail for death-row inmates after a crackdown on violent crime doubled the number of condemned prisoners in three years, officials said.
- JULY 8, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. MAN FACES DEATH FOR SODOMY IN SHARIA CASE, UN
Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions raised the alarm over the case of a man who was on death row in northern Nigeria awaiting execution by stoning after a Sharia court found him guilty of sodomy.
- JULY 2, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. DHAKA PLANS SPECIAL JAIL FOR DEATH ROW PRISONERS
it was reported that Bangladesh was planning a special jail for prisoners on the death row.
- JUNE 10, 2005UgandaDEATH PENALTY
UGANDA. COURT STRIKES DOWN MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCES
Uganda's constitutional court struck down the imposition of mandatory death sentences but rejected an appeal by death-row inmates to completely outlaw capital punishment.
- JUNE 7, 2005Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. GOVERNMENT DETERMINED TO RESUME HANGINGS
faced with a murder occurring almost every day, the Trinidad and Tobago government announced a series of new crime fighting measures including the resumption of hangings.
- JUNE 7, 2005Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. STATE TO PAY WOMAN 'TOO LONG IN DEATH ROW'
following an Appeal Court ruling, it emerged that Trinidad and Tobago would have to compensate Angela Ramdeen, a woman who remained on death row for more than five years, because of the State's failure to inform her that she could no longer be executed.
- MAY 27, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. DEATH ROW PRISONERS SHOULD BE RELEASED: SAPOHR
all prisoners on death row should be released, the South African Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr) said.
- MAY 13, 2005United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
OHIO. RICHEY’S HOPES RISE WITH NEW COURT RULING
Kenny Richey, a Scot on death row in the US state of Ohio was told that an appeal court decision to quash his conviction could not be set aside, a ruling that could finally end his imprisonment. Richey, who had been facing execution for 18 years, would ha
- MAY 10, 2005ConnecticutDEATH PENALTY
CONNECTICUT. SUPREME COURT WON'T BLOCK ROSS EXECUTION
Connecticut's Supreme Court struck down another request to postpone the execution of convicted killer Michael Ross, scheduled to be New England's first execution in 45 years.
- MAY 9, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"A system that would take a life must first give justice."
"A system that would take a life must first give justice."
- MAY 6, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. 2,100 CHILDREN IN JAIL, 20 ON DEATH ROW
there are 2,100 children in jails across the Philippines, 20 of them on death row.
- MAY 6, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. COUNTRY FINALLY FINDS A VOICE IN DEATH ROW PROTEST, EDITORIAL
the Canton meeting room at Singapore's drab Furama Hotel was an unlikely venue for history to be made. But this bland setting hosted an unprecedented event for the tightly controlled island republic.
- APRIL 29, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES: 16 MINORS ON DEATH ROW
it was reported that the Philippines Commission on Human Rights Chairman Wilhelm Soriano wanted to know how come there were minors on death row in the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. He wanted answers immediately after talking to 16 of them, all betwee
- APRIL 26, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. DEATH SENTENCES FALL TO RECORD LOW SINCE 1976, THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
the number of people sentenced to death last year in the United States fell to the lowest level since the US Supreme Court reinstated the penalty in 1976.
- APRIL 25, 2005KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA. GOVERNMENT FREES UGANDANS ON DEATH ROW
the Kenyan government released four Ugandans who had been on death row for 10 years in Kenya on allegations they were rebels.
- APRIL 9, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTY
GENEVA. BRIEFING FOR RELAUNCHING A UN MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS
a briefing entitled: “THE ROLE OF THE UN TOWARD ENDING EXECUTIONS - True Stories and Practical Realities in Africa and the U.S.A.”, will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on April 12. The event is organized by Hands Off Cain, the Transnational R
- APRIL 8, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
SPAIN. MPS URGE PHILIPPINES TO SPARE CONVICTED RAPIST ON DEATH ROW
a delegation of legislators from Spain urged Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on to spare the life of Paco Larranaga, scion of a Spanish-Filipino clan sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two young women.
- APRIL 8, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
according to Mr Shanmugam Murugesu...
according to Mr Shanmugam Murugesu...