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
- JANUARY 11, 2003IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
In the largest purge of death row in US history, Illinois...
In the largest purge of death row in US history, Illinois Gov
- JANUARY 9, 2003MexicoDEATH PENALTY
Mexico filed a complaint against the United States...
Mexico filed a complaint against the United States in the International Court of Justice charging that American officials have violated the rights of all 54 Mexicans on death row in the United States and asking that their executions be commuted
- JANUARY 1, 2003JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
Jamaica is a British Independent Territory that retains...
Jamaica is a British Independent Territory that retains the death penalty, but for which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the final court of appeal
- JANUARY 1, 2003KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
A new Penal Code entered into force in January 1998...
A new Penal Code entered into force in January 1998 and reduced the number of capital crimes, also replacing the death penalty with a maximum of 30 years
- JANUARY 1, 2003Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
Trinidad and Tobago is a British Independent Territory...
Trinidad and Tobago is a British Independent Territory for which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council remains the last court of appeal
- DECEMBER 31, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Seven death row inmates escaped from the provincial...
Seven death row inmates escaped from the provincial jail of Northern Samar in Bobon town at around 1:30 p
- DECEMBER 20, 2002IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
Aaron Patterson, an Illinois death row inmate with...
Aaron Patterson, an Illinois death row inmate with a strong claim of innocence went on hunger strike to ask Illinois Governor George Ryan for a pardon, rather than a commutation of his death sentence
- DECEMBER 2, 2002IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
A group of retired state and federal judges is urging Gov
A group of retired state and federal judges is urging Gov
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The SA Human Rights Commission released its report...
The SA Human Rights Commission released its report on prisoners still on death row despite the abolition of the death penalty seven years ago
- NOVEMBER 4, 2002SpainDEATH PENALTY
Peter Raben, the attorney for Pablo Ibar, a Spaniard...
Peter Raben, the attorney for Pablo Ibar, a Spaniard on death row in Florida, plans to appeal the sentence against his client
- OCTOBER 31, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
An elderly man will remain on death row after the Tokyo...
An elderly man will remain on death row after the Tokyo High dismissed his appeal, ruling that a confession he gave to a 1988 double murder was unreliable but his guilt could be proved from other evidence
- OCTOBER 24, 2002IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
For nearly two weeks, the details of the most gruesome...
For nearly two weeks, the details of the most gruesome murders in recent Illinois history have been replayed for the public in a marathon set of clemency hearings that death penalty opponents now believe may have backfired and hurt their cause
- OCTOBER 9, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Nine men on death row escaped from prison in southwestern...
Nine men on death row escaped from prison in southwestern Pakistan but one of the convicts was captured soon after, a jail official said
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The number of death-row inmates in Thailand's Bang...
The number of death-row inmates in Thailand's Bang Kwang Prison reached a record high of 690 since the government took its tough stance against drug traffickers in 2001
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2002FloridaDEATH PENALTY
U.S. District Judge Norman Roettger overturned the...
U.S. District Judge Norman Roettger overturned the conviction in the Oct
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Six years after the abolishment of the death penalty...
Six years after the abolishment of the death penalty in South Africa, hundreds of former death row prisoners are still awaiting their fate as the department of justice drags its feet on reviewing their sentences
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2002IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
The decision to commute Illinois death sentences to...
The decision to commute Illinois death sentences to life in prison should be "for everybody or for nobody," despite a review board's plan to hear almost 160 separate clemency cases in October, Governor George Ryan said
- AUGUST 19, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Prison moved 10 of 12 youth offenders out of Death...
Prison moved 10 of 12 youth offenders out of Death Row at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa
- AUGUST 18, 2002United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Nurse Wendy Alsford spent her working life confronting...
Nurse Wendy Alsford spent her working life confronting illness, frailty and death as she cared for society's sick in hospitals across Britain
- AUGUST 17, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Twelve minors are still languishing on death row in...
Twelve minors are still languishing on death row in the Philippines despite a Supreme Court resolution ordering their transfer to the medium security compound of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa
- AUGUST 13, 2002EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
Acting Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister...
Acting Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Magwagwa Mdluli said that two prisoners were ready to be executed after losing their appeals for mercy last week
- AUGUST 10, 2002United StatesDEATH PENALTY
A trend that sees women drawn to marry killers waiting...
A trend that sees women drawn to marry killers waiting to die on death row is increasing
- AUGUST 7, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
A press briefing was held jointly by the human rights...
A press briefing was held jointly by the human rights and revision of laws committees and the Free Legal Assistance Group to react to Col
- AUGUST 1, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court ordered justice and prison officials...
The Supreme Court ordered justice and prison officials to remove 12 minors from Death Row, saying it was against the law to treat youth offenders as hardened criminals
- JULY 25, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Four murderers face execution on July 27 in Pakistan...
Four murderers face execution on July 27 in Pakistan after a storm of protest scuttled a deal by which they sought to escape hanging by selling young daughters into marriage to elderly relatives of their victims
- JULY 24, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Many prisoners are languishing on death row in Nigeria's...
Many prisoners are languishing on death row in Nigeria's various prisons due to the failure of some state governors to endorse their execution warrants
- JULY 20, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Death by "mysterious means," not by lethal injection,...
Death by "mysterious means," not by lethal injection, is slowly decimating the ranks of death-row convicts
- JULY 11, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
There is an even chance that President Arroyo will...
There is an even chance that President Arroyo will spare the life of convicted rapist Alfredo Nardo, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct
- JULY 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Zahra Shojaei, Iran's presidential adviser on women's...
Zahra Shojaei, Iran's presidential adviser on women's issues, defended the practice of stoning women to death for the crime of adultery, saying the punishment is correct under Islamic sharia law and protects the institution of the family
- JULY 5, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Two convicted kidnappers are scheduled for execution...
Two convicted kidnappers are scheduled for execution in the Philippines in August and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is definitely not granting them a reprieve