The people on death row
Archive theme
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 1, 2000BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, an attempt on...
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, an attempt on the life of the head of state, and the military offenses of mutiny and desertion
- JANUARY 1, 2000JamaicaDEATH 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, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
92 persons were freed from death row since 1973, 8 this year
92 persons were freed from death row since 1973, 8 this year
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
There are currently 74 death row inmates (all male)...
There are currently 74 death row inmates (all male) sentenced as juveniles constituting about 2% of the total death row population
- JANUARY 1, 2000KyrgyzstanDEATH 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, 2000Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
On May 26, 1998, the Trinidad and Tobago Government...
On May 26, 1998, the Trinidad and Tobago Government withdrew from the first Optional Protocol to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with effect from 26 August 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2000PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
A new Constitution abolished the death penalty in 1987,...
A new Constitution abolished the death penalty in 1987, but gave Congress the option of restoring it for "heinous" crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Commutations in capital cases on humanitarian grounds
Commutations in capital cases on humanitarian grounds
- DECEMBER 1, 1999MarylandDEATH PENALTY
On December 1, about 70 people had a conversation with...
On December 1, about 70 people had a conversation with two men on death row by phone in the University of Maryland's Nyumburu Cultural Center
- SEPTEMBER 10, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
On September 10, 3 death row inmates: Masashi Sato,...
On September 10, 3 death row inmates: Masashi Sato, 62; Katsutoshi Takada, 61; and Tetsuyuki Morikawa, 69, were hanged
- SEPTEMBER 1, 1999IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In September, the Supreme Court refused to commute...
In September, the Supreme Court refused to commute the death sentence to a life term for Dharmendra and Narendra, who brutally murdered 5 members of a family, including 3 children on the night between May 26-27, 1994
- JUNE 1, 1999MissouriDEATH PENALTY
Clarence Dexter, Jr
Clarence Dexter, Jr
- MAY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In May, 1999, the state of Illinois exonerated convicted...
In May, 1999, the state of Illinois exonerated convicted murderer Ronald Jones, the 3rd person freed from Illinois' death row in 1999, and the 12th since 1987
- MARCH 1, 1999MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
On March 1, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Abu...
On March 1, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman said the Health Ministry will not consider a long-standing proposal raised in the early 1970s, when the wish of death-row inmate Wong Siew Chin, aka Botak Chin, to donate his organs could n
- JANUARY 5, 1999GuyanaDEATH PENALTY
On January 5, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General,...
On January 5, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General, the Guyana Government denounced the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- JANUARY 1, 1999KyrgyzstanDEATH 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, 1999ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Zambian law provides for the death penalty for those...
Zambian law provides for the death penalty for those convicted of murder, treason and aggravated robbery
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing...
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing injustice of racism in the application of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999FloridaDEATH PENALTY
Since the death penalty was reinstated, Florida has...
Since the death penalty was reinstated, Florida has had the most inmates (18) released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged
- JANUARY 1, 1999KentuckyDEATH PENALTY
In 1998, Kentucky became the only state to pass a racial...
In 1998, Kentucky became the only state to pass a racial justice act
- JANUARY 1, 1999PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
Over two-thirds of those on Pennsylvania's death row...
Over two-thirds of those on Pennsylvania's death row are members of minorities