Entries tagged with “Human Rights”

Sep 21, 2022

Alabama Federal Court Issues Injunction Halting Execution of Alan Miller

A fed­er­al dis­trict court issued an order on September 19, 2022 to halt the sched­uled September 22, 2022 exe­cu­tion of Alabama death-row pris­on­er Alan Miller ​“by any method oth­er than nitro­gen hypox­ia,” lead­ing to …

Apr 10, 2019

Amnesty International 2018 Global Report: Executions Worldwide Fall to Lowest Level in a Decade

Executions world­wide have fall­en to their low­est lev­els in a decade, accord­ing to a new report released April 9, 2019 by Amnesty International. In its annual 

Apr 21, 2021

Amnesty International Global Report: Executions Worldwide Fewest in a Decade, Death Sentences Fall More Than One Third in 2020

Fewer exe­cu­tions were car­ried out across the world in 2020 than at any time in a decade and new death sen­tences fell by more than a third, accord­ing to a new report by Amnesty International. It was the third con­sec­u­tive year in wh…

Aug 28, 2018

Amnesty International Issues Report on the Death Penalty in Florida

A new report by Amnesty International says Florida’s approach to redress­ing the nearly…

Apr 22, 2020

Amnesty International Report: Confirmed Executions and Death Sentences Continue Global Decline, But Secrecy Hinders Accurate Assessment of Trends

Executions across the globe fell 5% world­wide in 2019 to the fewest in more than a decade, despite a record num­ber of exe­cu­tions in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International report­ed in the human rights organization’s

Apr 12, 2018

Amnesty International Report: Death Penalty Use Down Worldwide in 2017

Use of the death penal­ty declined world­wide in 2017, accord­ing to the Amnesty International’s annu­al glob­al report on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The human rights orga­ni­za­tion record­ed 2,591 death sen­tences imposed in 53 coun­tries in 2017, down 1…

Apr 01, 2003

Amnesty International: Violation of the Rights of Foreign Nationals Under Sentence of Death

More than 60 for­eign cit­i­zens rep­re­sent­ing 22 nation­al­i­ties are under sen­tence of death in the United States of America (USA). In vir­tu­al­ly every case, the arrest­ing author­i­ties failed to noti­fy detained for­eign­ers of their right to com­mu­ni­cate wi…

Jun 06, 2022

Amnesty International: Mixed Global Trends on Death Penalty as More Nations Abolish and Record Few Conduct Executions, But Extreme Practices, Widespread Secrecy Reported in Outlier Nations

More coun­tries aban­doned the death penal­ty and a record low num­ber car­ried it out, but extreme prac­tices in a few out­lier nations caused glob­al exe­cu­tions to rise in 2021, accord­ing to the human rights group Amnesty International.…

Jan 03, 2022

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate ​‘Passionately Opposed to the Death Penalty,’ Has Died

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace lau­re­ate who described him­self as ​“pas­sion­ate­ly opposed to the death penal­ty,” died in Cape Town, South Africa on December 26, 2021. He was 90 years old. Tutu, who as…

Jul 21, 2021

At Odds with Biden Administration’s Concern Over Use of Statements Obtained by Torture, Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Retires

After clash­ing with Biden admin­is­tra­tion offi­cials over the pro­pri­ety of using state­ments obtained through tor­ture from Guantánamo detainees, Army Brigadier General Mark S. Martins (pic­tured), the chief prosecutor…

Aug 31, 2018

Cases in Sudan, Saudi Arabia Illustrate Use of Death Penalty Against Women to Enforce Gender Norms

In high-pro­file cas­es in Sudan and Saudi Arabia, human rights advo­cates are protest­ing the threat­ened use of the death penal­ty against women for resist­ing oppres­sion. In the Sudan, pros­e­cu­tors are seek­ing to reins…

Aug 19, 2021

China Upholds Retaliatory Death Sentence Imposed on Canadian Citizen, Escalating Diplomatic Dispute

As China await­ed a deci­sion on whether Canada would extra­dite a top Chinese busi­ness­woman to the U.S. on crim­i­nal charges, a Chinese court upheld a con­tro­ver­sial death sen­tence imposed on a Canadian man, fur­ther esca­lat­ing ten­sions between the two…

Jan 24, 2022

Citing ​‘Christian Values,’ Papua New Guinea Abolishes the Death Penalty

Citing its ​“Christian val­ues” and the unavail­abil­i­ty of any humane means to car­ry out exe­cu­tions, Papua New Guinea has abol­ished cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. On January 20, 2022, the PNG par­lia­ment vot­ed to repeal the nation’s 30…

Nov 10, 2022

Death Penalty Information Center Launches Series on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty

The Death Penalty Information Center, sup­port­ed by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, launched a new project on Human Rights and the U.S. Death Penalty on November 4, 2022, with a live…

Nov 15, 2021

Death-Row Prisoners in Japan Sue Over Same-Day Notice of Executions

Two Japanese death-row pris­on­ers have filed a law­suit alleg­ing that the country’s long-crit­i­cized prac­tice of noti­fy­ing pris­on­ers of their exe­cu­tion the same day they are to be put to death is ​“inhu­mane” and vio­lates the nation’s constitution.…

Feb 15, 2022

Department of Justice Reverses Course, Rejects Use of Evidence Obtained by Torture in Guantánamo Death Penalty Case

In what one ana­lyst described as ​“an impor­tant step to restore the rule of law,” the U.S. Department of Justice has pledged not to use state­ments obtained by tor­ture in its Guantánamo Military Commissions prosecut…

Jun 22, 2020

DPIC Analysis — At Least 1,300 Prisoners are on U.S. Death Rows in Violation of U.S. Human Rights Obligations

Jun 22, 2020

DPIC Report — At least 1,300 Prisoners are on U.S. Death Rows in Violation of U.S. Human Rights Obligations

At least 1,300 pris­on­ers have been impris­oned on U.S. death rows for more than two decades, in vio­la­tion of U.S. human rights oblig­a­tions, a Death Penalty Information Center report on death-row incar­cer­a­tion prac­tices has found. The num­ber represe…

Sep 20, 2022

Equatorial Guinea Becomes 25^th African Country to Abolish Death Penalty

Equatorial Guinea has abol­ished the death penal­ty, becom­ing the 25^th African nation to end cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and the fourth in the past two years. According to state tele­vi­sion reports, on September 19, 2022, P…

Oct 12, 2007

European Union and World Leaders Mark Day Against the Death Penalty

Member nations of the European Union and the Council of Europe marked October 10^th as ​“European Day Against the Death Penalty,” an action to under­score the con­ti­nen­t’s firm com­mit­ment to end­ing exe­cu­tions through­out the world. Leaders from the EU …

Apr 16, 2020

Federal Court Approves Settlement of Pennsylvania Death-Row Conditions Lawsuit

A fed­er­al dis­trict court judge has approved a set­tle­ment of a class action chal­lenge to the con­di­tions of con­fine­ment on Pennsylvania’s death row that offi­cial­ly ends the state’s pol­i­cy of manda­to­ry incar­cer­a­tion of death-row pris­on­ers in permanen…

May 24, 2022

Florida Becomes Latest State to End Permanent Death-Row Solitary Confinement After Settlement of Conditions Lawsuit

Florida has joined the grow­ing num­ber of states that have end­ed auto­mat­ic per­ma­nent soli­tary con­fine­ment for pris­on­ers sen­tenced to death. The Florida Department of Corrections agreed to the action as part…

Dec 10, 2013

Former Gov. Bill Richardson Issues Human Rights Day Statement on International Decline of Death Penalty

December 10 is Human Rights Day, the 65^th anniver­sary of the United Nations’ adop­tion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To mark this anniver­sary, for­mer New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

Apr 16, 2021

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). Three coun­tries — China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran — car­ried out 3…

Sep 16, 2022

Guantánamo Prosecutor Who Advocated Use of Torture Testimony Removed from U.S.S. Cole Bombing Case

A sec­ond mil­i­tary com­mis­sions pros­e­cu­tor who had advo­cat­ed using tes­ti­mo­ny obtained by tor­ture against defen­dants in the death penal­ty tri­al of the Guantánamo detainees charged with the October 2000 bomb­ing of the U.S.S. C…

Mar 16, 2018

Human Rights Advocates: Prisoner’s Rare Medical Condition Risks Gruesome Botched Execution in Missouri

Human rights advo­cates are warn­ing that the impend­ing exe­cu­tion of Russell Bucklew (pic­tured) in Missouri on March 20 presents a ​“sub­stan­tial­ly increase[d] risk of a grue­some and botched exe­cu­tion.” Court p…

Aug 24, 2015

Human Rights Commission Calls for Stay of Execution for Nicaraguan Man on Texas Death Row

(UPDATE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has grant­ed Bernardo Tercero a stay of exe­cu­tion to per­mit him to lit­i­gate evi­dence that a lead p…

Sep 14, 2017

Human Rights Groups Urge U.S. Government To Sanction Officials Accused Of Torture, Executions Under New Law

A coali­tion of 23 human rights groups, includ­ing Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, and Reprieve, has urged the United States gov­ern­ment to issue sanc­tions against for­eign gov­ern­ment official…

Oct 29, 2020

Human Rights Organizations: Saudi Arabia’s Claims to Have Banned the Death Penalty for Juveniles are Belied by the Kingdom’s Actual Practices

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia con­tin­ues to use the death penal­ty against peo­ple accused of crimes com­mit­ted as juve­niles, despite a roy­al decree claim­ing to ban that prac­tice, human rights orga­ni­za­tions and defense lawyers have cha…

Dec 18, 2020

Human Rights Tribunal Calls for Stay of Execution for Lisa Montgomery

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the human rights body charged with over­see­ing Western Hemisphere nations’ com­pli­ance with human rights oblig­a­tions, has called on the United States to halt the sched­uled Janua…

Jul 11, 2022

In New Report, Amnesty International Urges President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty and Commute All Federal Death Sentences

A new report by the human rights orga­ni­za­tion Amnesty International urges President Joe Biden to act upon his cam­paign pledge to work to abol­ish the death penal­ty by exer­cis­ing his con­sti­tu­tion­al author­i­ty to comm…

Dec 17, 2009

INTERNATIONAL: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Calls for an End to the Death Penalty

On December 15 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights marked the 20^th anniver­sary of an inter­na­tion­al death penal­ty treaty by call­ing for the uni­ver­sal abo­li­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Navi Pillay, …

Oct 31, 2012

INTERNATIONAL: UN Investigator Claims Executions are Increasingly Viewed as Torture Around the World

On October 23, the United Nations’ spe­cial rap­por­teur on tor­ture, Juan Mendez, told a UN General Assembly human rights com­mit­tee that coun­tries around the world are increas­ing­ly view­ing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment as a form of tor­ture beca…

Dec 12, 2022

Iran Executes Two Prisoners Arrested in Ongoing Protests, Threatens More to Follow

In what human rights groups warn is just the start of a vio­lent cam­paign of polit­i­cal repres­sion, the Islamic Republic of Iran has begun exe­cut­ing pro­test­ers in the ongo­ing civ­il unrest fol­low­ing the death of 22-year-old M…

Sep 29, 2020

Kazakhstan Signs Global Treaty to Abolish Death Penalty

The Republic of Kazakhstan has joined the ranks of nations that have for­mal­ly com­mit­ted to abol­ish­ing the death penal­ty. On September 23, 2020, in con­junc­tion with the 75^th ses­sion of the United Nations Genera…

Dec 22, 2021

Law Review: Most U.S. Death-Row Prisoners Have Been Housed in Prolonged Solitary Confinement that Violates International Human Rights Norms

More than half of all U.S. death-row pris­on­ers are or have recent­ly been incar­cer­at­ed in pro­longed con­di­tions of soli­tary con­fine­ment that are like­ly uncon­sti­tu­tion­al and that vio­late inter­na­tion­al human rights norms, a DPIC analy­sis of data in a …

Aug 24, 2021

Malawi Supreme Court Retreats from Opinion that Declared the Death Penalty Unconstitutional

In a con­fus­ing about-face that has angered human rights activists, the Malawian Supreme Court of Appeal has retreat­ed from a pri­or deci­sion of the court that had appeared to have abol­ished the African nation’s death penal­ty. On Au…

Jun 12, 2022

Malaysian Government Pledges to End Mandatory Death Penalty

The use of the death penal­ty for non-vio­lent drug offens­es vio­lates inter­na­tion­al human rights law. In its 2022 annu­al report on the global 

Mar 02, 2022

Melissa Lucio Files Motions to Vacate Death Warrant, Remove Judge and District Attorney Based on Conflicts of Interest

Lawyers for Texas death-row pris­on­er Melissa Lucio (pic­tured) have moved to vacate her April 27, 2022 exe­cu­tion date and remove the judge and dis­trict attor­ney in her case because of con­flicts of inter­est stemming…

Oct 16, 2019

Mixed Signals From Uganda as Officials Advocate, then Disavow, Death Penalty For LGBTQ Conduct

Facing a poten­tial back­lash from major aid donors, Uganda’s pres­i­dent has attempt­ed to dis­tance his gov­ern­ment from leg­isla­tive efforts to rein­tro­duce a bill that would make con­sen­su­al same-sex acts pun­ish­able by the death penal­ty and criminalize …

Jun 09, 2010

NEW RESOURCES: The Death Penalty for Drug Offences — Global Overview 2010

The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) recent­ly pub­lished a report on the use of the death penal­ty for drug crimes around the world. The report dis­tin­guish­es between coun­tries that have leg­is­la­tion allow­ing a death se…

Sep 12, 2018

New UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Condemns Mass Death Sentences Imposed in Egypt

Incoming United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet (pic­tured), has con­demned the mass tri­al of more than 700 pro­test­ers in a Cairo, Egypt, crim­i­nal court, in which 75 de…

Jan 03, 2021

NEWS BRIEF — Kazakhstan Abolishes the Death Penalty

After a sev­en­teen-year mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions, the Republic of Kazakhstan has for­mal­ly abol­ished the death penal­ty. On January 2, 2021, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev added his sig­na­ture to a bill pass…

Dec 24, 2019

Political Application of Capital Punishment on Prominent Display in Pakistan and Middle East

The use of the death penal­ty as a polit­i­cal weapon was on dis­play in late December 2019 in an extra­or­di­nary series of four unre­lat­ed cas­es in Pakistan and the Middle East​.In Pakistan, a spe­cial tri­bunal tried and convicted …

Mar 23, 2022

Report: Fewer Nations Using the Death Penalty for Drug Offenses, But Executions and Secrecy Are Up in Those that Do

Fewer coun­tries are using the death penal­ty for drug offens­es, but accord­ing to a new glob­al report, exe­cu­tions increased in those that did and took place in pro­ceed­ings char­ac­ter­ized by author­i­tar­i­an­ism and secre­cy. In its eleventh annual…

Apr 25, 2019

Saudi Arabia Condemned for Mass Execution of 37 People, Including Juveniles, After Unfair Trials

In an action con­demned by the United Nations and human rights groups as a fla­grant vio­la­tion of inter­na­tion­al law, Saudi Arabia behead­ed 37 peo­ple, includ­ing juve­nile offend­ers, in six sep­a­rate loca­tions on April 23, 2019. It was …

Dec 05, 2022

Saudi Arabia Reneges on Pledge to End Death Penalty for Drug Crimes; Execution Spree Draws Condemnation from UN and Human Rights NGOs

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a coali­tion of more than 30 non-gov­ern­men­tal orga­ni­za­tions have con­demned the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a series of exe­cu­tions for drug crimes car­ried out in violat…

Mar 16, 2022

Saudi Arabian Mass Execution of 81 People Draws Condemnation from U.N. High Commissioner, Rights Activists

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exe­cut­ed 81 peo­ple on March 12, 2022, the largest mass exe­cu­tion in the mod­ern his­to­ry of the coun­try, elic­it­ing out­rage from United Nations and non-gov­ern­men­tal human rights organizations. 

Nov 28, 2017

Senior U.N. Official Assails Death-Penalty Secrecy As Obstruction of Human Rights

A senior United Nations human rights offi­cial has crit­i­cized the secre­cy with which coun­tries car­ry out the death penal­ty and called for greater trans­paren­cy by coun­tries that still employ cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. ​“There is far too much secrecy,” 

Jul 26, 2021

Sierra Leone Becomes 23^rd African Country to Abolish the Death Penalty

The par­lia­ment of Sierra Leone vot­ed unan­i­mous­ly on July 23, 2021 to abol­ish the death penal­ty, mak­ing the West African nation of 7.8 mil­lion peo­ple the 23^rd coun­try on the con­ti­nent and the 110^th world­wide to end cap­i­tal punishme…

Apr 07, 2022

Singapore Resumes Hangings for Drug Offenses, Provoking Outrage, Rare Public Protest

In a move sharply crit­i­cized by rights advo­cates as a vio­la­tion of inter­na­tion­al human rights law, Singapore has resumed exe­cu­tions for non-vio­lent drug offens­es. On March 30, 2022, the author­i­tar­i­an city/​state hanged Abd…

Nov 01, 2013

STUDIES: Human Rights Groups Examine Death Penalty in California and Louisiana

The Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights recent­ly released an analy­sis of the death penal­ty in California and Louisiana. The report con­clud­ed that th…

Apr 27, 2017

Study: Texas’ ​‘Harsh and Inhumane’ Death-Row Conditions Amount to ​‘Torture’

The con­di­tions in which pris­on­ers on Texas’ death row are con­fined are ​“harsh and inhu­mane,” vio­late inter­na­tion­al human rights norms, and amount to ​“a severe and relent­less act of tor­ture,” accord­ing to a new study by the Univers…

Nov 12, 1998

The US Death Penalty and International Law: US Compliance with the Torture and Race Conventions

Ford Foundation SymposiumNovember 12, 1998by Richard C. Dieter, Esq. Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center Introduction 

Aug 01, 2006

U.N. Human Rights Committee Urges U.S to Place Moratorium on Death Penalty

Citing the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a United Nations pan­el rec­om­mend­ed that the United States impose a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions. The report, issued on July 28 by the U.N. Human Rights Committee, stat…

Nov 13, 2018

U.N. Human Rights Officials Say Planned Texas Execution Violates International Treaties

United Nations human rights offi­cials have urged the gov­ern­ment of the United States to halt the immi­nent exe­cu­tion of a Mexican nation­al who was tried and sen­tenced to death in Texas in vio­la­tion of U.S. treaty o…

Nov 11, 2020

U.S. Death Penalty Criticized by U.N. Human Rights Council During Human Rights Review

The United States faced harsh crit­i­cism from the world com­mu­ni­ty for its con­tin­ued use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment dur­ing a United Nations review of its human rights record on November 9, 2020. During the U.N. Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Rev…

Dec 20, 2022

U.S. Votes No, as Record Number of Nations Adopt UN Resolution for Global Moratorium on the Death Penalty

With the sup­port of a record 125 nations, the United Nations General Assembly has over­whelm­ing­ly adopt­ed a res­o­lu­tion call­ing for a glob­al mora­to­ri­um on the use of the death penal­ty with a view towards its ulti­mate abo­li­tion. The …

Mar 25, 2021

UN Human Rights Experts Urge U.S. Federal Government to Take Steps to End the Death Penalty

Describing cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment as an ​“inher­ent­ly flawed” and ​“abhor­rent prac­tice,” United Nations human rights experts have called on President Joe Biden to take action to end the death penal­ty in the U.S. …

Mar 26, 2020

United Kingdom Supreme Court Rules Britain Cannot Provide Evidence to U.S. for Use in Death-Penalty Cases

In a deci­sion that exposed the deep divide between the United States and its European allies on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment issues, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unan­i­mous­ly ruled that the British gov­ern­ment unlaw­ful­ly pro­vid­ed i…

Oct 06, 2017

US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Death Penalty for Religious Speech, Sexual Orientation

The United States has vot­ed against an his­toric res­o­lu­tion passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council con­demn­ing the crim­i­nal­iza­tion of and use of the death penal­ty for apos­ta­sy, blasphem…

May 23, 2022

Western Democracies, Human Rights Groups Denounce Belarus’ Use of Death Penalty to Target Political Opponents and Anti-War Activists

The U.S. State Department and the European Union have joined human rights and pro-democ­ra­cy advo­cates in con­demn­ing the expan­sion of the death penal­ty in Belarus to include non-lethal ​“attempt­ed a…

Jun 27, 2016

World Congress Against the Death Penalty Renews Call for Global Moratorium, Pope Sends Message of Support

Delegates to the Sixth World Congress Against the Death Penalty, held in Oslo, Norway from June 21 to June 23, 2016, have renewed the orga­ni­za­tion’s call for a glob­al mora­to­ri­um on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The event, attend­ed by more than 1300 represen…

Apr 14, 2020

World Death Penalty News — Report: Saudi Arabia Carries Out 800^th Execution Under King Salman

NEWS (4/​14/​20) — Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has car­ried out its 800^th exe­cu­tion under the five-year reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, accord­ing to reports by the human rights groups European-Saudi Organisation for Human Ri…

Jul 14, 2022

World News — Executions Surge in Iran in First Half of 2022

Executions have surged in Iran in the first half of 2022, dou­bling the total car­ried out dur­ing the same time span in 2021, human rights advo­cates report. Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norwegian-based non-pro…

May 31, 2022

Zambia, Central African Republic Move to Abolish Death Penalty

Two more African nations have tak­en major steps towards abol­ish­ing the death penal­ty. On May 25, 2022, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (pic­tured) announced that, in com­mem­o­ra­tion of Africa Freedom Day, he was commuti…