Death penalty

2 May 2008

Facts & Figures
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The death penalty violates the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It has no place in a modern criminal justice system.

An execution, just like torture, involves a deliberate assault on a prisoner. Even so-called 'humane' methods such as lethal injection can entail excruciating suffering.

Capital punishment is irrevocable. All judicial systems make mistakes, and as long as the death penalty persists, innocent people will be executed.

It is also discriminatory and is often used disproportionately against the poor, the powerless and the marginalized, as well as against people whom repressive governments want to eliminate.

The death penalty does not deter crime more than other punishments. In Canada the homicide rate has fallen by 40 per cent since 1975; the death penalty was abolished for murder in 1976.

International human rights treaties prohibit courts sentencing anyone who was under 18 years old at the time of the crime to death, or executing them. But a small number of countries continue to execute child offenders, violating their obligations under international law.

Key facts

137 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
60 countries retain and use the death penalty, most often as a punishment for people convicted of murder.
At least 1,252 people were known to be executed in 24 countries during 2007. The true figure was certainly higher.
88 per cent of all known executions in 2007 took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA.

More key facts:

What Amnesty International is doing

Amnesty International works for an end to executions and the abolition of the death penalty everywhere.

A downward trend
Soon after its foundation in 1961 Amnesty International began sending appeals to prevent the execution of prisoners of conscience. Over time, its opposition to the death penalty has broadened to include all prisoners, regardless of the crimes of which they have been convicted.

Progress has been dramatic in the last few decades. In 1977 only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Thirty years later, that number had grown to 90.

Working together
Amnesty International conducts an ongoing programme of work against the death penalty, including campaigns in individual countries, working in cooperation with civil society.

It is a founding member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) – a coalition of more than 40 human rights organizations, bar associations, trade unions and local and regional authorities, who have joined together in an effort to rid the world of capital punishment.

Amnesty International coordinates the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN). This was established in 2006 and is made up of lawyers, parliamentarians and activists from numerous countries including Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

Collecting information
Amnesty International monitors developments all over the world. This is not easy. For example, the vast majority of the world’s executions occur in China but the Chinese government does not release death penalty statistics.

By monitoring available public reports, Amnesty International has calculated that at least 470 people were executed in China during 2007. This is certainly an underestimate – the true figure is more likely to be 6,000.

Campaigning for abolition
On 18 December, the UN General Assembly endorsed a resolution calling for "a moratorium on executions" by an overwhelming majority: 104 votes in favour, 54 against and 29 abstentions. This is an increase of five votes in favour since the Third Committee of the General Assembly adopted the resolution on the 15 November. Congo, Kiribati, Madagascar, Nauru and Palau followed the 99 countries that supported the resolution in mid-November. The resolution enjoyed strong cross-regional support.

The resolution carries considerable moral and political weight, although it is not legally binding on states. Establishing a moratorium on executions is an important tool for convincing states still using the death penalty to engage in a nation-wide debate and to review their laws on capital punishment. If death penalty laws are under review, states must deem that it is only fair to stop executing people during the process.

Amnesty International is calling for

A moratorium on executions throughout the world.
Abolition of the death penalty for all crimes.
Universal ratification of treaties providing for abolition, including the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
All countries that retain the death penalty to comply with their international obligations not to use it against child offenders.

Success story

Uzbekistan became the first country to abolish executions in 2008 on 1 January. It became the 135th country in the world to abolish the death penalty in law or practice.

Capital punishment has now been replaced with life or long-term imprisonment.