Document - Death Penalty News: March 2002

DEATH PENALTY NEWS March 2002

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

1 Easton Street

London WC1X 0DW

United Kingdom

AI Index: ACT 53/002/2002

Distribution: SC/DP/PO/CO/GR



A QUARTERLY BULLETIN ON THE DEATH PENALTY AND MOVES TOWARDS WORLDWIDE ABOLITION


NEW ABOLITIONIST PROTOCOL


The Council of Europe has adopted a new protocol on the death penalty. It is the first legally-binding international treaty to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances with no exceptions.


Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR], concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances was adopted by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers on 21 February. It will be opened for signature on 3 May. AIis calling on all Council of Europe member states to sign the Protocol immediately and to ratify it as soon as possible thereafter.


Protocol No. 13 is the fourth international treaty on the abolition of the death penalty to have been elaborated. Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR, adopted in 1982, provides for abolition except in time of war or imminent threat of war. The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty provide for the total abolition of the death penalty but allow states to retain it in time of war if they make a reservation to that effect on ratifying the treaty.


The development of a totally abolitionist protocol was first proposed by Swedish member of parliament Hans Göran Franck in a report to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in 1994. A draft of Protocol No. 13 which implemented this proposal was agreed by the Committee of Experts for the Development of Human Rights in Strasbourg in October and by the Steering Committee on Human Rights in Strasbourg in November (see DP NewsDecember 2001).


Protocol No. 13 will enter into force three months after 10 states have agreed to be bound by it. Any state party to the ECHR may become a party to the Protocol.


The adoption of Protocol No. 13 marks another step in the Council of Europe's effort to make Europe a death penalty-free zone. The text of Protocol No. 13 and of the Explanatory Report can be found on the Council of Europe website www.coe.fr


INTERNATIONAL TREATIES


The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rightshas been ratified by 46 countries and signed by 7; the Protocol to the American Convention on Human



Death Sentences and Executions in 2001


During 2001 at least 3,048 people were executed in 31 countries. At least 5,265 people were sentenced to death in 69 countries. These figures include only cases known to Amnesty International; the true figures were certainly higher.

The vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a tiny handful of countries. In 2001, 90 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA. In China, limited and incomplete records available to Amnesty International at the end of the year indicated that at least 2,468 people were executed, but the true figure was believed to be much higher. At least 139 executions were carried out in Iran. In Saudi Arabia, 79 executions were reported, but the total may have been much higher. Sixty-six people were executed in the USA.




Death Penalty Statistics:

Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries

(March 2002)


Abolitionist for all crimes 74

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only 15

Abolitionist in practice 22

Retentionist 84



Please check AI's website on www.amnesty.org for the latest updated statistics on ratificationsof international treaties on the death penalty, facts and figureson the death penalty, lists of abolitionist and retentionist countries, death sentences and executions in 2001and TheDeath Penalty Worldwide: Developments in 2001, AI Index ACT 50/001/2002.



Death Penalty News March 2002


DEATH PENALTY NEWS INDEX FOR 2001


COUNTRY

DATE SUBJECT



Afghanistan

March

September

Two women convicted of prostitution executed

Four men publicly hanged




Azerbaijan

September

President signs law forbidding extradition where death penalty is allowed




Bangladesh

March

June

First execution since 1997

More on first executions in over three years




Canada

March

Two Canadian men to be extradited to USA to face trial




Caribbean

March

Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal rules against mandatory death penalty




Chile

June

Abolition for ordinary crimes




China

June

September


December

China steps up executions

China dramatically increases executions

China accused of organ harvesting

Political executions continue

Death sentence for embezzlement




Congo (Dem Rep)

June

Child soldier transferred to prison block reserved for prisoners condemned to death




Guinea

March

First known executions in 17 years




ols



India

June

Supreme Court dismisses petition to review death sentence on child offender

Indonesia

June

First known executions in six years

Iran

March

June

September


December

Opposition to death penalty

Child offender hanged

More than 28 executions in August, some of them public

Man hanging on gallows pardoned by victim's family




Iraq

December

Decrees issued providing death penalty for prostitution, homosexuality, incest and rape. Also, those convicted of providing accommodation for prostitution will be executed by the sword




Ireland

June

September

Referendum on death penalty

Conference held on International Law and the Abolition of the Death Penalty




Italy

March

Hands Off Cain launches Internet petition for a UN vote to ban executions worldwide




Korea (South)

December

Draft bill to abolish death penalty




Nigeria

September

Sharia courts pass death sentences by stoning




Pakistan

September

December

Death sentence for blasphemy

Juvenile death sentences commuted




Philippines

March

Commutations




Russian Federation

September

December

President supports moratorium

Moves to abolish death penalty




Singapore

June

Recent Internet poll on death penalty reveals unexpected result




Tajikistan

December

Conference on death penalty held




Turkey

September

Parliament passes constitutional amendment limiting use of death penalty




USA

March


June



September













December


Massachusetts - House of Representatives votes not to reinstate the death penalty

Florida - Spanish prisoner acquitted

First US federal executions in 38 years

Int'l Commission of Jurists rulings on USA

Supreme Court Justice acknowledges serious questions being raised about use of death penally in the US

North Carolina - US Supreme Court dismisses mental retardation appeal as moot

Virginia - US Supreme Court will consider mental retardation appeal

Oklahoma - Court of Criminal Appeals grants indefinite stay of execution to Mexican citizen

Texas - Child offender granted emergency stay of execution

USA death penalty bar to extradition of criminal suspects

Executions decrease for second year in a row

New Mexico - First execution since 1960

Pennsylvania - Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence overturned

Texas - Child offender executed




Zimbabwe

December

Three men hanged for murder




Council of Europe

June

December

Calls for moratorium in Japan and USA

New protocol drafted




World Congress against the Death Penalty

June

Appeal for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty signed by 15 heads of parliament




United Nations

June

Commission on Human Rights adopts death penalty resolution




Vatican City State

March

New constitution published which does not mention death penalty





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