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

COUNTRY

SUBJECT

Bahamas

May

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (UK) abolishes mandatory death sentence

Bahrain

December

First executions in 10 years

Botswana

May

Secret execution

China

May

December

Ratifies extradition treaty on death penalty

New regulations on organ transplants

New death penalty legislation passed

Egypt

September

Two brothers executed after unfair trial

Equatorial Guinea

May

Public execution

France

September

President Chirac in May announced his intention to include abolition in the French constitution

Georgia

December

President signs constitutional amendment regarding total abolition

Indonesia

September

First executions since 2005

Iran

May

September

December

Another child offender executed

Stoning to death reported

Child offenders executed

Iraq

May

December

13 men executed

Saddam Hussein executed

Japan

December

Four executions

Jordan

September

Reduces scope of death penalty

Kyrgyzstan

December

President signs new constitution without provisions for the death penalty

Liberia

May

Law on gang rape changed to life imprisonment

Libya

December

Re-sentences foreign medical workers to death

Moldova

September

Clause providing for death penalty deleted from constitution

Montenegro

December

Recognized as UN member state in June

3

Nigeria

December

Commutations announced

Pakistan

May

September

December

Unlawful executions in tribal areas

Child offender executed

President commutes death sentence of UK citizen

Papua New Guinea

May

Three death sentences changed to life imprisonment

Peru

September

Possible expansion of scope of death penalty

Philippines

May

September

Mass commutations

Abolition

Poland

September

Polish president calls for restoration of death penalty in Poland and Europe

Puerto Rico

May

Supreme Court of P.R. reverses decision by Court of Appeals not to allow extradition of Puerto Rican to USA

Russia

December

Moratorium to continue until 2010

Saudi Arabia

December

Executions

Somalia

May

Child publicly executes father’s killer

South Africa

December

Constitutional Court rules process to substitute all death sentences with alternative sentences is complete

South Korea

May

Death penalty bill under review

United Arab Emirates

September

Death sentence by stoning commuted to one year’s imprisonment by appeal court

United States of America

May

September

December

Florida – John Ballard becomes 123rd exoneree

New Jersey – moratorium

Pennsylvania and South Carolina – rulings on mental competence for execution

Ohio – Execution by lethal injection takes 86 minutes to complete

US Supreme Court hears lethal injection issues

US Supreme Court issues two judgements

American Bar Association unanimously passes resolution on death penalty

Florida – Botched execution leads to moratorium

California - moratorium

Viet Nam

May

Possible reduction in scope of death penalty

United Nations

May

Members elected to new Human Rights Council

Caribbean Court of Justice

December

First death penalty ruling

World Coalition against the Death Penalty (WCADP)

December

World Day 2006 theme was: "The death penalty as a failure of justice"

Community of Sant’Egidio

December

Fifth event commemorated by more than 500 cities around the world

Amnesty International

May

Annual statistics show 20,000 prisoners around world on death row