International Death Penalty
Encourage Worldwide Abolition
International death penalty trends are unmistakably towards abolition. Use of the death penalty worldwide has continued to shrink, and use of the death penalty has also been increasingly curtailed in international law. Since 1990, an average of three countries each year have abolished the death penalty, and today over two-thirds of the world's nations have ended capital punishment in law or practice.
» The death penalty and international human rights standards
» International Death Penalty Statistics 2007
"The abolition of the death penalty is making us a civilized society. It shows we actually do mean business when we say we have reverence for life."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
- Call for International Standards
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On December 18, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution which called for all states that still maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolish the death penalty! 104 nations voted in favor while only 54 voted against this historic resolution.
- Stop Child Executions!
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International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18, yet the execution of child offenders continues in a few countries, particularly Iran, where over 70 child offenders are awaiting execution and 7 were put to death in 2007. As a step towards the total abolition of the death penalty around the world, Amnesty International is calling for:
- An immediate end to all executions of child offenders.
- All existing death sentences against child offenders to be commuted.
- All countries that retain the death penalty to ensure that its use against child offenders is precluded by law.
- Such countries to take measures to ensure that their courts do not sentence child offenders to death, including, where necessary, the examination of birth certificates. Where systems of issuing birth certificates do not exist, such systems should be introduced, as required under Article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
» Stop the execution of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia
» Stop executions and floggings of seven men, including four juvenile offenders, in Saudi Arabia (pdf)
» Stop two executions and seek guarantees that a juvenile offender won't be sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia (pdf)
» Stop the imminent execution of juvenile offender Amir Amrollahi in Iran (pdf)
» Stop the imminent execution of juvenile offender Kamal in Iran (pdf)
» Stop the execution of juvenile offender Soghra Najafpour in Iran (pdf)
» Stop the execution of juvenile offender Behnoud Shojaee in Iran (pdf)
» Stop the imminent execution of juvenile offender Mohammad Feda'i in Iran (pdf)
» Stop the executions of three child offenders, and condemn the execution of Reza Hejazi in Iran (pdf)
- Campaigning to End Stoning in Iran
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Eleven people in Iran - nine of them women - are waiting to be stoned to death on charges of adultery. Many have been sentenced after grossly unfair trials. Amnesty International has called on the country's authorities to immediately abolish this grotesque punishment, which is specifically designed to increase the suffering of its victims.
» Read the press release
» Read the report "Campaigning to End Stoning in Iran"
» Suspension of Stoning a Welcome Step If Carried Out
