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Date: April 20, 2024 Sat
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Results for executions
16 results foundAuthor: Amnesty International Title: Death Sentences and Executions, 2009 Summary: By the end of 2009, a total of 139 countries worldwide had abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Only 58 countries continued to retain the punishment in their legislation. Important steps towards the implementation of a worldwide moratorium on executions were taken in all regions of the world during 2009, and two further countries – Burundi and togo – abolished the death penalty for all crimes. The figures that Amnesty International compiles each year in its global monitoring of the application of the death penalty show that the world is drawing ever closer to total abolition. While 18 countries continue to execute prisoners, as a means to deter crime, a small number of these countries also use executions against political opposition. And for the first time ever, one region of the world – Europe – remained free of executions for the entire year. This report analyzes some of the key developments in the worldwide application of the death penalty, citing figures gathered by Amnesty International on the number of death sentences handed down and executions carried out in 2009. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2010. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 6, 2010 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/001/2010/en/17348b70-3fc7-40b2-a258-af92778c73e5/act500012010en.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/001/2010/en/17348b70-3fc7-40b2-a258-af92778c73e5/act500012010en.pdf Shelf Number: 119870 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExecutions |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Addicted to Death: Executions for Drug Offences in Iran Summary: Since mid-2010, the execution rate in Iran has soared. up to 80 per cent of those executed are accused of drug-related offences – offences that do not meet the international criterion of “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be imposed. hundreds of alleged drug offenders are being executed in secret mass executions after grossly unfair trials. those executed are often from amongst the most disadvantaged sectors of society, and have included juvenile offenders, whose execution is strictly forbidden under international law. This report highlights the Iranian authorities’ use of execution as a catch-all solution to social ills, even though there is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty has any deterrent effect on crime. Despite the long history of executions for drug offences, Iran’s internal drug problem continues to grow and drug-trafficking across Iran’s borders shows no sign of abating. The report urges the Iranian authorities to immediately end the use of the death penalty for drugs offences, and calls on the international community to ensure that aid to Iran for counter-narcotics measures is not used to commit human rights violations. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 10, 2012 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/090/2011/en/0564f064-e965-4fad-b062-6de232a08162/mde130902011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Iran URL: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/090/2011/en/0564f064-e965-4fad-b062-6de232a08162/mde130902011en.pdf Shelf Number: 123549 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyDrug Offenders (Iran)Drug TraffickingExecutions |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Death Sentences and Executions 2012 Summary: Despite some negative developments, the use of the death penalty in 2012 overall confirmed the global trend towards abolition. The USA was the only country in the Americas to have carried out executions in 2012. However, just nine states in the USA carried out executions in 2012, compared to 13 in 2011. Connecticut became the 17th abolitionist US state. Despite setbacks in the Asia-Pacific region – including the resumption of executions in India and Pakistan – Viet Nam did not carry out death sentences and Singapore observed a moratorium on executions while considering amendments to its death penalty laws. In sub-Saharan Africa, further progress was visible. The government of Ghana plans to abolish the death penalty in the new Constitution. There are no more prisoners on death row in Sierra Leone. Belarus continued to be the only country in Europe and central Asia to carry out executions. Legislation to remove the death penalty completely came into effect in Latvia in January, making it the 97th country abolitionist for all crimes worldwide. In December the UN General Assembly adopted the fourth resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with 111 Member States voting in favour. This report analyzes some of the key developments in the application of the death penalty in 2012, presenting figures gathered by Amnesty International on the number of death sentences handed down and executions carried out during the year. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. Details: London: AI, 2013. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2013 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/worlddpreport2012.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/worlddpreport2012.pdf Shelf Number: 128344 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExecutions |
Author: Litton, Paul Title: Physician Participation in Executions, the Morality of Capital Punishment, and the Practical Implications of Their Relationship Summary: Evidence that some executed prisoners suffered excruciating pain has reinvigorated the ethical debate about physician participation in lethal injections. In widely publicized litigation, death row inmates argue that the participation of anesthesiologists in their execution is constitutionally required to minimize the risk of unnecessary suffering. For many years, commentators supported the ethical ban on physician participation reflected in codes of professional medical organizations. However, a recent wave of scholarship concurs with inmate advocates, urging the law to require or at least permit physician participation. Both the anti- and pro-physician-participation literature share a common premise: the ethics of physician participation should be analyzed independently from the moral status of capital punishment. This considerable literature implausibly divorces the ethics of physician participation from the moral status of the death penalty. Any ethical position on physician involvement requires some judgment about the moral status of the death penalty and the importance of physician involvement. The article examines anti- and pro-participation arguments to show that each one either is unpersuasive without discussion of the death penalty’s moral status or implicitly assumes a view on the social worth of the death penalty. The article then articulates the practical implications of its arguments for both lawmakers and professional medical organizations. Details: Columbia, MO: School of Law, University of Missouri, 2013. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013-13: Accessed July 3, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2286788 Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2286788 Shelf Number: 129246 Keywords: ExecutionsLethal InjectionsMedical EthicsPhysicians, Capital Punishment (U.S.) |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Death Sentences and Executions 2014 Summary: An alarming number of countries used the death penalty to tackle real or perceived threats to state security linked to terrorism, crime or internal instability in 2014, Amnesty International found in its annual review of the death penalty worldwide. The number of death sentences recorded in 2014 jumped by almost 500 compared to 2013, mainly because of sharp spikes in Egypt and Nigeria, including mass sentencing in both countries in the context of internal conflict and political instability. The USA continued to be the only country to put people to death in the region, although executions dropped from 39 in 2013 to 35 in 2014 - reflecting a steady decline in the use of the death penalty in the country over the past years. Only seven states executed in 2014 (down from nine in 2013) with four - Texas, Missouri, Florida and Oklahoma -responsible for 89 per cent of all executions. The state of Washington imposed a moratorium on executions in February. The overall number of death sentences decreased from 95 in 2013 to 77 in 2014. But there was also good news to be found in 2014 - fewer executions were recorded compared to the year before and several countries took positive steps towards abolition of the death penalty. Details: London: AI, 2015. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2015 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/DeathSentencesAndExecutions2014_EN.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/DeathSentencesAndExecutions2014_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 135493 Keywords: Capital Punishment Death PenaltyExecutions |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Growing Up on Death Row: The Death Penalty and Juvenile Offenders in Iran Summary: Between 2005 and 2015, Amnesty International recorded the execution of 73 juvenile offenders (people younger than 18 at the time of the crime), including at least four in 2015. A UN report issued in 2014 stated that more than 160 juvenile offenders were on death row. In 2013, Iran adopted a new Islamic Penal Code granting judges discretionary power to replace the death penalty with an alternative punishment if they find that a juvenile offender convicted of murder or certain other capital offences did not understand the nature of the crime or its consequences or there are doubts about his or her "mental maturity and development". Hopes were reinforced by a 2014 decision from Iran's Supreme Court that all juvenile offenders on death row could seek retrial. However, over the past two years the authorities have continued to carry out executions of juvenile offenders, failing to inform them of their right to file an "application for retrial". Also worryingly, several juvenile offenders who had been granted a retrial have been resentenced to death. These cases highlight, yet again, the urgent need for Iran to comply with its international obligations by abolishing completely the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders. Details: London: AI, 2016. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 28, 2016 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/growing_up_on_death_row_-_the_death_penalty_and_juvenile_offenders_in_iran_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Iran URL: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/growing_up_on_death_row_-_the_death_penalty_and_juvenile_offenders_in_iran_final.pdf Shelf Number: 137700 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyDeath RowExecutionsJuvenile JusticeJuvenile Offenders |
Author: Baumgartner, Frank R. Title: The Impact of Race, Gender, and Geography on Florida Executions Summary: Florida's use of the death penalty in the modern era has been marked by substantial disparities by the race and gender of the victim of the crime, and by geography. These disparities are so great that they call in to question the equity of the application of the harshest penalty, adding to growing concerns that the death penalty is applied in an unfair, capricious, and arbitrary manner. Between 1976 and 2014, the state of Florida executed 89 men and women. Here are a few key findings of this research: - 72% of all executions carried out in Florida between 1976 and 2014 were for crimes involving White victims despite the fact that 56% of all homicide victims are White. - Only 26% of all homicide victims are female, but 43% of all executions carried out in Florida were for homicides involving female victims. - Homicides involving White female victims are 6.5 times more likely to result in an execution than homicides in involving Black male victims. - No White person has been executed in Florida for a homicide involving a Black victim. In contrast, 71% of the executions carried out against Black inmates were for homicides involving White victims. In cases where Black inmates were executed, 56% of all of the victims were White. - Just six out of Florida's 67 counties are responsible for more than half of the state's 89 executions. - Only four counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Duval, and Pinellas) have produced more than five executions. More than half of all Florida counties (36) have never produced an execution. Seven Florida counties (Bradford, Wakulla, Santa Rosa, Madison, Colombia, Lake, and Hernando) have execution rates that are more than triple the state's average execution rate of .30 executions per 100 homicides. - The homicide rate in counties that have produced no executions (1.11 homicides per 1,000 population) is significantly lower than the homicide rate in counties that have produced executions (1.62 homicides per 1,000 population). Details: The Author, 2016. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 25, 2016 at: https://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/Baumgartner-Florida-executions-Jan2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/Baumgartner-Florida-executions-Jan2016.pdf Shelf Number: 137975 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExecutionsHomicidesRacial Disparities |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "You Can Still See Their Blood": Executions, Indiscriminate Shootings, and Hostage Taking by Opposition Forces in Latakia Countryside Summary: h r w . o r g D eath announcement identifying 16 members of the al-Qusaybeh family and two other Barouda residents killed on August 4, - 2013 Private Death announcement identifying seven members of the Shihadeh family as well as one member of Ibrahim family from Nbeiteh killed on August 4, 2013 Private Death announcement identifying eight members of the Darwish family from al-Hamboushieh killed on August 4, 2013 Private (front cover) Site of Safwan Hassan Shebli's execution on August 4 in his home in Barouda. - 2013 Human Rights Watch On August 4, 2013 fighters from several armed opposition groups began a large scale operation in Latakia countryside, occupying more than 10 Alawite villages in a matter of hours. The operation lasted until August 18 w hen government forces regained full control over the area. During the operation opposition forces killed at least 190 civilians, executing or unlawfully killing at least 67 of them. The evidence Human Rights Watch has collected strongly suggests they were killed on the first day of the operation, August 4. At the time of writing opposition groups continued to hold over 200 civilians hostage, the vast majority of them women and children. Based on an onsite investigation and interviews with over 35 individuals i ncluding residents who survived the offensive, emergency response staff, and fighters and activists with both the government and the opposition, this report documents extremely serious abuses committed by opposition forces during this operation. Survivors and witnesses described how opposition forces executed residents and opened fire on civilians, sometimes killing or attempting to kill entire families who were either in their homes unarmed or fleeing from the attack, and at other times executing adult male family members, and holding female relatives and children hostage. The evidence collected by Human Rights Watch strongly suggests that the abuses committed by the opposition forces during the operation rise to the level of crimes against humanity. The scale and organization of these crimes indicate that they were systematic as well as being planned in part as an attack on a civilian population. Governments, companies, and individuals should immediately stop selling or supplying weapons, ammunition, materiel, and funds to the groups responsible for these abuses, given compelling evidence that they have committed crimes against humanity, until they stop committing these crimes and perpetrators are held to account. Human Rights Watch urges the UN Security Council to provide a measure of justice to these and other victims of abuse by all sides by referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Details: New York: HRW, 2013. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2016 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria1013_ForUpload.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Syria URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria1013_ForUpload.pdf Shelf Number: 139942 Keywords: ExecutionsHomicidesHostage TakingHuman Rights Abuses |
Author: Omega Research Foundation Title: Grasping the Nettle: Ending Europe's Trade in Execution and Torture Technology Summary: In 2006 the European Union (EU) introduced the world's first multilateral trade controls to prohibit the international trade in equipment which has no practical use other than for the purposes of executions, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and to control the trade in a range of policing and security equipment misused for such violations of human rights, 'Council Regulation (EC) No 1236/2005 of 27 June 2005 concerning trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment' (the Regulation). In January 2014 the Commission presented proposals to the Council of Member States and the European Parliament for strengthening the Regulation. Whilst the Commission proposals focused on certain long-standing limitations, they failed to effectively address a number of crucial weaknesses and loopholes in the Regulation and its attendant control regime. If these issues are not tackled directly now by EU Member States and the European Parliament, this rare opportunity to comprehensively strengthen the control regime and close loopholes exploited by unscrupulous traders will be missed. It is now time for the European Union to "grasp the nettle" and end Europe's trade in execution and torture technology for good. This report, co-authored by Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation, is intended to inform this process by highlighting existing failings of the control regime through contemporary case studies and by providing realistic and workable policy solutions to these often complex technical issues. Details: London: AI, 2015. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: https://omegaresearchfoundation.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Publications/Grasping%20the%20Nettle%20Ending%20Europes%20Trade%20in%20Execution%20and%20Torture%20Technology.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: https://omegaresearchfoundation.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Publications/Grasping%20the%20Nettle%20Ending%20Europes%20Trade%20in%20Execution%20and%20Torture%20Technology.pdf Shelf Number: 147784 Keywords: ExecutionsHuman Rights AbusesTorture |
Author: Justice Project Pakistan Title: A Summary: On December 17, 2014, Pakistan lifted a seven-year moratorium on the death penalty. Coming in the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks on the Army Public School in Peshawar, the resumption of executions initially applied only to individuals convicted of terrorist offenses. Yet within several months and without public justification, the Interior Ministry lifted the moratorium for all death-eligible crimes. As a result, more than 8,000 individuals are now at risk of execution, many for offenses that are ineligible for capital punishment under international law. Since ending the moratorium, Pakistan has executed more than 400 people, bringing the country's annual rate of executions to the highest point in its history and making it the "third most prolific executioner in the world." In the twenty months since the lifting of the moratorium, the Government of Pakistan has carried out 418 executions. This means that an average of 6 executions have been carried out every week since the death penalty was reinstated, with the highest number of executions taking place in the province of Punjab. Whilst there is no confirmed figure for Pakistan's total death row population, in December 2014, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that there were 8,261 prisoners on death row in Pakistan. Therefore, thousands of prisoners remain at risk of imminent execution. Initially, in December 2014, executions were reinstated for terrorism-related offences only. In March 2015, however, the Government - without any public justification - bought back the death penalty for all capital offences. Thereafter, from December 2014 to March 2015, the Government executed a total of 24 people, or an average of 2 per week. That rate more than doubled in March 2015 to over 5 per week, when executions were also resumed for non-terrorism cases. In the period March 2015 to September 2016, the Government has executed an alarming total of 393 people. Pakistan's resumption of executions has drawn sharp criticism from international actors. On June 11, 2015, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said, "[t]he idea that mass executions would deter the kinds of heinous crimes committed in Peshawar in December is deeply flawed and misguided, and it risks compounding injustice." That same week, the European Union delegation mission to Pakistan urged its government "to reinstate the moratorium immediately to commute the sentences of persons sentenced to death" in order to comply with its international legal 9 10 obligations. British and German officials have also urged Pakistan to reconsider its decision. Pakistan's imposition of the death penalty is, at its core, arbitrary. To begin with, Pakistan does not reserve the death penalty for the "most serious crimes," as required by international law, but instead imposes execution for commonplace offenses, such as kidnapping and drug-trafficking. Second, Pakistan's justice system is ridden with deficiencies and abuses of authority. Police routinely coerce defendants into confessing, often by torture, and courts admit and rely upon such evidence. Poor defendants must rely on attorneys who typically provide only cursory and ineffective representation. Once sentenced, defendants lack effective recourse to post-conviction relief, even in the face of new exonerating evidence. Finally, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 offers even fewer safeguards than the ordinary criminal justice system and has the effect of fast-tracking convictions. Each of these failings constitutes a human rights violation in itself; taken together, they reveal an unreliable system that is fundamentally incapable of administering the ultimate and irreversible penalty of death. As the cases examined in this report illustrate, the systemic problems described above fall most heavily on Pakistan's most vulnerable members - the poor, juveniles, and persons with mental illness and development and intellectual disabilities. This report, written by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School (Lowenstein Clinic) in partnership with Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), documents the many ways in which Pakistan's application of the death penalty is in breach of its obligations under international law. In 11 analyzing Pakistan's use of the death penalty, the authors focused on "crucial cases" that exemplify the numerous international law violations and that illustrate the particularly damaging impact of these violations on certain vulnerable populations: juveniles, the mentally ill, and persons with physical disabilities. Relying on public records for a dozen of JPP's clients sentenced to death, the report tracks the many junctures at which violations occur, from charging to sentencing to execution. Several of the individuals selected have been executed since research for this report began. The systemic violations illustrated in this report compel the conclusion that Pakistan's continuing practice of capital punishment violates international law. The irreversible nature of execution mandates the immediate reinstatement of the moratorium on all executions. Yet a moratorium alone will not suffice. Today, Pakistan continues to sentence to death persons who are juveniles, mentally ill, or very likely innocent. What procedural safeguards exist in theory are largely ignored on the ground. Given the multi-level failings of its criminal justice system, Pakistan should suspend indefinitely all capital sentencing and launch investigations into those cases marked by allegations of juvenility, mental illness, the use of torture and other abuses of authority, and evidence of innocence. Details: New Haven, CT: Justice Project Pakistan, ALLARD K. LOWENSTEIN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC, YALE LAW SCHOOL 2016. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2017 at: https://law.yale.edu/system/files/area/center/schell/2016_09_23_pub_dp_report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Pakistan URL: https://law.yale.edu/system/files/area/center/schell/2016_09_23_pub_dp_report.pdf Shelf Number: 145352 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExecutionsHuman Rights Abuses |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Death Sentences and Executions 2016 Summary: Amnesty International recorded more than 1,000 executions around the world in 2016. While this figure represented a reduction from 2015 - a year in which the organization logged a historical spike - more than 3,000 death sentences were imposed in 2016, an increase on the figure recorded for the previous year. Two countries - Benin and Nauru - abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Guinea abolished it for ordinary crimes. In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of executions recorded decreased by 28%, but Iran and Saudi Arabia remained among the world's top executioners. In Asia-Pacific, the number of known executions decreased, mostly due to a significant reduction in Pakistan. China was once again the world's lead executioner but figures remained classified as a state secret. The number of recorded death sentences in the Asia-Pacific region rose significantly, while new information which came to light in China, Malaysia and Viet Nam painted an alarming picture of the extensive resort to the death penalty in these countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there were fewer executions recorded; however the number of death sentences logged rose by 145%, largely due to a steep rise in Nigeria. The USA remained the only country to carry out executions in the Americas region, for the 8th consecutive year. However, the number of executions and death sentences continued to decrease. Two Caribbean countries - Antigua and Barbuda and Bahamas - commuted their last remaining death sentences. In Europe and Central Asia, Belarus resumed executions after a 17-month hiatus. Belarus and Kazakhstan were the only two countries in the region to use the death penalty. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or the circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. Details: London: AE, 2017. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 17, 2017 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2016/04/death-sentences-executions-2015/ Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2016/04/death-sentences-executions-2015/ Shelf Number: 146241 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyExecutionsSentencing |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "The Next One to Die": State Security Force and Renamo Abuses in Mozambique Summary: rom November 2015 until the start of a ceasefire in December 2016, Mozambique's security forces and the armed group of the country's largest opposition party, the Mozambican National Resistance, or Renamo, committed numerous abuses in Mozambique's central provinces. This report documents enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, summary killings and destruction of private property allegedly committed by government forces, and political killings, attacks on public transport and looting of health clinics by alleged Renamo forces. In the year since the ceasefire was declared, hostilities and conflict-related human rights abuses have mostly ceased. However, the government has not met its obligation under international human rights law to hold those responsible for serious abuses on both sides to account. The report focuses on abuses in the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambezia. Human Rights Watch documented seven cases of enforced disappearance-the government's arrest of an individual but refusal to provide information on their whereaboutsand heard credible reports of many more cases. The military also arbitrarily detained those it suspected of belonging to or supporting Renamo or its armed group and beat suspects in custody. The houses and property of those arrested were at times burned or destroyed. A number of Renamo officials and activists were killed or nearly killed by unidentified assailants. Details: New York: HRW, 2018. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2018 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/mozambique0118.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Mozambique URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/mozambique0118.pdf Shelf Number: 149132 Keywords: Arbitrary Detention ExecutionsForced Disappearances Human Rights Abuses |
Author: Cornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and International Human Rights Clinic Title: Judged for More Than Her Crime: A Global Overview of Women Facing the Death Penalty Summary: We estimate that at least 500 women are currently on death rows around the world. While exact figures are impossible to obtain, we further estimate that over 100 women have been executed in the last ten years - and potentially hundreds more. The number of women facing execution is not dramatically different from the number of juveniles currently on death row, but the latter have received a great deal more attention from international human rights bodies, national courts, scholars, and advocates. This report aims to shed light on this much-neglected population. Few researchers have sought to obtain information about the crimes for which women have been sentenced to death, the circumstances of their lives before their convictions, and the conditions under which they are detained on death row. As a result, there is little empirical data about women on death row, which impedes advocates from understanding patterns in capital sentencing and the operation of gender bias in the criminal legal system. To the extent that scholars have focused on women on death row, they have concluded that they are beneficiaries of gender bias that operates in their favor. While it is undeniable that women are protected from execution under certain circumstances (particularly mothers of infants and young children) and that women sometimes benefit from more lenient sentencing, those that are sentenced to death are subjected to multiple forms of gender bias. Most women have been sentenced to death for the crime of murder, often in relation to the killing of family members in a context of gender-based violence. Others have been sentenced to death for drug offenses, terrorism, adultery, witchcraft, and blasphemy, among other offenses. Although they represent a tiny minority of all prisoners sentenced to death, their cases are emblematic of systemic failings in the application of capital punishment. Women in conflict with the law are particularly vulnerable to abuse and other rights violations, either at the police station, during trial, or while incarcerated. Women are more likely than men to be illiterate, which affects their ability to understand and participate in their own defense. For example, of the 12 women on India's death row in 2015, six have never attended school. Illiteracy also increases their vulnerability to coercion, heightening the risk of false confessions. In certain countries, particularly in the Gulf states, most death-sentenced women are foreign migrant workers who are subject to discriminatory treatment. Mental illness and intellectual disability are common among women facing the death penalty. In Pakistan, Kanizan Bibi has been on death row since 1989, when she was only 16-years-old. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, she cannot care for herself in the most basic ways and has lost all awareness of her surroundings. Although she is now confined in a psychiatric hospital, she remains under sentence of death. Many women enter prison as long-term survivors of gender-based violence and harsh socioeconomic deprivation. We have documented several cases of women convicted of crimes committed while they were minors, often in the context of child marriage. These factors receive little attention from lawyers and courts. In many death penalty jurisdictions, gender-based violence is not considered at sentencing. Few lawyers present such evidence, and even where they do, the courts often discount it. In mandatory death penalty jurisdictions, a woman's prior history as a survivor of physical or sexual abuse is simply irrelevant, since the death penalty is automatically imposed for death-eligible offenses without consideration of the offender's background or the circumstances of the crime. Our research also indicates that women who are seen as violating entrenched norms of gender behavior are more likely to receive the death penalty. In several cases documented in this report, women facing the death penalty have been cast as the "femme fatale," the "child murderer," or the "witch." The case of Brenda Andrew in the United States is illustrative. In her capital trial, the prosecution aired details of her sexual history under the guise of establishing her motive to kill her husband. The jury was allowed to hear about Brenda's alleged extramarital affairs from years before the murder, as well as details about outfits she wore. The trial court also permitted the prosecutor to show the underwear found in the suitcase in her possession after she fled to Mexico, because it showed that she was not behaving as "a grieving widow, but as a free fugitive living large on a Mexico beach." As one Justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma noted, Brenda was put on trial not only for the murder of her husband but for being "a bad wife, a bad mother, and a bad woman." Death row conditions around the world are harsh and at times life-threatening for both men and women. In China, for example, all death row inmates, including women, are shackled at all times by their hands and feet. Women face certain deprivations, however, that do not affect the male population to the same extent. Some death sentenced women must also care for infants or young children who are incarcerated alongside them. Meriam Ibrahim, sentenced to death in Sudan for apostasy in 2014, was shackled to heavy chains in prison while eight months pregnant and caring for a young child. In Thailand and Myanmar, inmates have reportedly given birth alone in prison. In many countries, it is challenging or impossible for women to access sanitary pads or other menstruation products. In Zambia, for example, women must make do with rags that they struggle to clean without soap. The social stigma associated with women who are convicted and imprisoned, paired in some cases with restrictive family and child visitation rules, means that many female death row inmates around the world suffer an enduring lack of family contact, contributing to the high levels of depression suffered by women prisoners. Women on death row may also be denied access to occupational training and educational programs. For instance, the general female prison population in Thailand has access to work programs, but death row inmates do not. One woman in Ghana explained, after being denied educational opportunities while on death row: "I don't do anything. I sweep and I wait." Our country profiles aim to provide a snapshot of women facing the death penalty in several major regions of the world. The stories of women on death row provide anecdotal evidence of the particular forms of oppression and inhumane treatment documented in this report. It is our hope that this initial publication, the first of its kind, will inspire the international community to pay greater attention to the troubling plight of women on death row worldwide. Details: Ithaca, NY: Cornell Law School, 2018. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 23, 2018 at: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/7202 Year: 2018 Country: International URL: http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/pdf/judged-for-more-than-her-crime.pdf Shelf Number: 153113 Keywords: Capital PunishmentDeath PenaltyDeath RowExecutionsFemales Gender Based PunishmentGender Based ViolenceGender BiasGender IssuesImprisonmentIntellectual DisabilityMental Health IssuesPrisonPrisoners |
Author: Konrad, Robin Title: Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States Summary: The Death Penalty Information Center has released a major new report, Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States, examining the scope and consequences of secrecy in the application of the death penalty in the United States. The report, released on November 20, 2018, tells the story of the expansion of execution secrecy and the questionable practices that states have attempted to keep from public view. It details how, in their efforts to obtain execution drugs, states have used secrecy laws to conceal evidence that they have broken state and federal laws, deliberately induced contract breaches, lied to or misled legitimate drug suppliers, contracted with shady international suppliers and questionable domestic pharmacies, and swapped drugs with each other without proper storage and transport controls. As a result, an increasing number of executions have been botched: in 2017, more than 60% of executions carried out with midazolam produced eyewitness accounts of the execution going amiss. The report also describes how secrecy laws have undermined the reliability and legitimacy of court proceedings in which prisoners have challenged state execution practices as violating the Constitution's ban on cruel or unusual punishments. "State officials have suppressed information that could prove prisoners' claims while simultaneously arguing those claims should be rejected because they are unproven," the report explains. "Over and over again, states have violated the law in the name of carrying out the law," DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham said. "And when the public has uncovered information the states have tried to conceal, it has exposed an ever-expanding scope of misconduct and incompetence. 'Trust me, Im the Government,' is not an acceptable justification for execution secrecy." Details: Washington, DC: Death Penalty Information Center, 2018. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 26, 2018 at: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/SecrecyReport.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/SecrecyReport.pdf Shelf Number: 153844 Keywords: Capital Punishment Death Penalty Executions |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Hunger for Justice: Crimes Against Humanity in Venezuela Summary: Venezuela has been experiencing a profound human rights crisis for several years. Massive violations of civil, political, economic and social rights have been reflected in shortages of and lack of access to food and medicines, a deterioration in health services, as well as violence and political repression by the state. As a result at least 3.4 million people have been forced to flee the country since 2015. In this context, social protest became the main and most visible way in which people could respond and channel their discontent. Since 2014, there have been several cycles of mass demonstrations, interspersed with spontaneous protests to demand a range of rights. In February 2014, the first mass protests took place both against and in support of the government of Nicolas Maduro, who had come to power a year earlier. During the first months of demonstrations, Amnesty International documented the excessive use of force, torture and politically motivated arbitrary detentions and highlighted the use of derogatory language to stigmatize anti-government protesters. By the end of these protests, 43 people had been killed, including 10 public officials. A year later, the organization expressed concern at the high level of impunity in relation to possible human rights violations committed during those months. Between April and July 2017, there was a new wave of social conflict in which more than 120 people were killed, mostly at the hands of the state and groups of armed pro-government civilians ("collectives"). At least 1,958 people were injured as a result of the systematic and widespread use of excessive, and often intentionally lethal, force against protesters. In addition, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), more than 5,000 people were reported to have been detained. One year after the protests, to Amnesty International's knowledge, in only one case had judicial proceedings in relation to these deaths been opened against a member of the Bolivarian National Guard (Guardia Nacional Bolivariana, GNB). While 2018 was not characterized by mass protests, it nevertheless saw the largest number of spontaneous protests throughout the country (more than 12,000 during the year) around demands for economic and social rights, due to the serious deterioration in living standards. It was in this context that, at the beginning of 2019, thousands of people took to the streets to demand a change of government. During January, numerous demonstrations were reported, many of them in low-income areas where the demand for political change had not been so pronounced up to that point. From 21 to 25 January 2019, in a total of 12 of the country's 23 states, at least 47 people died in the context of the protests, all of them as a result of gunshot wounds. Reports indicated that, of these 47 people, at least 39 were killed by members of state forces or of third parties acting with their acquiescence during demonstrations (33 and six respectively). Eleven were reportedly victims of targeted extrajudicial executions, 24 reportedly died in the context of demonstrations and 11 reportedly during looting. According to press reports, one member of the security forces also died during these protests. During these five days, more than 900 people were arbitrarily detained in practically every state in the country. It is estimated that 770 of these arbitrary detentions took place in just one day, 23 January, the date on which demonstrations were held throughout the country. Children and teenagers were among those detained. Amnesty International has documented the policy of politically motivated repression implemented by the government of Nicolas Maduro since 2014. As part of this, between 31 January and 17 February 2019, an Amnesty International team visited Venezuela to carry out research into crimes under international law and serious human rights violations committed in the context of the protests. During this visit, a total of six extrajudicial executions were documented, three cases of excessive use of force and six arbitrary detentions, as well as cover-ups and a failure to investigate several of these violations. The 15 cases detailed in this report are representative of a broader pattern of possible human rights violations that took place in January 2019. The extrajudicial executions documented in different parts of the country illustrate a recurring pattern. In all cases, the victims were young men who were critical of the government, or perceived as such by the authorities, from low-income areas and whose participation in the protests had been visible or whose criticisms had gone viral on social media. That is, they were targeted executions based on the profile of the victims. All died as a result of gunshot wounds to the chest and were executed while in the custody of the authorities. Some were tortured before they were killed. After executing them, the authorities publicly depicted them as criminals who had died in confrontations and initiated criminal investigations for "resisting authority" ("resistencia a la autoridad"). In all six cases, the crime scene was tampered with in order to cover up the facts, as were the bodies of the victims. The police force that carried out these executions was the Bolivarian National Police (Policia Nacional Bolivariana, PNB), mainly through its Special Actions Force (Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales, FAES). Regarding the use of force, Amnesty International's research confirmed the disproportionate and unnecessary use of lethal force against demonstrators. In the documented cases, the GNB and the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela (Guardia Nacional Bolivariana, GNB) were identified as the bodies responsible for the deaths. For example, Alixon Pisani was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest sustained when a PNB official riding on the back of a motorcycle fired indiscriminately on a protest in Catia (Caracas). According to witnesses, the demonstrators had blocked the street with burning objects and were not armed. Only in a few cases had Molotov cocktails and stones been thrown at the security forces. The cases of detention illustrate a pattern of arbitrary mass arrests followed by ill-treatment of detainees by government forces in order to punish people for taking part in the protests. Researchers also found that judicial guarantees were flouted and that there was interference with principle of judicial independence. For example, in the cases of four teenagers (all under 18) detained in the state of Yaracuy, none was brought before a judge within the legal time limit and they were held for several days despite the absence of sufficient evidence to justify their detention. Days later, the supervising judge (juez de control) dealing with their case complained on social media that her decision regarding the minors had been the result of pressure and the death threats from the Executive branch. Finally, according to the information received from relatives and lawyers, in all the documented cases of violation of the right to life and physical integrity, the official investigations have been neither impartial or thorough and the families have received only minimal information about them. In addition, several relatives were harassed by public officials because of the victims' involvement in the protests. Analysis of these violations shows that in January 2019, multiple acts of violence were committed consistently in all states and with a high degree of coordination between the security forces at the national and state levels. The authorities right up to the highest level, including Nicolas Maduro, have at the very least tolerated such attacks. Amnesty International's research shows that these human rights violations were not random, but were part of a previously planned attack directed against a distinct part of the civilian population: government opponents, or those perceived as such by the government, who were at times specifically identified as targets by the attackers. In addition, these incidents were public and widely known; in other words, the authorities at the highest level knew what was happening. Details: London: Author, 2019. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 6, 2019 at: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AMR5302222019ENGLISH.PDF Year: 2019 Country: Venezuela URL: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AMR5302222019ENGLISH.PDF Shelf Number: 156236 Keywords: Arbitrary DetentionsExecutionsExtrajudicial ExecutionsHuman Rights AbusesProtests and DemonstrationsTortureUse of Force |
Author: Baumgartner, Frank R. Title: Event Dependence in U.S. Executions Summary: Abstract: Since 1976, the United States has seen over 1,400 judicial executions, and these have been highly concentrated in only a few states and counties. The number of executions across counties appears to fit a stretched distribution. These distributions are typically reflective of self-reinforcing processes where the probability of observing an event increases for each previous event. To examine these processes, we employ two-pronged empirical strategy. First, we utilize bootstrapped Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests to determine whether the pattern of executions reflect a stretched distribution, and confirm that they do. Second, we test for event-dependence using the Conditional Frailty Model. Our tests estimate the monthly hazard of an execution in a given county, accounting for the number of previous executions, homicides, poverty, and population demographics. Controlling for other factors, we find that the number of prior executions in a county increases the probability of the next execution and accelerates its timing. Once a jurisdiction goes down a given path, the path becomes self-reinforcing, causing the counties to separate out into those never executing (the vast majority of counties) and those which use the punishment frequently. This finding is of great legal and normative concern, and ultimately, may not be consistent with the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Details: San Francisco, California: Plos One, 2018. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 27, 2019 at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190244&type=printable Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190244 Shelf Number: 156933 Keywords: Capital Punishment Death Penalty Equal Protection Clause Executions |