Search Results for: abolish death penalty

Global executions rose dramatically in 2024, reaching 1,518 recorded deaths across 15 countries — the highest figure since 2015 — Amnesty International said Tuesday as it released its annual report on the use of the death penalty. The 48-page report, “Death Sentences and Executions 2024,” found that Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were responsible for [...]

On Friday, March 7, just ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, a South Carolina firing squad will shoot to death my longtime pen pal and friend Brad Sigmon. This will mark the first American firing squad execution to take place in 15 years. Accordingly, it will be the first since I co-founded the 3,800+-member-strong L’chaim! Jews [...]

UN human rights experts decried on Wednesday confirmation of the death of Jamshid Sharmahd, a victim of arbitrary detention in Iran. The UN experts said: “The death of the 69-year-old after years of arbitrary detention is appalling, especially considering he was subjected to kidnapping, and violations of numerous fundamental rights including his right to a [...]

Iran faced global criticism at the 48th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday, as member nations denounced the country’s treatment of women, crackdown on dissent, and widespread use of the death penalty. Nations including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland raised serious concerns over [...]

Amnesty International on Tuesday called on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to halt the planned execution of 170 prisoners on death row, urging the DRC to move toward abolishing the death penalty. Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa, stated: We fear imminent mass executions by the authorities amid [...]

Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty on Tuesday when President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Death Penalty Abolition Act into law. The new law eliminates the death penalty as a sentencing option within the country, aligning Zimbabwe with a global movement that rejects capital punishment. The legislation will further result in the commutation of sentences for approximately 60 [...]

The US saw a slight increase in new death sentences in 2024 while executions remained near historic lows, according to a year-end report released Thursday by the Death Penalty Information Center. Twenty-six new death sentences were handed down in 2024, up from the previous year, though the overall death row population continued its decades-long decline [...]

Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) announced on Friday the execution of Rosman bin Abdullah, an individual convicted of drug trafficking. Rosman’s execution is the third in the country in less than two weeks, as the CNB reported the execution of two other individuals convicted of drug possession last Friday. Under Singaporean law, death penalties are administered [...]

The ruling military junta of Burkina Faso is discussing the reintroduction of the death penalty for terrorism and related crimes, according to anonymous sources who spoke to AFP. As noted by Human Rights Watch, the sources stated that the government had not provided a timeline for capital punishment’s reintroduction. Once the government decides the details [...]

In a letter addressed to Aziz Nazruf, the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, on Monday Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the interim government of Bangladesh to amend the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act of 1973 “to ensure the judicial process is in line with international standards.” The letter comes as arrest warrants have [...]