Oct 10, 2013

UNPO Observes World Day Against The Death Penalty


Today, UNPO celebrates the 11th World Day Against the Death Penalty, a campaign which has been held on 10 October every year since its launch in 2003. Its aim is to obtain the abolition of the death penalty, a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment which is incompatible with fundamental human rights. Along with many other organisations, UNPO appeals to abolish the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances.

UNPO notes that some of the Nations and Peoples it represents live in countries still practicing the death penalty, such as Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Uganda and Vietnam. Others live in countries that have only abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, like Chile, or countries that have done so in practice but not in law, such as Cameroon, DR Congo, Kenya, Laos, Mauritania, Myanmar, Russia and Tanzania. For a summarized view of those members still living under the threat of the death penalty, please see the table below which UNPO has compiled using publicly available information.

By clicking on the table, you will access a pdf version of it, available for download.

Unfortunately, capital punishment is often considered as an effective response to violent crime, while no scientific study has proved that violent crime rates are linked to the application of the death penalty, which is thus unnecessary. In this regard, Costa Rica is a good example. Abolitionist since 1877, this country has a low homicide rate. Actually, it is similar to that of Antigua and Barbuda, which is a retentionist country.

Worldwide, according to Amnesty International, 58 countries are still retentionist. Furthermore, among the 140 remaining countries, 35 have only abolished the death penalty in practice and 8 chose to abolish it for ordinary crimes only. In other words, there is still work to be done to end the death penalty, but the global trend towards the abolition is strong (see the Hands Off Cain's 2013 Report, “The Death Penalty Worldwide”). In fact, more and more governments are realizing that they should focus on prevention, and not punishment.

This year, World Day Against the Death Penalty is focusing on the Greater Caribbean. Indeed, although the number of executions is very low in that region, 13 of its countries remain retentionist: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago[1]. Moreover, most of these States have consistently voted against the UN resolutions calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. These resolutions call on retentionist countries to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a first step towards its abolition. Meanwhile, these resolutions call on these countries to restrict the number of offences which the death penalty punishes. As for the States that have abolished the death penalty, they are asked not to reintroduce it.

World Day Against the Death Penalty is an initiative of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, an alliance of more than 145 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions. Created in Rome on 13 May 2002, its aim is to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty, its ultimate objective being to obtain the universal abolition of capital punishment. To this end, the Coalition supports national and regional abolitionist forces and is active in lobbying States and international organisations. Besides, it organises international campaigns, such as the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

 

 

 

[1] http://www.worldcoalition.org/worldday.html