Not all punishments “fit the crime”. Not all justice systems are equal and fair.
2019 sees the 17th World Day Against the Death Penalty, observed on October 10th, with the aim of raising awareness on the rights of children whose parents have been sentenced to death or executed.
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an alliance of many organisations that endeavours to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty. Its ultimate objective is to obtain the universal abolition of the death penalty. To achieve its goal, the World Coalition advocates for a definitive end to death sentences and executions in those countries where the death penalty is in force. In some countries, it is seeking to obtain a reduction in the use of capital punishment as a first step towards abolition.
In our support for Amnesty International we seek to raise awareness of this issue.
Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment.
Amnesty International recorded at least 2,531 death sentences in 54 countries in 2018, a slight decrease from the total of 2,591 reported in 2017. At least 19,336 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2018.
Belarus, a former Soviet Union state, is the only country in Europe that retains the death penalty as a form of “punishment”. It is carried out secretly with families having no knowledge and no opportunity of locating the remains of their loved ones.
This video, based on the case of Gennadii Yakovitskii who was executed in Belarus in 2016, reveals the torment of his family as they struggled to understand what was happening. See the original post from Amnesty International here.
A Different Perspective
Amnesty recommend this TED Talk from Lindy Lou Isonhood’s on her experience as a juror dealing with the death penalty.
Death Penalty in Numbers
Ever wondered which country executes the most people each year? Or when capital punishment first began? Or which countries favour which methods of execution?
Activism Works!
When Amnesty started its work in 1977, only 16 countries had totally abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has risen to 106 – more than half the world’s countries. More than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.
Make a difference. Join Amnesty International today?