LIST OF ABOLITIONIST AND RETENTIONIST COUNTRIES (1 January 2007)

One country abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2006 (Philippines) and two countries removed provisions for the death penalty from their country’s constitutions (Georgia and Moldova). One country (Montenegro) became an independent member state of the United Nations (previously Serbia and Montenegro).

Nearly 130 countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Attached is a list of countries indicating whether or not their laws provide for the death penalty. For abolitionist countries, information is also given, where available, on the date of abolition and the date of the last execution carried out; and for countries which have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, the date when it was abolished for ordinary offences if this was done before. (The date given for abolition is normally the date when the decision to abolish the death penalty was taken, but if that decision only came into effect several years later, the latter date is given.)

Also attached is a list of countries which have abolished the death penalty since 1976. It shows that in the past decade, an average of three countries a year have abolished the death penalty or, having done so for ordinary offences, have gone on to abolish it for all offences.

As of 1 January 2007, the number of abolitionist and retentionist countries was as follows:

Abolitionist for all crimes 88
Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only 11
Abolitionist in practice 29

Total abolitionist in law or practice 128
Retentionist 69

 

1. ABOLITIONIST FOR ALL CRIMES

Countries whose laws do not provide for the death penalty for any crime

Abbreviations: Date (A) = date of abolition for all crimes; Date (AO) = date of abolition for ordinary crimes; Date (last ex.) = date of last execution; K = date of last known execution; NK = date of last execution not known; Ind. = no executions since independence

 

Country	Date(A)	Date(AO)	Date(last ex.)
ANDORRA	1990		1943
ANGOLA	1992		NK
ARMENIA	2003		NK
AUSTRALIA	1985	1984	1967
AUSTRIA	1968	1950	1950
AZERBAIJAN	1998		1993
BELGIUM	1996		1950
BHUTAN	2004		1964K
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA	2001	1997	NK
BULGARIA	1998		1989
CAMBODIA	1989		NK
CANADA	1998	1976	1962
CAPE VERDE	1981		1835
COLOMBIA	1910		1909
COSTA RICA	1877		NK
COTE D’IVOIRE	2000		NK
CROATIA	1990		NK
CYPRUS	2002	1983	1962
CZECH REPUBLIC	1990		NK
DENMARK	1978	1933	1950
DJIBOUTI	1995		Ind.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	1966		NK
ECUADOR	1906		NK
ESTONIA	1998		1991
FINLAND	1972	1949	1944
FRANCE	1981		1977
GEORGIA	1997		1994K
GERMANY	1987		NK
GREECE	2004	1993	1972
GUINEA-BISSAU	1993		1986K
HAITI	1987		1972K
HONDURAS	1956		1940
HUNGARY	1990		1988
ICELAND	1928		1830
IRELAND	1990		1954
ITALY	1994	1947	1947
KIRIBATI			Ind.
LIBERIA	2005		NK
LIECHTENSTEIN	1987		1785
LITHUANIA	1998		1995
LUXEMBOURG	1979		1949
MACEDONIA (former Yug. Rep.)	1991		NK
MALTA	2000	1971	1943
MARSHALL ISLANDS			Ind.
MAURITIUS	1995		1987
MEXICO	2005		1937
MICRONESIA (Federated States)			Ind.
MOLDOVA	1995		NK
MONACO	1962		1847
MONTENEGRO	2002		NK
MOZAMBIQUE	1990		1986
NAMIBIA	1990		1988K
NEPAL	1997	1990	1979
NETHERLANDS	1982	1870	1952
NEW ZEALAND	1989	1961	1957
NICARAGUA	1979		1930
NIUE			NK
NORWAY	1979	1905	1948
PALAU			NK
PANAMA			1903K
PARAGUAY	1992		1928
PHILIPPINES	2006		1999
POLAND	1997		1988
PORTUGAL	1976	1867	1849K
ROMANIA	1989		1989
SAMOA	2004		Ind.
SAN MARINO	1865	1848	1468K
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE	1990		Ind.
SENEGAL	2004		1967
SERBIA	2002		NK
SEYCHELLES	1993		Ind.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC	1990		NK
SLOVENIA	1989		NK
SOLOMON ISLANDS		1966	Ind.
SOUTH AFRICA	1997	1995	1991
SPAIN	1995	1978	1975
SWEDEN	1972	1921	1910
SWITZERLAND	1992	1942	1944
TIMOR-LESTE	1999		NK
TURKEY	2004	2002	1984
TURKMENISTAN	1999		NK
TUVALU			Ind.
UKRAINE	1999		NK
UNITED KINGDOM	1998	1973	1964
URUGUAY	1907		NK
VANUATU			Ind.
VATICAN CITY STATE	1969		NK
VENEZUELA	1863		NK

 

2. ABOLITIONIST FOR ORDINARY CRIMES ONLY

Countries whose laws provide for the death penalty only for exceptional crimes such as crimes under military law or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances, such as wartime crimes

Abbreviations: Date (AO) = date of abolition for ordinary crimes; Date (last ex.) = date of last execution; K = date of last known execution; NK = date of last execution not known; Ind. = no executions since independence

 

Country	Date(AO)	Date(last ex.)
ALBANIA	2000	NK
ARGENTINA	1984	NK
BOLIVIA	1997	1974
BRAZIL	1979	1855
CHILE	2001	1985
COOK ISLANDS		NK
EL SALVADOR	1983	1973K
FIJI	1979	1964
ISRAEL	1954	1962
LATVIA	1999	1996
PERU	1979	1979

 

3. ABOLITIONIST IN PRACTICE

Countries that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes such as murder but can be considered abolitionist in practice in that they have not executed anyone during the past 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions. The list also includes countries which have made an international commitment not to use the death penalty.

Abbreviations: Date (last ex.) = date of last execution; K = date of last known execution; Ind. = no executions since independence

Country	Date(last ex.)
ALGERIA	1993
BENIN	1987
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1957K
BURKINA FASO	1988
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC	1981
CONGO (Republic)	1982
GABON	NK
GAMBIA	1981
GHANA	NK
GRENADA	1978
KENYA	1987
KYRGYZSTAN	1998
MADAGASCAR	1958K
MALAWI	1992
MALDIVES	1952K
MALI	1980
MAURITANIA	1987
MOROCCO	1993
MYANMAR	NK
NAURU	Ind.
NIGER	1976K
PAPUA NEW GUINEA	1950
RUSSIAN FEDERATION	1999
SRI LANKA	1976
SURINAME	1982
SWAZILAND	NK
TOGO	NK
TONGA	1982
TUNISIA	1991

4. RETENTIONIST

Countries and territories that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes

AFGHANISTAN
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
BAHAMAS
BAHRAIN
BANGLADESH
BARBADOS
BELARUS
BELIZE
BOTSWANA
BURUNDI
CAMEROON
CHAD
CHINA
COMOROS
CONGO (Democratic Republic)
CUBA
DOMINICA
EGYPT
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
ERITREA
ETHIOPIA
GUATEMALA
GUINEA
GUYANA
INDIA
INDONESIA
IRAN
IRAQ
JAMAICA
JAPAN
JORDAN
KAZAKSTAN
KOREA (North)
KOREA (South)
KUWAIT
LAOS
LEBANON
LESOTHO
LIBYA
MALAYSIA
MONGOLIA
NIGERIA
OMAN
PAKISTAN
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
QATAR
RWANDA
SAINT CHRISTOPHER & NEVIS
SAINT LUCIA
SAINT VINCENT & GRENADINES
SAUDI ARABIA
SIERRA LEONE
SINGAPORE
SOMALIA
SUDAN
SYRIA
TAIWAN
TAJIKISTAN
TANZANIA
THAILAND
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
UGANDA
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UZBEKISTAN
VIET NAM
YEMEN
ZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE

COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY SINCE 1976

1976: PORTUGAL abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1978: DENMARK abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1979: LUXEMBOURG, NICARAGUA and NORWAY abolished the death penalty for all crimes. BRAZIL, FIJI and PERU abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1981: FRANCE and CAPE VERDE abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1982: The NETHERLANDS abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1983: CYPRUS and EL SALVADOR abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1984: ARGENTINA abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1985: AUSTRALIA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1987: HAITI, LIECHTENSTEIN and the GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1989: CAMBODIA, NEW ZEALAND, ROMANIA and SLOVENIA (2) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1990: ANDORRA, CROATIA (2), the CZECH AND SLOVAK FEDERAL REPUBLIC (3), HUNGARY, IRELAND, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA and SAO TOMÉ AND PRíNCIPE abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1992: ANGOLA, PARAGUAY and SWITZERLAND abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1993: GUINEA-BISSAU, HONG KONG (4) and SEYCHELLES abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1994: ITALY abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1995: DJIBOUTI, MAURITIUS, MOLDOVA and SPAIN abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1996: BELGIUM abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1997: GEORGIA, NEPAL, POLAND and SOUTH AFRICA abolished the death penalty for all crimes. BOLIVIA abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1998: AZERBAIJAN, BULGARIA, CANADA, ESTONIA, LITHUANIA and the UNITED KINGDOM abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1999: EAST TIMOR (now TIMOR-LESTE), TURKMENISTAN and UKRAINE abolished the death penalty for all crimes. LATVIA (5) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

2000: ALBANIA (6) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes. COTE DIVOIRE and MALTA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2001: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (7) abolished the death penalty for all crimes. CHILE abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

2002: CYPRUS and YUGOSLAVIA (now separate states of SERBIA and MONTENEGRO(9)) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2003: ARMENIA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2004: BHUTAN, GREECE ( , SAMOA, SENEGAL and TURKEY abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2005: LIBERIA (10) and MEXICO abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2006: PHILIPPINES abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

Notes

(1) In 1990 the German Democratic Republic became unified with the Federal Republic of Germany, where the death penalty had been abolished in 1949.
(2) Slovenia and Croatia abolished the death penalty while they were still republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The two republics became independent in 1991.
(3) In 1993 the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic divided into two states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
(4) In 1997 Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule as a special administrative region of China. Since then Hong Kong has remained abolitionist.
(5) In 1999 the Latvian parliament voted to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences.
(6) In 2000 Albania ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences.
(7) In 2001 Bosnia-Herzegovina ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
( In November 2004 the Greek parliament approved the ratification of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, thereby abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
(9) Montenegro had already abolished the death penalty in 2002 when it was part of a state union with Serbia. It became an independent member state of the United Nations on 28 June 2006. It ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 23 October 2006.
(10) Liberia ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights without reservation on 16 September 2005.

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Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty(2007)

The following document is regularly updated on the Amnesty International website, www.amnesty.org

1. Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries

Two-thirds of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Amnesty International’s latest information shows that:

• 88 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes
• 11 countries have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes
• 29 countries can be considered abolitionist in practice: they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more

making a total of 128 countries which have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

• 69 other countries retain and use the death penalty, but the number of countries which actually execute prisoners in any one year is much smaller.

2. Progress Towards Worldwide Abolition

Over 45 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes since 1990. They include countries in Africa (recent examples include Cote dIvoire and Liberia,), the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Paraguay), Asia and the Pacific (Bhutan, Samoa, Philippines) and Europe and the South Caucasus (Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Montenegro, and Turkey).

3. Moves to Reintroduce the Death Penalty

Once abolished, the death penalty is seldom reintroduced. Since 1985, 55 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or, having previously abolished it for ordinary crimes, have gone on to abolish it for all crimes. During the same period only four abolitionist countries reintroduced the death penalty. Two of them, Nepal and Philippines have since abolished the death penalty again. There have been no executions in the other two (Gambia, Papua New Guinea).

4. Death Sentences and Executions

During 2006, at least 1591 prisoners were executed in 25 countries and 3,861 people were sentenced to death in 55 countries. These figures include only cases known to Amnesty International; the true figures are certainly higher.

In 2006 91 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan and the USA. Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 1,010 people were executed in China during the year, although these figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Credible sources suggest that between 7,500 to 8,000 people were executed in 2006. The official statistics remain a state secret, making monitoring and analysis problematic.

Iran executed at least 177 people, Pakistan at least 82, and Iraq and Sudan each 65 but the totals may have been higher. Fifty-three people were executed in 12 states in the USA.

The worldwide figure for those currently condemned to death and awaiting execution is difficult to assess. The estimated number at the end of 2006 was between 19,185 and 24,646 based on information from human rights groups, media reports and the limited official figures available.

5. Methods of Execution
Executions have been carried out by the following methods since 2000:

Beheading – (in Saudi Arabia, Iraq)
Electrocution – (in USA)
Hanging – (in Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and other countries)
Lethal injection – (in China, Guatemala, Philippines, Thailand, USA)
Shooting – (in Belarus, China, Somalia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam and other countries)
Stoning – (in Afghanistan, Iran)
Stabbing – (in Somalia)

6. Use of the Death Penalty Against Child Offenders

International human rights treaties prohibit anyone under 18 years old at the time of the crime being sentenced to death. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child all have provisions to this effect. More than 100 countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty for at least some offences have laws specifically excluding the execution of child offenders or may be presumed to exclude such executions by being parties to one or another of the above treaties. A small number of countries, however, continue to execute child offenders. In 2006 Iran executed four child offenders and Pakistan one.

Nine countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime – China, Congo (Democratic Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, USA and Yemen. China, Pakistan, USA and Yemen have now raised the minimum age to 18 in law. The USA and Iran each executed more child offenders than the other seven countries combined before the US Supreme Court ruled in March 2005 that the execution of children under the age of 18 was unconstitutional. Iran has now exceeded the USA’s total since 1990 of 19 child executions.

7. The Deterrence Argument

Scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in 2002, concluded: “… it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment.”

(Reference: Roger Hood, The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective, Oxford, Clarendon Press, third edition, 2002, p. 230)

8. Effect of Abolition on Crime Rates

Reviewing the evidence on the relation between changes in the use of the death penalty and crime rates, the study conducted for the United Nations cited above stated: “The fact that all the evidence continues to point in the same direction is persuasive a priori evidence that countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty”.

Recent crime figures from abolitionist countries fail to show that abolition has harmful effects. In Canada, for example, the homicide rate per 100,000 population fell from a peak of 3.09 in 1975, the year before the abolition of the death penalty for murder, to 2.41 in 1980, and since then it has declined further. In 2003, 27 years after abolition, the homicide rate was 1.73 per 100,000 population, 44 per cent lower than in 1975 and the lowest rate in three decades. Although this increased to 2.0 in 2005, it remains over one-third lower than when the death penalty was abolished.

(Reference: Roger Hood, The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective, Oxford, Clarendon Press, third edition, 2002, p. 214)

9. International Agreements to Abolish the Death Penalty

One of the most important developments in recent years has been the adoption of international treaties whereby states commit themselves to not having the death penalty. Four such treaties now exist:

• The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has now been ratified by 60 states. Eight other states have signed the Protocol, indicating their intention to become parties to it at a later date.
• The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty which has been ratified by eight states and signed by one other in the Americas.
• Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights), which has been ratified by 45 European states and signe