Death Penalty Worldwide

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November 14, 2003: In response to suggestions that South Africa should conduct a review of the death penalty, South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma states that the law is clear on the subject matter and the answer is no, according to a story carried by BuaNews in Pretoria.

December 14, 2003: Within hours of the capture of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, international divisions develop over the potential appropriateness of the death penalty for him if he's found guilty of war crimes or genocide.

February 10, 2004: Amnesty International urges the Nigerian government to abolish its death penalty on the grounds that it violates human rights and discriminates against women.

April 2, 2004: Following an International Court of Justice ruling that the United States was in violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention for failing to allow 51 Mexican death row inmates in the US to receive legal assistance from their government, Mexican President Vicente Fox indicates that he might ask that Court and the United Nations to take action against the US.

July 1, 2004: Indonesian lawmakers are set to impose a maximum death penalty sentence and a minimum 12-year prison sentence on illegal loggers, according to Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim.

August 13, 2004: Dhananjaya Chatterjee, convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl, is hanged at dawn in Calcutta, India, the first person to be executed in the country where the death penalty is reserved for the most rare of cases.

October 13, 2004: The Chinese government announces that it will soon amend its Criminal Procedure Law, including its laws on the death penalty. Huang Songyou, Vice President of China's Supreme People's Court, says that changes are required in light of the fact that China has signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights and has enshrined a human rights clause into its constitution.

March 14, 2005: After questioning the rationale for continued use of capital punishment earlier this year, China decides to reform but not eliminate the death penalty.

April 8, 2005: Philip Alston, a UN human rights investigator speaking in Geneva, urges countries to remove their "cloak of secrecy" and disclose the numbers of prisoners executed and those waiting on death row.

June 23, 2005: Mexico's House votes for an constitutional amendment that expunges the death penalty language from the country's present constitution by a margin of 412-0.

August 20, 2005: Ashraf Qazi, special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, asks that Iraq reconsider its decision to resume carrying out executions, three days after the Iraqi government approved three death sentences.

September 1, 2005: Three convicted murderers are executed in Iraq, marking the first time the death penalty has been used since Saddam Hussein lost power in 2003.

September 2, 2005: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour wraps up an official visit to China, calling for China to release data about its use of capital punishment and urging cooperation with international standards.

September 9, 2005: In its latest bi-monthly report on human rights in Iraq, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq details widespread and lengthy detentions of suspected Sunni insurgents, systematic use of torture during interrogations at police stations and other Ministry of the Interior premises, and condemns the Iraqi revival of the death penalty.

October 10, 2005: A UN human rights expert says the Iraqi Special Tribunal that will soon be trying Saddam Hussein does not meet international standards and should be replaced by an independent UN body, criticizing US and UK anti-terror laws for undermining human rights.

Also, the Council of Europe, Europe's top human rights organization, calls for the United States and Japan to set an example for other countries by abolishing capital punishment.

October 27, 2005: The Supreme Court of China confirms its plan to remove the authority from lower courts to review death sentences, which is expected to decrease the number of execution sentences currently given and also prevent fatal miscarriages of justice.

December 3, 2005: The EU releases a statement criticizing the death penalty after North Carolina executed Kenneth Lee Boyd, marking the 1,000th execution in the US since the US Supreme Court lifted a 10 year moratorium on capital punishment in 1976.

January 13, 2006: Singapore's national association of lawyers, the Law Society, will conduct a review of the nation's death penalty laws and make recommendations to the national government in nine months.

February 21, 2006: Officials in South Korea's Ministry of Justice announce their intent to implement a series of criminal justice reforms that include replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment and restoring national election voting rights to prisoner's convicted of "accidental" crimes.

February 22, 2006: Officials at South Korea's Justice Ministry announce that the government of South Korea is seriously considering abandoning capital punishment. Earlier in the week the ministry ordered a study to determine how abolishing the death penalty - which has not been used since 1997 - would effect the crime rate.

March 20, 2006: An Afghani man is on trial for criminal charges punishable by death related to his conversion from Islam to Christianity over 16 years ago while working for a Christian aid organization in Pakistan. Abdul Rahman has been charged with converting to a "false religion" under Afghanistan's criminal law.

March 26, 2006: Afghan officials say they are preparing to release a man possibly facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity from Islam after a judge sent the case of Abdul Rahman back to prosecutors, ruling that he lacked enough evidence to proceed.

April 5, 2006: The Council of Europe repeats its calls that Russia officially abolish the death penalty. There have been no executions in Russia for over ten years as the result of a moratorium imposed by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin as part of Russia's entry agreement with the COE.

April 16, 2006: Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announces that she would commute all death sentences to life imprisonment.

June 6, 2006: Both the Philippines Senate and House of Representatives pass bills repealing the country's 12-year old death penalty law in a move that brings the country one step closer to abolishing the death penalty.

June 29, 2006: Uzbekistan moves closer to abolishing the death penalty as Uzbek President Islam Karimov orders the establishment of a commission charged with drafting anti-death penalty legislation as well as new criminal laws, both substantive and procedural, to implement the change.

August 18, 2006: The governing party in Rwanda proposes legislation to eliminate the death penalty for genocide in an effort to encourage other countries to extradite suspects in the 1994 genocide.

October 12, 2006: South Asians for Human Rights, headed by former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, urges India and Pakistan to abolish the death penalty since it is a "violation of the right to life."

October 13, 2006: The ruling party of Rwanda announces that it has directed its lawmakers to support a forthcoming bill to abolish the death penalty.

December 10, 2006: The Russian State Duma has effectively extended a national moratorium on the death penalty until 2010 by postponing until then the establishment of jury trials in Chechnya.

December 30, 2006: World political and religious leaders are divided in their reaction to the execution of Saddam Hussein.

January 5, 2007: The Presidency of the European Union, currently held by Germany, reiterates in a statement the EU's opposition to the death penalty "under all circumstances" as two Saddam Hussein co-defendants in Iraq continued to face possible hanging.

January 12, 2007: Peruvian president Alan Garcia proposes a national referendum on introducing capital punishment for convicted terrorists after a legislative proposal to that effect was defeated 49-26 in the Peruvian Congress.

January 19, 2007: The Rwandan cabinet agrees to abolish capital punishment, the country's justice minister says, clearing the way for the extradition of defendants facing trial for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which over 800,000 people were killed.

January 31, 2007: The European Union agrees to adopt a "measured, step-by-step approach" to achieving a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty, according to German Minister of State Gunter Gloser, addressing the European Parliament.

February 9, 2007: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour files an amicus curiae brief with the Iraqi High Tribunal arguing that imposing the death penalty on former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan would be a violation of Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

February 12, 2007: The Iraqi High Tribunal sentences former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan to death by hanging in connection with crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982.

February 20, 2007: The French parliament votes to amend the French Constitution to include an explicit ban on the death penalty.

March 12, 2007: China plans to gradually lessen the number of executions it carries out while still keeping the death penalty, according to a statement released by China's Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Public Security, and China's lead prosecutor.

March 20, 2007: The hanging of Saddam-era Iraqi vice-president Taha Ramadan before dawn Baghdad time draws a disavowal from the United States and condemnation from Russia as the international community reacted to an execution that UN officials and rights groups had lobbied intensively against.

Also, France signs an extradition treaty with China in Paris over the objections of human rights groups that oppose China's use of the death penalty.

May 31, 2007: Hundreds of Italian prison inmates send a letter to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano asking him to restore the country's death penalty. More than 300 prisoners serving life sentences signed the letter, "asking for our life sentence to be changed to a death sentence" because of the lack of any future beyond the prison.

June 1, 2007: Ethiopian special prosecutor Joseph Kiros says that the Ethiopian government will seek to raise the sentence of convicted former dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam from a life in prison to the death penalty when appeal commences.

June 11, 2007: The lower house of the parliament of Rwanda votes Friday to abolish the death penalty effective July 1.

June 12, 2007: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda requests that the case against Fulgence Kayishema, indicted in absentia for his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, be moved to a Rwandan court for trial, stipulating that genocide suspects will only be transferred to Rwanda if the death penalty is abolished.

June 19, 2007: UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Leandro Despouy urges Iraq to stop carrying out death sentences, specifically urging the Iraqi government to not execute Mahmoud Sa'eed, the confessed co-conspirator in the August 2003 Canal Hotel bombing.

June 21, 2007: The Iraq Central Criminal Court hands down 16 death sentences, including two non-Iraqi Arabs arrested earlier this year for entering the country illegally and for engaging in terrorist activities.

June 24, 2007: "Chemical Ali" and two other Hussein regime officials receive death sentences for the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the Anfal campaign of 1988.

July 9, 2007: Ethiopian prosecutors seek the death penalty against 38 opposition members convicted in June of treason and inciting violence for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations.

July 11, 2007: The Rwandan senate approves a bill to abolish the death penalty.

Also, the Libyan Supreme Court upholds the death sentences of six foreign medics accused of knowingly infecting over 400 Libyan patients with the HIV virus.

July 15, 2007: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh announces that "Chemical Ali" will be hanged in the Kurdish town of Halabja, site of a notorious 1988 gas attack by Saddam Hussein's forces.

July 17, 2007: Sources close to Libya's Supreme Judiciary Council report that the death sentences of the six foreign medics accused of knowingly infecting over 400 Libyan patients with the HIV virus have been commuted to life in prison after the families of the infected patients dropped their calls for the execution of the workers in light of receipt of $1 million each in compensation as a settlement.

July 18, 2007: An Indian Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court sentences three defendants to death for their roles in the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings.

July 24, 2007: A court in India sentences three more men to death for their involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, bringing the total death sentence count for the bombings to ten.

July 27, 2007: An Indian court increases the count of death sentences for involvement n the 1993 Mumbai bombings to twelve.

July 31, 2007: The Iranian Judiciary confirms that two Iranian Kurdish journalists have been sentenced to death for being "enemies of God."

August 21, 2007: The European Union urges Texas Gov. Rick Perry to halt all executions in the state, and to consider introducing a moratorium on death sentences in Texas.

August 22, 2007: Texas Gov. Rick Perry rejects a call by the European Union to halt all executions in the state, saying that while Texans appreciate the EU’s interest in their laws, “Texans are doing just fine governing Texas”.

August 29, 2007: The Court of Appeal for Ontario overturns the 1959 guilty verdict against Steven Truscott, whose case was used as support for the abolition of capital punishment in the country.

August 31, 2007: A report released by the Rome-based anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain says that the number of executions worldwide increased slightly in 2006 while the number of countries that employ capital punishment decreased.

September 3, 2007: Reforms implemented by the Chinese government lead to a ten-year low in the number of death sentences handed down in 2006 with the trend continuing into 2007.

September 4, 2007: The Iraqi High Tribunal upholds the death sentences of three defendants for their roles in the slaughter of Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign.

September 6, 2007: UN rights expert Leandro Despouy issues a report criticizing the government of Iraq for its ongoing use of the death penalty, specifically for executing Awraz Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Sa'eed despite a UN request to spare him because he may have had information about the 2003 bombing of a UN compound in Baghdad.

September 10, 2007: A spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal says that the execution of three former Saddam-era Iraqi officials sentenced for their role in the Anfal Campaign can proceed without the approval of the Iraqi president because of the scope of their crimes.

September 12, 2007: Chinese bank official Wen Mengie, convicted of corruption, is executed for taking bribes and embezzling the equivalent of almost $2 million USD.

September 26, 2007: Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi urges all nations to institute a moratorium on capital punishment in an address delivered to the UN General Assembly.

October 9, 2007: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour urges Afghanistan to reinstate a moratorium on executions following the execution of 15 prisoners Arbour says "may constitute a breach of Afghanistan's obligations under international law."

October 10, 2007: France formally agrees to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances ratifying a provision of the European Convention on Human Rights.

October 13, 2007: TIME Magazine reports that the US military refused to hand over Saddam Hussein's defense minister for a September 10 execution despite Iraqi government demands because the request had not been approved by Iraqi President Jalal Talibani.

October 18, 2007: US authorities deliver "Chemical Ali" to a prison gallows in Baghdad to be transferred into Iraqi custody to be executed. [Report features video.]

October 26, 2007: Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani objects to the execution of Hussein-era Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed al-Tai, joining a group of Iraqi political leaders speaking out against the planned execution.

October 27, 2007: Iraqi prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon defends the death sentence for Sultan Hashim al-Tai, saying that al-Tai personally oversaw the deaths of 180,000 people and his use of chemical weapons in the Anfal Campaign warranted his execution.

October 28, 2007: The Constitutional Court of Indonesia rejected an appeal by five convicted drug smugglers against the death penalty.

November 2, 2007: Canada's ruling Conservative Party government says that it will not ask Montana to commute the death sentence of a Canadian-born man on death row there.

November 8, 2007: A resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty is introduced before the UN General Assembly backed by over 70 states.

November 12, 2007: The US embassy in Iraq announced that "Chemical Ali" will not be transferred to Iraqi custody for execution until a legal debate on the executions is resolved.

November 14, 2007: Nations that support the use of the death penalty, including Singapore, Egypt, and Botswana, criticize a UN draft resolution to impose a world-wide moratorium on the capital punishment.

November 16, 2007: The UN General Assembly's Third Committee votes 99-52 to place a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty, with thirty-three countries abstaining from the vote. The resolution is scheduled to go before the General Assembly later in the year.

November 30, 2007: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formally asks President Bush to hand over "Chemical Ali" and expresses his "determination to ensure that the sentenc[e is] carried out."

December 7, 2007: Japanese officials execute three death row inmates and publicly disclosed their identities for the first time under a new policy designed to increase understanding about the death penalty.

December 18, 2007: The UN General Assembly votes 104-54 with 29 abstentions in favor of a non-binding resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

December 20, 2007: A Chinese court sentences former prosecutor Li Baojin to death after convicting him of accepting bribes and embezzling money.

January 3, 2008: China's Supreme People's Court announces plans to phase out gunshot executions of condemned prisoners and instead switch to lethal injections.

January 15, 2008: Amnesty International calls on Iran to abolish executions by stoning, a method that Iran denies is still in official use.

February 13, 2008: The Guatemalan Congress votes to restore the death penalty after a six-year moratorium.

March 8, 2008: China News reports that China's Supreme People's Court overturned 15 percent of death sentences imposed by lower courts during 2007.

March 15, 2008: Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom vetoes a bill that would have restored the country's death penalty.

March 25, 2008: UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston urged Guatemalan lawmakers not to override a presidential veto of a bill that would restore the country's death penalty.

April 12, 2008: President of China’s Supreme People's Court, Wang Shengjun, instructs judges to impose harsh sentences, including the death penalty, for violent crimes.

April 15, 2008: Amnesty International releases a report finding that of the more than 1200 people who were executed worldwide in 2007, 88 percent of those executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the USA.

April 17, 2008: Human Rights Watch issues a press release saying Afghan President Hamid Karzai should reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty.

April 21, 2008: Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejects calls for the reinstatement of a moratorium on the death penalty.

June 6, 2008: Mexico urges the ICJ to stay the US executions of Mexican citizens until the Court can rule on the applicability of its holding in Mexico v. United States of America.

June 17, 2008: Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Pakistan to abolish the country's death penalty.

Also, Japan executes three condemned inmates, the latest in an increasing number of executions in the country.

July 28, 2008: Iranian officials hang 29 people in Tehran as part of a push to enforce Islamic moral codes.

July 29, 2008: A lawyer for three Indonesian men sentenced to death for their role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings says that he will file a constitutional challenge to their method of execution, death by firing squad.

August 6, 2008: Iran commutes the sentences of four people scheduled to be executed by stoning and suspends the use of the punishment.

Also, Texas executes Mexican national Jose Ernesto Medellin after the US Supreme Court narrowly refuses to stay his sentence following an order ICJ.

August 7, 2008: Convicted murderer and Honduran national Heliberto Chi becomes the second foreign national to be put to death in Texas since the ICJ ordered the US to stay such executions.

August 20, 2008: Iran executes a man for a stabbing he committed while still a minor, which Human Rights Watch says violates the terms of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, to which Iran is a signatory.

September 3, 2008: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issues a statement urging Iran to ban the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.

September 10, 2008: Human Rights Watch releases a report calling on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen to join in a global moratorium on the death penalty for juveniles.

October 19, 2008: Iran bans the execution of minors for drug-related crimes, but continues to allow the sentence to be imposed against juveniles convicted of murder.

October 21, 2008: Indonesia's Constitutional Court on rules that the country's constitution allows the firing-squad execution of three men sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

October 21, 2008: Amnesty International and the Nigerian Legal Defense and Assistance Project condemn Nigeria's capital punishment practices in a joint report.

October 22, 2008: The death sentence of Afghan journalism student Sayad Parwaz Kambaksh, sentenced for distributing papers questioning gender roles under Islam, is reduced to 20 years' imprisonment.

October 26, 2008: A Burundi military court sentences Colonel Vital Bangirinama to death for his role in 2006 killings of 31 civilians.

November 1, 2008: The UN Human Rights Committee urges Japan to abolish the death penalty, citing concern that the number of executions has steadily increased.

November 6, 2008: Pakistan enacts the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance which allows certain acts of "cyber terrorism" to be punishable by death.

November 22, 2008: The parliament of Burundi votes in favor of a law abolishing the death penalty.

November 26, 2008: The Jamaica parliament votes to resume the death penalty after a 20-year moratorium.