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More than half the countries in the world have now abolished
the death penalty in law or practice. The numbers are as
follows:
Abolitionist for all crimes: 74
Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 15
Abolitionist in practice: 22
Total abolitionist in law or practice: 111
Retentionist: 84
Following are lists of countries in the four categories: abolitionist
for all crimes, abolitionist for ordinary crimes only,
abolitionist in practice and retentionist. (The
lists include a few territories whose laws on the death
penalty differ significantly from those of the country with
which they are associated.)
At the end is a list of countries which have abolished the
death penalty since 1976. It shows that in the past
decade, an average of over three countries a year have
abolished the death penalty in law or, having done so for
ordinary offences, have gone on to abolish it for all
offences.
1. Abolitionist for all crimes
Countries whose laws do not provide for the death penalty
for any crime
ANDORRA, ANGOLA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, AZERBAIJAN, BELGIUM,
BULGARIA, CAMBODIA, CANADA, CAPE VERDE, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA,
COTE D'IVOIRE, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, DJIBOUTI,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, EAST TIMOR, ECUADOR, ESTONIA, FINLAND,
FRANCE, GEORGIA, GERMANY, GUINEA-BISSAU, HAITI, HONDURAS,
HUNGARY, ICELAND, IRELAND, ITALY, KIRIBATI, LIECHTENSTEIN,
LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, MACEDONIA (former Yugoslav Republic),
MALTA, MARSHALL ISLANDS, MAURITIUS, MICRONESIA (Federated
States), MOLDOVA, MONACO, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA, NEPAL,
NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NORWAY, PALAU, PANAMA,
PARAGUAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROMANIA, SAN MARINO, SAO TOME AND
PRINCIPE, SEYCHELLES, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, SLOVENIA, SOLOMON
ISLANDS, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND,
TURKMENISTAN, TUVALU, UKRAINE, UNITED KINGDOM, URUGUAY,
VANUATU, VATICAN CITY STATE, VENEZUELA
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
ALBANIA, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, BRAZIL,
CHILE, COOK ISLANDS, CYPRUS, EL SALVADOR, FIJI, GREECE,
ISRAEL, LATVIA, MEXICO, PERU
3. Abolitionist in practice
Countries which 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
BHUTAN, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM, BURKINA FASO, CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC, CONGO (Republic), GAMBIA, GRENADA, MADAGASCAR,
MALDIVES, MALI, NAURU, NIGER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, RUSSIAN
FEDERATION, SAMOA, SENEGAL, SRI LANKA, SURINAME, TOGO, TONGA,
TURKEY, YUGOSLAVIA
4. Retentionist
Countries which retain the death penalty for ordinary
crimes
AFGHANISTAN, ALGERIA, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, ARMENIA, BAHAMAS,
BAHRAIN, BANGLADESH, BARBADOS, BELARUS, BELIZE, BENIN,
BOTSWANA, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CHAD, CHINA, COMOROS, CONGO
(Democratic Republic), CUBA, DOMINICA, EGYPT, EQUATORIAL
GUINEA, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GABON, GHANA, GUATEMALA, GUINEA,
GUYANA, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, JAMAICA, JAPAN, JORDAN,
KAZAKSTAN, KENYA, KUWAIT, KYRGYZSTAN, LAOS, LEBANON, LESOTHO,
LIBERIA, LIBYA, MALAWI, MALAYSIA, MAURITANIA, MONGOLIA,
MOROCCO, MYANMAR, NIGERIA, NORTH KOREA, OMAN, PAKISTAN,
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, PHILIPPINES, QATAR, RWANDA, SAINT
CHRISTOPHER & NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, SAINT VINCENT &
GRENADINES, SAUDI ARABIA, SIERRA LEONE, SINGAPORE, SOMALIA,
SOUTH KOREA, SUDAN, SWAZILAND, SYRIA, TAIWAN, TAJIKISTAN,
TANZANIA, THAILAND, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, TUNISIA, 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: GREECE, 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 and
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 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, TURKMENISTAN and UKRAINE abolished
the death penalty for all crimes. LATVIA (5)
abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2000 : COTE D'IVOIRE and MALTA abolished
the death penalty for all crimes. ALBANIA (6) abolished
the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2001: CHILE abolished the death penalty for
ordinary 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. Amnesty International
understands that Hong Kong will remain 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. |