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Death Penalty

  • Joint Letter to States on UNGA’s Final Vote on Human Rights in Iran
    Dec 14, 2012
  • Iraq: Halt Execution of Yemeni Juvenile
    Dec 9, 2012
    Iraqi authorities should immediately stay the execution of a Yemeni national who was 16 at the time of his alleged offense.
  • Iraq: Halt Execution of Libyan Prisoner
    Dec 9, 2012
    Iraqi authorities should stay the execution of an imprisoned Libyan national, Adel Shalani, and provide information on his case.
  • India: The Question Hangs
    Nov 26, 2012

    Ajmal Kasab’s execution marks an end to India’s widely hailed unofficial moratorium on capital punishment since 2004, when prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government took charge. It signifies a sad regression in India’s near-decade move away from the death penalty. 

  • India: Reinstate Moratorium on Death Penalty
    Nov 22, 2012

    The Indian government should immediately reinstate its moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

  • US/California: Continue Effort to Halt Death Penalty
    Nov 7, 2012
    California voters’ failure to abolish the death penalty perpetuates a barbaric practice and places the state out of step with national trends
  • Iraq: Urgent Need for Death Penalty Moratorium
    Oct 9, 2012
    Serious questions about whether Iraq’s justice system meets international fair trial standards highlight the urgent need for a moratorium on capital punishment.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of India's UPR
    Sep 19, 2012
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the adoption of the outcome of the second Universal Periodic Review of India, which reflects a large number of important recommendations. However, Human Rights Watch regrets that India has failed to comprehensively address recommendations calling for an end to impunity and repeal of laws that have led to widespread human rights violations.
  • Syria: End Opposition Use of Torture, Executions
    Sep 16, 2012
    Armed opposition groups have subjected detainees to ill-treatment and torture and committed extrajudicial or summary executions in Aleppo, Latakia, and Idlib, Human Rights Watch said today following a visit to Aleppo governorate. Torture and extrajudicial or summary executions of detainees in the context of an armed conflict are war crimes, and may constitute crimes against humanity if they are widespread and systematic.
  • UN Human Rights Council: Statement on International Funding, UN Assistance, and the Death Penalty for Drug Offences
    Sep 13, 2012
    Thirty-two states retain the death penalty for drug offences, but only a handful continue to execute people convicted of these crimes, showing that state practice has clearly moved away from this form of punishment. Nonetheless the numbers of people sentenced to death and executed each year are high.
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