Thailand: Country’s first execution since 2009 a deplorable move

Responding to the news that Thailand executed a 26-year-old man for aggravated murder on 18 June, in the country’s first execution since August 2009, Katherine Gerson, Amnesty International’s Thailand Campaigner, said: “This is a deplorable violation of the right to life. Thailand is reneging on its own commitment to move towards the abolition of the …

Sudan: Death sentence for raped teenager is an intolerable cruelty

A Sudanese court’s sentencing of a 19-year-old woman to death for killing her rapist husband in self-defence highlights the failure of the authorities to tackle child marriage, forced marriage and marital rape, Amnesty International said today. Noura Hussein Hamad has been held in the Omdurman Women’s Prison since May 2017, and was today handed the …

Singapore: Executions continue in flawed attempt to tackle drug crime

Singapore’s continued reliance on mandatory death sentences, which violate international law, has meant that dozens of low-level drug offenders have been sent to death row in recent years, Amnesty International said in a new report, ‘Cooperate or Die’. ‘Cooperate or Die’ also reveals how death penalty reforms introduced in 2013, while reducing the number of …

USA: Florida about to resume executions

Amnesty International has issued a briefing on recent developments relating to the death penalty in Florida, ahead of a planned resumption of executions in the state on Thursday 24 August – 18 months after the last one. “Death in Florida” outlines the state’s divided response to the January 2016 US Supreme Court decision that Florida’s …

Amnesty applauds action to end the death penalty

We welcome the Australian Parliament’s decision to consider further ways Australia can work towards the global abolition of the death penalty. Today the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade announced it will review how Australia engages internationally to promote abolition of the death penalty. The Committee will also consider what further steps …

Moses Akatugba officially pardoned

A Nigerian torture victim wrongfully sentenced to death for a crime committed when he was 16 years old has been pardoned following intensive campaigning from Amnesty International supporters across the world. Moses Akatugba, who was on death row following his conviction for stealing three mobile phones 10 years ago and was repeatedly tortured into signing …

Human rights organisations call for an overhaul to government campaigning to end death penalty

A group of leading Australian and international human rights organisations are calling for an overhaul to the way the Australian government campaigns to end the death penalty, today launching a new strategy document: ‘Australian Government and the Death Penalty: A Way Forward’. NGOs united to develop blueprint Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Human Rights …

Which country will be the 100th to abolish the death penalty?

In February 2015 Fiji became the 99th country to abolish the death penalty. Amnesty International’s Director of Global Issues, Audrey Gaughran, speculates on which country will be next. Historic milestone A couple of weeks ago, on 13 February, we woke up to the good news that Fiji had joined the ranks of countries to abolish …