Death Penalty
The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. By working towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign looks to end the cycle of violence created by a system riddled with economic and racial bias and tainted by human error.
Come and meet our campaigners to see what's new and learn from the Plenary session on criminal justice reform at the 2010 AGM »
 |
Latest on The Death Penalty |  |
Expand [+] |  |
||||
|
» ACTIONS | » NEWS | » REPORTS | » RESOURCES | |
|||
|
Help Huang Haiyong who faces the death penalty if extradited to China | Egypt must halt execution of man accused of murder | Saudi Arabia: Countering terrorism with repression | Fact Sheets | |
|||
 |
||||||||
DEATH PENALTY AWARENESS WEEK (Feb. 26-March 7)
Death Penalty Awareness Week will actually be 10 days of events and activities all across the country where campuses and communities will learn more about our fatally flawed capital punishment system. Amnesty International USA is proud to be partnering with WITNESS TO INNOCENCE, an organization that supports and provides speaking opportunities for those who have been exonerated from death row because of their innocence. Sign up today!
The Case of Troy Davis
© Amnesty International solidarity for Troy Davis
Sign the Petition that Justice Matters!Troy Davis was convicted of killing police officer Mark MacPhail nearly two decades ago. No court has yet heard in full the evidence that points to his innocence and another man's guilt. A hearing ordered by the US Supreme Court to finally consider such evidence could take place in late Spring or early Summer. 
Progress Towards Abolition in 2009Two more countries, Burundi and Togo, abolished the death penalty in 2009, bringing the total of countries that are abolitionist in law or practice to 139, or more than two-thirds of the nations of the world. 139 is also the number of people who have been exonerated from U.S. death rows since 1973. Nine of those exonerations came this year. And one more state, New Mexico, abolished capital punishment in 2009, bringing the total of abolitionist states to fifteen. Thanks to all who took action for death penalty abolition this year! |
Kim Dae-jungKim Dae-jung was one of many political prisoners sentenced to death in South Korea in the 1980s. He went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize and become President of his country. Amnesty International has issued a powerful short film about that era and the people who survived it. Interviews with the former President, and other former political prisoners, are interspersed with interviews with the man who served as Kim Dae-jung's jailer. 
|
||||||||||||||
Seek understanding - Mental IllnessThe execution of those with mental illness or "the insane" is clearly prohibited by international law and virtually every country in the world. Despite these standards, and constitutional law, the USA continues to execute people with diagnosed schizophrenia, those that suffer from severe delusions, and others with clinically-labeled mental illnesses. 
International Death PenaltyAround 139 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. On average, in the past decade more than three countries a year have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Despite international human rights standards, some nations still execute people. Around the world, the death penalty is used as a tool of political repression and a means to forever silence political opponents or eliminate politically 'troublesome' individuals. |
Capital Punishment in the USASince 1977, over 1,100 people have been executed in the U.S.; there are currently around 3,300 men and women on death row across the country. Grassroots activists throughout the USA play an essential role in advocating against this human rights violation through monitoring cases, mobilizing around upcoming events, and lobbying for anti-death penalty legislation. |
