At the dawn of the 21st century, the death penalty is considered by most civilized nations as a cruel and inhuman punishment. It has been abolished de jure or de facto by 106 nations, 30 countries have abolished it since 1990. However, the death penalty continues to be commonly applied in other nations. China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States and Iran are the most prolific executioners in the world. While international documents have restricted and in some cases even banned the death penalty, its application is still not against customary international law. Much debate continues in the US as to whether it constitutes an appropriate punishment, at least to the most heinous crimes. In recent years, the debate has been further fueled by the use of new technologies which have shown that a large proportion of people sentenced to death are, indeed, innocent. News | Facts | Law | General Websites | Regional Sites |Abolitionist Sites | Pro DP-Sites | Death Row | Writings & Art | Prisons | Documents | Reports | Articles | Education Resources | Fora & Blogs | Experts | Actions

News

Death Penalty News & Updates - by Rick Halperin News from FIDH News from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty News and Developments - AI

Facts

Abolinioist and Retentionist Countries - Amnesty International Execution Scorecard Facts and Figures about the Death Penalty - Amnesty International

Law

Capital Defense Weekly - Legal resources, jurisprudence and more. Cornell's Death Penalty Law Materials The International Justice Project

General DP Websites

About.com: Death Penalty Links Angel on Death Row - Frontline episode on the death penalty, view, info & links Death Penalty Information Center - Includes reports with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment. Punishment and the Death Penalty - Ethics Update Southern Center for Human Rights' Death Penalty Information - Articles, books, cases

Regional Sites & NGOs

How to Abolish the Death Penalty in Russia in Russian. Alabama Committee to Abolish the Death Penalty Juveniles on Alabama's Death Row Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty - Alabama Arizona Death Penalty Forum Californians for a Moratorium on Executions Death Penalty Focus - California Coloradans Against the Death Penalty Florida Death Row Advocacy Group The Illinois Coalition Against The Death Penalty Death Penalty in Indiana - by the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty Cleveland Coalition Against the Death Penalty Ohio Death Row Ohioans To Stop Executions Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Texas Moratorium Network Lamp of Hope - Texas Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty - Virginia Virginians for an Alternative to the Death Penalty Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty Fund

Abolitionist Sites & NGOs

Abolitionist Action Committee Amnesty International Death Penalty Campaign AIUSA Death Penalty Abolition Program Campaign to End the Death Penalty The Case Against the Death penalty Catholics Against Capital Punishment Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Coalition for Truth and Justice D.E.A.T.H. Death Penalty Information statistics, law, history from the American Society of Criminology A Declaration of Life - Document you can use to express your distaste for the death penalty and your desire for it not to be applied if you become the victim of murder. Equal Justice USA - Info on bias on application of death penalty Fight the Death Penalty in the US Human Writes - group that befriends people on Death Row in the USA. The Moratorium Campaign Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation National Coaltion to Abolish the Death Penalty information, alerts and statitstics People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Prayer Vigil for Abolition of Death Penalty in the USA Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Reprieve - Reprieve provides effective legal representation and humanitarian assistance to impoverished people facing the death penalty at the hands of the state in the US and the Caribbean. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty You Can't Pardon a Corpse

Pro Death-Penalty Sites

The Death Penalty - a Defence Wesley Lowe's Pro Death Penalty Webpage Pro-death penalty.com

People on Death Row or Executed

Pending Executions Mumia Abu Jamal's Freedom Journal Pablo Ibar - A Spanish man in death row in Florida Reginald Lewis Miguel Angel Martinez - a Mexican-American sent to death row as a minor in Texas Michael Moore - page written by his mother The Case of Paul William Scott The case of Hank Skinner Free Rob Will Texas Death Row - Images Offenders on Death Row in North Carolina

Writings from Death Row

Death Row Speaks Writings from Death Row by Douglas Scott Mickey, San Quentin Dead Man Talking by Dean Carter, a death row inmate in California Prisoners' Art & Writings Writings by Reginald Lewis - PEN Award Winner on Death Row

Prisons

State Penitentiary in Angola: Death Row

Documents

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty

Reports

US Dept. of Justice Report on Capital Punishment in 1995 - ASCII text (37k). Acrobat version also available (111k). US Dept. of Justice Report on Capital Punishment in 1996 - ASCII text (88k). Acrobat version also available (137k).

Articles

Pulling Back From The Brink - Why are death sentences and executions dropping? U.S. News Death Penalty Quotes Too late to stop the hangman? - Salon story on Joseph Amrine The Killing of Steve Roach Gadfly, July 2000 Executioner's swan song? Public support is weakening, but the death penalty will be slow to die. Salon, Feb. 2000 Capital Punishment - article by Kenneth Cauthen Capital Punishment in the United States - by Sarah Oppenheim Papers and Related Death Penalty Writings Religion and the Death Penalty Sexism and the Death Penalty - May 2000 Salon article The Death Penalty and Due Process in Guatemala - William Clark Harrell

Educational Resources

Death Penalty Curricula for High School - for teachers Death Penalty Curricula for High School - for students

Conferences

Blogs

The Abolishment Movement - A Forum Dedicated to Abolishing the Death Penalty The Human Rights Blog Asia Death Penalty Blog Abolish the Death Penalty Blog - from NCADP Death Penalty Blog - AI Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty Blog

Experts

Dr. Pogos Voskanian - forensic psychiatrist

Actions

See also under People in Death Row Petition against death penalty for Mohammed Afzal Guru - India Death Penalty Moratorium Petition Petition for Justice for Darlie Routier

Derechos Human Rights works against violations to human rights and humanitarian law all over the world. Our web site provides information, news and actions.