October 10, 2009

Thousands of people in various countries will mark the 10th of October as the seventh World Day Against the Death Penalty by calling for a world without executions.

According to the latest annual statistics report titled Death Penalty & Executions 2008, at least 1,838 (76%) executions were carried out in Asia alone. The number has surpassed all the executions carried out worldwide combined.  China executed at least 1,718 prisoners, which accounted for 72 percent of the total number of executions worldwide.

In many countries death sentences are handed down after unfair trials.

In China, those facing capital charges do not receive fair trials. Other flaws in the system include the lack of prompt access to lawyers, a lack of presumption of innocence, political interference in the judiciary and failure to exclude evidence extracted through torture. Statistics on death sentences and executions remain state secrets and it is impossible for external observers to verify.

As one of the few industrialized countries that continue to practice death penalty, Japan carried out 15 executions in 2008 (the highest known number since 1975) and there are approximately 100 people on death row. The prison authorities reportedly carry out executions in secret. Japan continues to execute prisoners who are mentally ill, despite international standards which require that those with a serious mental illness be protected against the death penalty. Death row inmates are confined to single cells, day and night, with limited opportunity to exercise or socialize. They were typically notified of their execution only on the morning of their execution, and their families were informed only after the execution had taken place. Amnesty International is extremely concerned by the situation of mentally ill prisoners under sentence of death in Japan.

Most of the world is moving a step closer to the abolition of the death penalty. The United Nations' General Assembly has twice adopted a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 2007 and 2008 respectively. This shows that the abolition of death penalty is a reflection of human rights values upheld by civilised society. And it is a cause for serious concern that even though more countries supported the moratorium in 2008 than the year before, industrialized countries like Japan and China still retain such barbaric and uncivilized form of punishment.

Death penalty is cruel, inhumane and prone to irreversible errors.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated that "everyone has the right to life…" and article 5 of the Declaration stated "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." When states choose to include the death penalty in their penal system, they violate the right to life guaranteed to all human beings.

Article 5 states that, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Like torture, all methods of execution cause extreme physical and psychological pain.

We call on the Chinese authorities to make public the number of death sentences and executions, reduce the scope of crimes subject to the death penalty, provide more detailed information on the procedures for the Supreme People's Court review of death penalty cases, and ensure the rights of defendants whose cases are being reviewed are upheld and meet international standards.

We also call upon the Japanese authorities to end executions of mentally ill prisoners, initiate an immediate independent review of cases where there is credible evidence that prisoners may be mentally ill, ensure prisoners are given proper medical assessments prior to their trials, and improve conditions for death row prisoners.

The right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment are recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other international human rights instruments and many national constitutions.

Amnesty International believes that the death penalty in all circumstances violates these rights and should be abolished universally.

For enquiries, please contact:
Clara Law
Campaign Manager
3107-8050
claw@amnesty.org.hk

Student activists demonstrating judicial hanging in Mongkok. (Click to see the full version)
Photo credit © Amnesty International

Mother and daughter opposing the death penalty. (Click to see the full version)
Photo credit © Amnesty International

Children calling for the universal abolition of the death penalty. (Click to see the full version)
Photo credit © Amnesty International