Macau Resident (Lau Fat-wai) at Risk of Execution in China

Yong Vui Kong - Young Man at Risk of Execution in Singapore 

Young Vui Kong, a young Malaysian man on death row in Singapore, was fortunately not executed as expected in 2011. On 15 January, friends and activists risked arrest by publicly gathering to mark his upcoming birthday. The election of Singapore's new President provides a fresh opportunity to call for Yong Vui Kong's life to be saved.

The Mongolian parliament's approval of a bill that aims to scrap the death penalty is a vital step towards full abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia, Amnesty International said today.

The bill, which ratifies the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), was approved today by a large majority of MPs.

 Amnesty International and Belarusian human rights organizations Viasna and Belarus Helsinki Committee were today turned away from delivering a global petition to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, calling for an end to executions in Belarus. 

A hard-line group of Asian countries are defying the global trend against the death penalty and putting to death thousands of people after unfair trials every year, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said today in a new report.  

14 Asian countries, taken together, execute more people than the rest of the world combined.

When Justice Fails, Thousands executed after unfair trials highlights, through the cases of people on death row, the struggle to secure a fair trial in eight of these countries.  

Japan’s justice minister should not sign execution warrants, Amnesty International and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network said today, following the minister’s announcement that he does not intend to end capital punishment, despite saying last month that he would not approve executions.

Justice Minister Hideo Hiraoka said Friday he would look at each death row case individually, after a prominent politician reportedly had encouraged him to exercise his power to authorize executions.

Amnesty International activists around the world are coming together on the World Day Against the Death Penalty to demand an end to executions in Belarus, the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union that still executes.

“Belarus is the only country in Europe that still claims to kill people in the name of justice,” said Roseann Rife, death penalty expert at Amnesty International.

As many as 400 people may have been executed in Belarus since 1991 – the true number is unknown because of the secrecy surrounding executions.

Amnesty International activists around the world are coming together on the World Day Against the Death Penalty to demand an end to executions in Belarus, the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union that still executes.

“Belarus is the only country in Europe that still claims to kill people in the name of justice,” said Roseann Rife, death penalty expert at Amnesty International.

As many as 400 people may have been executed in Belarus since 1991 – the true number is unknown because of the secrecy surrounding executions.

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Help us abolish it.

To support the campaigning activities planned around the 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty on the 10th October 2011 the audiovisual production team at the International Secretariat have produced a 4 minute animation that highlights the fact that the Death Penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

Four documentary films are selected for screening to celebrate 50th anniversary of Amnesty International. Those films have an in-depth analysis on human rights related topics, such as Stoning and Campaign against Violence against Women; Abolish Death Penalty Campaign; Religions and Rights of Lesbian, Gay and Transgender; Children’s Rights and Rights to Education. The film shows will be held from October 8th to 16th as October 10th is an very important day. It is the World Day Against Death Penalty. 

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles in the US state of Georgia must reconsider their decision to deny clemency for a US man facing the death penalty, Amnesty International said today after the ruling cleared the way for his execution on Wednesday.

Troy Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark Allen Macphail in Savannah, Georgia.

The US state of Georgia should grant clemency to death row inmate Troy Davis Amnesty International said today, after his execution was set to take place on 21 September.

Troy Davis was convicted in 1991 of the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer. The case against him rested on witness testimony. Since his trial, seven of nine key witnesses have recanted or changed their testimony, some alleging police coercion.

Davis now faces his fourth execution date in four years.

Taiwan must halt the use of the death penalty, Amnesty International said today, after the death sentence was confirmed in the country's longest-running criminal case.

Chiou Ho-shun who has been detained for 23 years is now on death row facing execution following the rejection of his appeal by the Supreme Court on 28 July.  

"The Taiwanese authorities must immediately halt the execution of Chiou Ho-shun, and order his retrial with fair proceedings in line with international standards," said Sam Zarifi Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director.

The Bangladesh cabinet’s approval of a bill that expands the scope of the death penalty is a step in the wrong direction. The Human Trafficking Prevention and Curbing bill, if approved by Parliament, will add human trafficking to the long list of capital offences. The addition will single out Bangladesh as one of few states moving against the worldwide trend to limit the scope of the death penalty.

Graphic new video footage of a public hanging in Iran this week highlights the brutalisation of both the condemned and those who watch executions, Amnesty International said today. 

The video provided to Amnesty International was shot on 19 July, and shows the execution by hanging of three men in Azadi Square in the city of Kermanshah.  The men had been convicted of rape.

The three men are shown standing on top of buses as guards drape ropes fixed to a bridge overhead around their necks, before a crowd of onlookers including children. 

Amnesty International Hong Kong (AIHK) and the Joint Committee for the abolition of the death penalty organized an action on urging the Chinese government to cease the executions on two men – Robert Shan Shiao-may from Hong Kong and Lien Sung-ching from Taiwan. They are both sentenced to death by the Zhuhai Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong province on 26 June 2009, for drug-trafficking, illegal possession of drugs, and illegal possession of a firearm.

Amnesty International today called on the Governor of the southern US state of Alabama to commute the death sentence of a man who is due to be executed on 16 June.

Eddie Duval Powell, a 41-year-old African-American, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the rape and murder of a 70-year-old white woman near Tuscaloosa, Alabama three years earlier.

His appeal lawyers have claimed he has a mental disability that would render the execution unconstitutional while questions have also been raised over possible racial discrimination.

The Saudi Arabian authorities must halt the use of the death penalty, Amnesty International said today, following a significant increase in executions in the country in the last six weeks.

At least 27 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia in 2011, the same as the total number of people executed in the whole of 2010. Fifteen people were executed in May alone.  

The Indian President's decision to approve the country's first executions since 2004 would be a blow to human rights, Amnesty International said today.

President Pratibha Patil has accepted the Home Ministry's recommendations to reject the mercy petitions of death row prisoners Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Mahendra Nath Das, according to Indian media reports.

Amnesty International today condemned the death sentence handed down by a Cairo military court against a 17-year-old boy, warning that unfair military trials are corroding Egypt’s criminal justice system.

Ahmed Marous Ibrahim was one of four people sentenced to death by hanging by Cairo’s Supreme Military Court for abducting and raping a 17-year-old girl.

“The military cannot be judge, prosecutor and executioner in post-uprising Egypt,” said Amnesty International. 

28 March 2010

The Global Movement to Kill the Death Penalty
BY SALIL SHETTY

Last March, when Andrei Zhuk’s mother brought one of her usual food parcels to the prison in Minsk, she was turned away. Her son ‘had been moved’, officials told her. She should not come looking for him anymore, they said, but should instead wait for notification from the court.

10 March 2011

March 4, 2011

Urge the Taiwanese government to immediately halt executions Created:04/03/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more Trinidad and Tobago urged to stop drive towards executions Wed, 02/16/2011 - 15:00 — amnesty locale_link:  http://www.amnesty.org.hk/chi/node/20727 16 February 2011 Amnesty International has urged members of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament to vote against a constitutional amendment Bill which would allow executions to be resumed in the country. Under the proposed Bill, scheduled to be debated on 18 February, courts across the country would be able to circumvent judicial rulings that enhanced human rights protection and resulted in a halt to executions in 1999. Created:16/02/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more Trinidad and Tobago urged to stop drive towards executions Wed, 02/16/2011 - 11:44 — amnesty 16 February 2011 Amnesty International has urged members of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament to vote against a constitutional amendment Bill which would allow executions to be resumed in the country. Under the proposed Bill, scheduled to be debated on 18 February, courts across the country would be able to circumvent judicial rulings that enhanced human rights protection and resulted in a halt to executions in 1999. Created:16/02/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more Wrongful execution in Taiwan Tue, 02/01/2011 - 15:03 — amnesty locale_link:  http://www.amnesty.org.hk/chi/node/20717 1 February 2011 On 1 February 2011 the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou was reported to have formally apologized for the execution of an innocent man in 1997, former air force private Chiang Kuo-ching. In reaction to these reports, Catherine Baber, Asia Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International, said: "This admission that an innocent man was executed yet again highlights the futility of capital punishment. Apologies and offers of compensation unfortunately will not bring Chiang Kuo-ching back to life. Created:01/02/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more 13-year-old U.S. boy's murder trial could violate international law Tue, 01/25/2011 - 15:01 — amnesty locale_link:  http://www.amnesty.org.hk/chi/node/20681 Released on January 24, 2010 Amnesty International has urged the U.S. authorities in the state of Pennsylvania to drop their pursuit of a murder trial in an adult court for a 13-year-old boy, as it could result in a violation of international law. On 25 January, the Pennsylvania's Superior Court is set to hear an appeal against an earlier decision to try 13-year-old Jordan Brown in adult court on charges of killing Kenzie Houk, his father's pregnant fiancée, when he was 11 years old in 2009. Created:25/01/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more Illinois one step away from ending executions Wed, 01/12/2011 - 12:25 — amnesty locale_link:  http://www.amnesty.org.hk/chi/node/20680 Released on January 12, 2010 Amnesty International has urged Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois to bring an end to executions in his state by signing a bill to abolish the death penalty newly passed by the state legislature. The bill was approved yesterday in the state Senate by 32 votes to 25 and would make Illinois the 16th abolitionist state in the USA. The Senate's vote follows passage of the bill through the state House of Representatives last week. Created:12/01/2011 Death Penalty Latest News Read more Report of latest Ashtiani TV "confession" in Iran condemned Tue, 12/14/2010 - 11:42 — amnesty locale_link:  http://www.amnesty.org.hk/chi/node/20673 December 10, 2010 Amnesty International today condemned reports that Iran's state-controlled Press TV will tonight broadcast a new "confession" by an Iranian woman who faces possible execution by stoning or hanging. "If reports are accurate that tonight's broadcast will contain another televised 'confession' from Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, its potential impact on her case should not be underestimated," said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International. Created:14/12/2010 Death Penalty Latest News Read more 12next ›last » © Copyright Amnesty International Hong Kong   |   Disclaimer   |   Privacy Policy   |   Worldwide Sites