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Death Penalty FilmsDeath Penalty
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty because it is a violation of two fundamental human rights, as laid down in Articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- the right to life, and
- the right not to be tortured or subject to any cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. It has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments. More on the background to this campaign
 Iran: Stop execution of alleged juvenile offender
 The execution of Mehdi Mazroui was temporarily halted on 29 May 2009, the day
it was due to be carried out in Dastgerd prison in Esfahan. He remains at risk
from execution. Act now |
Death Penalty Report: Executions on the RiseAmnesty's annual death penalty report has revealed a significant increase in the number of people executed last year. In 2007 a total of 1, 252 people were executed worldwide. In 2008 this rose to 2,390. 72% of which took place in China alone.
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YEMEN: Fatima Hussein al-Badi, a 46-year-old housewife with four grown-up children,
was sentenced to death in February 2001 following an unfair trial. 
JAPAN: Hakamada Iwao, 73, has spent the last 40 years on death row for a murder he
claims he did not commit. 28 of those years have been spent in solitary confinement.
| Good news: Togo abolishes death penalty Togo has decided to abolish the death penalty following a unanimous vote by the national assembly, becoming the 15th member of the African Union and the 94th country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. |
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Death penalty: Teaching resources
