No death penalty in 111 of 195 nations: rights group

www.inq7.net Posted: 8:59 AM (Manila Time) | Jan. 13, 2003 Agence France-Presse

CHICAGO - The death penalty is either formally banned or has fallen out of use in 111 countries out of 195, and those using capital punishment are increasingly reluctant to do so, according to Amnesty International. Some 40 countries have dropped the death penalty in the past 20 years, added the London-based rights group, which opposes it. Data from the World Coalition against the Death Penalty indicates some 76 countries have totally abolished the death penalty, 14 others abolished it for civil crimes only and 21 have abolished it in practice.

In Europe, Russia retains the death penalty for civil offenses though it signed a protocol in 1996 promising to eliminate it in order to secure membership in the Council of Europe.

But faced with the Russian Parliament's reluctance to approve the legislation, President Boris Yeltsin issued a moratorium on judicial executions in 1996.

On August 3, 2002 Turkey abolished the death penalty for civil crimes only, but maintained it for exceptional crimes such as those under military law or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances.

In Latin America, Cuba stands out as the only country that uses capital punishment. Other countries have entirely abolished it or, like Mexico, only maintain it for treason in time of war or for the assassination of a president.

Guatemala has suspended all executions while waiting for the legislature to vote a bill introduced last July to abolish the death penalty.

The last official executions in Latin America took place in 1985 in Chile and Peru in 1979. Venezuela, the fist abolitionist country in South America, has not executed anyone since 1863.

However 84 countries still maintain capital punishment.

China is by far the country that executes the most but no official data or statistics exist on the subject.

The US stands out since it reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Since then more than 800 people have been executed and at least 3,500 people are on death row.

Recent executions have taken place in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Taiwan and Rwanda.