Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries

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Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries


More than 1/2 the countries in the world have now abolished the death
penalty in law or practice. The numbers are as follows:

Abolitionist for all crimes: 86

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 11

Abolitionist in practice: 27

Total abolitionist in law or practice: 124

Retentionist: 72

Following are lists of countries in the 4 categories: abolitionist for all
crimes, abolitionist for ordinary crimes only, abolitionist in practice
and retentionist.

At the end is a list of countries which have abolished the death penalty
since 1976. It shows that in the past decade, an average of over three
countries a year have abolished the death penalty in law or, having done
so for ordinary offences, have gone on to abolish it for all offences.

1. Abolitionist for all crimes

Countries whose laws do not provide for the death penalty for any crime

ANDORRA, ANGOLA, ARMENIA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, AZERBAIJAN, BELGIUM, BHUTAN,
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, BULGARIA, CAMBODIA, CANADA, CAPE VERDE, COLOMBIA,
COSTA RICA, COTE D'IVOIRE, CROATIA, CYPRUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK,
DJIBOUTI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,ECUADOR, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GEORGIA,
GERMANY, GREECE, GUINEA-BISSAU, HAITI, HONDURAS, HUNGARY, ICELAND,
IRELAND, ITALY, KIRIBATI, LIBERIA, LIECHTENSTEIN, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG,
MACEDONIA (former Yugoslav Republic), MALTA, MARSHALL ISLANDS, MAURITIUS,
MEXICO, MICRONESIA (Federated States), MOLDOVA, MONACO, MOZAMBIQUE,
NAMIBIA, NEPAL, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NIUE, NORWAY, PALAU,
PANAMA, PARAGUAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROMANIA, SAMOA, SAN MARINO, SAO TOME
AND PRINCIPE, SENEGAL, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, SEYCHELLES, SLOVAK REPUBLIC,
SLOVENIA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND,
TIMOR-LESTE, TURKEY, TURKMENISTAN, TUVALU, UKRAINE, UNITED KINGDOM,
URUGUAY, VANUATU, VATICAN CITY STATE, VENEZUELA

2. Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only

Countries whose laws provide for the death penalty only for exceptional
crimes such as crimes under military law or crimes committed in
exceptional circumstances

ALBANIA, ARGENTINA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, COOK ISLANDS, EL SALVADOR,
FIJI, ISRAEL, LATVIA, PERU

3. Abolitionist in practice

Countries which retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes such as
murder but can be considered abolitionist in practice in that they have
not executed anyone during the past 10 years and are believed to have a
policy or established practice of not carrying out executions. The list
also includes countries which have made an international commitment not to
use the death penalty

ALGERIA, BAHRAIN, BENIN, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM, BURKINA FASO, CENTRAL AFRICAN
REPUBLIC, CONGO (Republic), GAMBIA, GRENADA, KENYA, MADAGASCAR, MALAWI,
MALDIVES, MALI, MAURITANIA, MOROCCO, MYANMAR, NAURU, NIGER, PAPUA NEW
GUINEA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, SRI LANKA, SURINAME, SWAZILAND, TOGO, TONGA,
TUNISIA

4. Retentionist

Countries and territories which retain the death penalty for ordinary
crimes

AFGHANISTAN, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, BAHAMAS, BANGLADESH, BARBADOS, BELARUS,
BELIZE, BOTSWANA, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CHAD, CHINA, COMOROS, CONGO
(Democratic Republic), CUBA, DOMINICA, EGYPT, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, ERITREA,
ETHIOPIA, GABON, GHANA, GUATEMALA, GUINEA, GUYANA, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN,
IRAQ, JAMAICA, JAPAN, JORDAN, KAZAKSTAN, KOREA (North), KOREA (South),
KUWAIT, KYRGYZSTAN, LAOS, LEBANON, LESOTHO, LIBYA, MALAYSIA, MONGOLIA,
NIGERIA, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, PHILIPPINES, QATAR,
RWANDA, SAINT CHRISTOPHER & NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, SAINT VINCENT &
GRENADINES, SAUDI ARABIA, SIERRA LEONE, SINGAPORE, SOMALIA, SUDAN, SYRIA,
TAIWAN, TAJIKISTAN, TANZANIA, THAILAND, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, UGANDA,
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UZBEKISTAN, VIET NAM,
YEMEN, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE

Countries which have abolished the death penalty since 1976

1976: PORTUGAL abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1978: DENMARK abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1979: LUXEMBOURG, NICARAGUA and NORWAY abolished the death penalty for all
crimes. BRAZIL, FIJI and PERU abolished the death penalty for ordinary
crimes.

1981: FRANCE and CAPE VERDE abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1982: The NETHERLANDS abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1983: CYPRUS and EL SALVADOR abolished the death penalty for ordinary
crimes.

1984: ARGENTINA abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1985: AUSTRALIA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1987: HAITI, LIECHTENSTEIN and the GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (1)
abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1989: CAMBODIA, NEW ZEALAND, ROMANIA and SLOVENIA (2) abolished the death
penalty for all crimes.

1990: ANDORRA, CROATIA (2), the CZECH AND SLOVAK FEDERAL REPUBLIC (3),
HUNGARY, IRELAND, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA and SAO TOME AND PRNCIPE abolished
the death penalty for all crimes.

1992: ANGOLA, PARAGUAY and SWITZERLAND abolished the death penalty for all
crimes.

1993: GUINEA-BISSAU, HONG KONG (4) and SEYCHELLES abolished the death
penalty for all crimes.

1994: ITALY abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1995: DJIBOUTI, MAURITIUS, MOLDOVA and SPAIN abolished the death penalty
for all crimes.

1996: BELGIUM abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1997: GEORGIA, NEPAL, POLAND and SOUTH AFRICA abolished the death penalty
for all crimes. BOLIVIA abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

1998: AZERBAIJAN, BULGARIA, CANADA, ESTONIA, LITHUANIA and the UNITED
KINGDOM abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

1999: EAST TIMOR, TURKMENISTAN and UKRAINE abolished the death penalty for
all crimes. LATVIA (5) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

2000 : COTE D'IVOIRE and MALTA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
ALBANIA (6) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

2001: BOSNIA-HEZEGOVINA (7) abolished the death penalty for all
crimes.CHILE abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

2002: CYPRUS and YUGOSLAVIA (later SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO) abolished the
death penalty for all crimes.

2003: ARMENIA abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

2004: BHUTAN, GREECE, SAMOA, SENEGAL and TURKEY abolished the death
penalty for all crimes.

2005: LIBERIA (8) and MEXICO abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

Notes:

(1) In 1990 the German Democratic Republic became unified with the Federal
Republic of Germany, where the death penalty had been abolished in 1949.

(2) Slovenia and Croatia abolished the death penalty while they were still
republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The 2 republics
became independent in 1991.

(3) In 1993 the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic divided into 2 states,
the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

(4) In 1997 Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule as a special
administrative region of China. Since then Hong Kong has remained
abolitionist.

(5) In 1999 the Latvian parliament voted to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the
European Convention on Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for
peacetime offences.

(6) In 2000 Albania ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on
Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty for peacetime offences.

(7) In 2001 Bosnia-Herzegovina ratified the Second Optional Protocol to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, abolishing the
death penalty for all crimes.

(8) In 2005 Liberia ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, abolishing the death
penalty for all crimes.

(source: Amnesty International)