Status of the Death Penalty Worldwide
Table of contents
Our mission
List of abolitionist countries
List of partial abolitionist countries
List of abolitionist de facto countries
List of retentionist countries
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Our mission
We believe that access to current and accurate information on death penalty practices is vital to inform policy decisions and legal analysis relating to capital punishment. The Database is the centerpiece of our research mandate, providing quick access to data on the practices and laws of individual countries. It permits users to search across jurisdictions to compare state practice in a wide variety of areas and to confront those practices with international human rights standards. The Database’s advanced search capabilities, which are unique among human rights databases, allow users to combine different variables and find answers in a matter of seconds.
This document provides a snapshot of the work we do on our Database. Here, countries are separated into profiles of their death penalty statuses. Our Database has more specialized information on each country, and can be located on our website: https://deathpenaltyworldwide.org/database/.
Map of the world, with countries colored according to the status of the death penalty. There are 109 abolitionist countries, 8 countries that are abolitionist for common law crimes, 45 abolitionist de facto countries, and 36 retentionist countries.
List of abolitionist countries (countries whose laws do not provide for the death penalty for any crime):
- Albania
- Andorra
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Benin*
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chad
- Congo-Brazzaville*
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi*
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Palau
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Spain
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- UK
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Cook Islands
- Niue
- Holy See
*Recent abolitionists that still have to adapt their national legislation: Malawi, Benin, Congo-Brazzaville
Non-UN Member States: Cook Islands, Niue, Holy See
Some may argue Gambia is abolitionist. For details, see notes on the Retentionist page.
List of partial abolitionist countries (countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty to be used for exceptional crimes, such as crimes under military law or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances), and date of last execution:
- Brazil (1855)
- Burkina Faso (1988)
- Chile (1985)
- Guatemala (2000)
- Israel (1962)
- Kazakhstan (2003)
- El Salvador (1971)
- Peru (1979)
List of abolitionist de facto countries (countries that retain the death penalty but have not executed anyone during at least 10 years):
- Algeria (1993)***
- Antigua and Barbuda (1991)
- Bahamas (2000)
- Barbados (1984)
- Belize (1985)
- Brunei Darussalam (1957)
- Cameroon (1997)
- Central African Republic (1981)
- Comoros (1997)
- Cuba (2003)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003)
- Dominica (1986)
- Eritrea (unknown but after independence in 1993)
- Eswatini (1982)
- Ethiopia (2007)
- Ghana (1993)
- Grenada (1978)
- Guyana (1997)
- Jamaica (1988)+
- Kenya (1987)
- Laos (1989)
- Lebanon (2004)
- Lesotho (1995)
- Liberia (2000)
- Maldives (1953)
- Mali (1980)***
- Mauritania (1987)
- Morocco (1993)
- Myanmar (1988)
- Niger (no executions or death sentences since 1976)
- Papua New Guinea (1957)
- Russia (1996)***
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (2008)
- Saint Lucia (1995)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1995)
- South Korea (1997)
- Sri Lanka (1976)
- Tajikistan (2004)***
- Tanzania (1994)
- Tonga (1982)
- Trinidad and Tobago (1999)
- Tunisia (1991)
- Uganda (2006)
- Zambia (1997)
- Zimbabwe (2003)
*** These 4 de facto abolitionists states are observing a de jure or official moratorium on executions: Algeria (1993), Mali (1980), Russia (1996) and Tajikistan (2004).
List of retentionist countries (countries and territories that retain and partly still actively use or may use the death penalty):
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Botswana
- China
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea+
- Gambia ++
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
- USA
- Viet Nam
- Yemen
- Palestinian Territories +++
- Taiwan
Non-UN Member States: Palestinian Territories, Taiwan
+ Equatorial Guinea is observing an official moratorium on executions.
++ Gambia ratified OPT2 in September 2018. Under international law, it is therefore barred from applying capital punishment. There is also an official moratorium in place.
+++ The Palestinian Authority signed OPT2 in June 2018. The legal impact of this signature is unclear, but it does demonstrate a commitment to retreating from the use of capital punishment.
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Facebook: Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
Sources: Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide Database, Amnesty International annual reports on Death Sentences and Executions