Death Penalty News

At least 358 people have been executed in North Korea since Kim Jong-un came to power in late 2011, with executions surging sharply following the country’s Covid-19 border shutdown, according to a report released Tuesday by a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization. The Transitional Justice Working Group said in its latest study, “Mapping North Korea’s Executions Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic,” that it documented 136 executions between Dec. 17, 2011, and Dec. 16, 2024, resulting in at least 358 deaths. Including cases where death sentences were issued but not confirmed as carried out, the total rises to 144 cases involving 367 individuals.

North Korea dramatically increased executions during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly for consuming South Korean dramas, K-pop and other foreign culture and political offences, a report published Tuesday showed.  Pyongyang closed its borders in January 2020 to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with research and media reports indicating that the diplomatically isolated nation spent subsequent years bolstering security along its frontiers.  Campaigners have said the shutdown worsened longstanding human rights abuses in North Korea, whose government is widely seen as one of the world's most repressive.

Case termed ‘rarest of rare’ In a landmark verdict, a court in Tamil Nadu on 6 April sentenced nine police personnel to death in the 2020 Sathankulam custodial deaths case, holding them guilty of the brutal killing of a father-son duo. First Additional District and Sessions Judge G Muthukumaran classified the case as the “rarest of rare”, observing that those entrusted with protecting citizens had committed a crime that “shook the collective conscience of society”. The court awarded capital punishment to all nine convicted personnel for the murder of P Jayaraj and his son J Bennix.

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed execution warrants for six Florida inmates, the most in any year in the state since 2014. He was also running for president.  DeSantis had signed off on just two executions — both in 2019 — to that point. The sudden step up, along with legislation he signed lowering Florida’s death penalty jury requirement, seemed to signal a new approach to capital punishment. 

The United States ranks among the top countries using capital punishment, contributing to a worldwide surge in executions last year. That’s according to data released last week by Amnesty International, which opposes capital punishment in all cases. The London-based rights group’s annual report on the global use of the death penalty documents more than 1,100 executions in 2023.

An execution scheduled for next week would be the first in Georgia in more than four years. The state is trying to move past an agreement made amid the coronavirus pandemic that effectively halted lethal injections. Willie James Pye, 59, is set to be put to death March 20. He was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of his former girlfriend, Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. Georgia last carried out an execution in January 2020. In April 2021, the state attorney general's office entered into an agreement with attorneys for death row prisoners to suspend executions for a certain group of prisoners and to establish conditions under which they could resume.

ATLANTA — A man who killed his former girlfriend three decades ago is set to be put to death in March in what would be Georgia's first execution in more than four years. A judge on Thursday signed the order for the execution of Willie James Pye, who was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough.  The execution is scheduled for March 20 at 7 p.m., after the judge set an execution window between noon that day and noon on March 27.

(Bangkok) – Singapore’s government carried out its highest number of executions in more than a decade and sought to intimidate anti-death penalty activists, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2024. The government silenced critical voices in the lead-up to the 2023 presidential elections and censored independent reporting. “Singapore reversed the Covid-19 hiatus on executions, kicking its death row machinery into overdrive,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s reinvigorated use of the death penalty merely highlighted its disregard for human rights protections and the inherent cruelty of capital punishment.”

Eleven people, all convicted of drug trafficking, were executed last year. KUALA LUMPUR: It has been almost 10 years since Sangkari Pranthaman's brother has been in prison in Singapore and in that time, she has only held his hands twice. Both occasions were marked by extreme emotions on both ends of the spectrum. The first time was a crushing heartbreak when she heard the court convict and sentence her brother Pannir Selvam Pranthaman to death for trafficking 51.84g of heroin in 2017. "I held my brother's hand. I told him, no matter what, we will try our best," she said. The second time was in relieved jubilation when the Singapore Court of Appeals gave him a stay of execution on May 23, 2019, a day before he was scheduled to go to the gallows.

On August 30, 2023, the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that formerly death-sentenced prisoner Pervis Payne can serve his two life sentences concurrently, making him eligible to apply for parole in less than four years.  Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan resentenced Mr. Payne in 2022 to two life sentences with the possibility of parole after prosecutors conceded that they could not disprove Mr. Payne’s claim that he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 13, 2023: State media have reported the public hangings of Mohammad Ghaedi Nasab and Sadegh Mahmoudi Baram for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) in Fouladshahr, Isfahan province. According to the Judiciary’s Mizan news agency, two men were publicly hanged in Fouladshahr on 13 July. They were sentenced to death for charges of moharebeh and efsad-fil-arz by the Revolutionary Court and to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for participation in murder by the Criminal Court.

Six people including three children have been killed in a kindergarten stabbing in China's south-eastern Guangdong province. Police said they have arrested a 25-year-old man with the surname Wu in Lianjiang. The other victims are a teacher and two parents, AFP reported, quoting a local official. One person is also injured. Police have called this a case of "intentional assault" but not elaborated on a possible motive. The attack happened on Monday at 07:40 local time (23:40 Sunday GMT), just as parents were dropping their children off for summer classes. The man was arrested at 08:00.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 25, 2023: A man sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) was publicly hanged in Maragheh today.  State media published graphic videos of the public hanging that shows children in the audience. Warning of the resumption of public executions, Iran Human Rights demands a serious response from the international community to stop these state crimes. Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Today’s public execution and its publication by state media shows the true horrifying face of a government that’s trying to prolong its reign with cruelty, humiliation and intimidation of society.” “The international community cannot tolerate such medieval practices in 2023. Electing the representative of such a government as Chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s Social Forum has severely undermined the Council’s credibility,” he added.

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our twelfth on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international standards. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Global Overview 2021 revealed that 2021 had ended as a year of mixed progress. On one side, the number of countries executing people for drug crimes had reached a decade-low, owing mostly to a halt in drug-related executions in Saudi Arabia and, to some extent, the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side, a significant increase in confirmed executions had been recorded, largely attributable to a surge in Iran.  In the course of 2022, the situation sharply deteriorated.

When people have been asked about their biggest concern in politics, crime hasn't popped as the "top" priority in the past year. Shortly before the 2022 midterm elections, it was inflation for Republicans and abortion rights for Democrats that consistently ranked as the top issues. But that doesn't mean crime isn't seen as important and motivating in politics. It's partially why, in the year before a presidential election, the Biden White House is positioning the president to the middle on this issue and a host of other issues, including immigration and the priorities reflected in his budget proposal. The budget includes popular poll-tested items, like raising taxes on the wealthy to preserve Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and capping costs for prescription drugs.

SINGAPORE - There were 11 judicial executions in 2022, and none in the previous two years, according to figures released by the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) on Thursday. All were over drug-related offences. One of the high-profile cases involved Malaysian Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for importing 42.72g of heroin the year before in a bundle strapped to his thigh.

Drug smuggling led to dire consequences for many Taiwan citizens in 2022 Drug trafficking is a crime around the world with many countries ferociously cracking down on the drug trade with little immunity for race or ethnicity.

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) A paper sculpture artist was handed the death penalty by Taoyuan District Court on Tuesday for stabbing to death a convenience store clerk who asked him to wear a mask. On Nov. 21, 2021, the artist, surnamed Chiang (蔣), went into the convenience store in Taoyuan's Guishan District maskless at about 4 a.m. and was told by the clerk, surnamed Tsai (蔡), that he had to wear a mask in accordance with the mask mandate in force across Taiwan at that time, according to the prosecution's indictment. Chiang reluctantly left the store, but after returning wearing a face mask became embroiled in an altercation with Tsai, during which he threw his mask at the clerk, the indictment said. Chiang returned a second time dressed in different clothing, called for Tsai who was in a backroom to come out and stabbed him with a knife he had concealed on his person, according to the indictment. Although Tsai was able to disarm Chiang during the ensuing scuffle, he collapsed outsi...

A notice posted in the North Korean capital earlier this year and seen by NK News this week warns that those who spread “rumors” about COVID-19 and Pyongyang’s quarantine policies could face the death penalty. The notice, dated May 29, 2022, came around two weeks after the country admitted it was facing a COVID-19 outbreak for the first time and described any criticism of the country’s pandemic policy as “anti-state” activities. “Some [North Korean] residents who are interpreting the Party and government’s anti-epidemic policies in their own way are spreading groundless rumors, disturbing the public sentiment and destroying the political stability of the society,” the decree says, prohibiting activities such as spreading “distorted” information about the spread of “malicious virus,” which is a code phrase for COVID-19 in North Korea. People are also banned from “spreading how they have interpreted” North Korea’s anti-COVID rules and guidelines “in their own way,” as well as lies about ...

The annual report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the death penalty confirmed that Saudi Arabia, along with other countries, has resumed executions in light of widespread violations of international law. The report was issued in the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, covers the period from July 2020 to June 2022 and is based on reports and interventions by states, international and regional United Nations bodies, and non-governmental organizations. In the introduction to his report, Secretary-General António Guterres made it clear that the states that have not yet completely abolished the death penalty should be on an irreversible path towards its complete abolition, de facto and de jure. The death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life. The report indicated that 170 countries have abolished or suspended the death penalty, but contrary to the global trend, a minority of countries continued to use it. Re-introduction or extension of the de...