Countries that have abolished the death penalty since 1976.
Sources: Amnesty International, Internet, Wikipedia, Claudio Giusti.
HOOD ROGER and HOYLE CAROLYN. The Death Penalty. A World-wide Perspective. Fifth Edition. Oxford, Oxford U.P. 2015
28th August, 2015.
“Capital punishment will be abolished, because the trend is inevitable”
Angus Maude, tory MP, 1956
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1956/jun/28/title
1976, 2nd July Gregg Decision.
1976, Portugal abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Canada abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1977, Amnesty International declared herself total abolitionist.
1978, Denmark and Tuvalu abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Spain abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1979, Kiribati, Luxembourg, Nicaragua and Norway abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Brazil, Fiji and Peru abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1980, Vanuatu abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1981, France and Cape Verde abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1982, The Netherlands abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1982, Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty
1983, Cyprus and El Salvador abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1984 Argentina and Australia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1986 Marshall Islands and Micronesia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1987, Haiti, Liechtenstein and the German Democratic Republic (DDR) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1987, Philippines abolished the death penalty for, but reinstated it in 1999.
1989, Bulgaria, Cambodia, New Zealand, Romania and Slovenia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1989, 15th December Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
1990, Andorra, Croatia, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Mozambique, Namibia and Sao Tomé and Príncipe abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Nepal abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1992, Angola, Switzerland and Paraguay (de-facto abolitionist since 1928) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1993, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong and Seychelles abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1993, The death penalty was abolished in Gambia but re-introduced in 1995
1994, Italy and Palau abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
Before the 1994 failed moratorium bid, 47 countries abolished the death penalty in 18 years, 2.6 per year
Non è accaduto nulla che non sia accaduto prima o che non sarebbe accaduto in ogni caso.
1995, Djibouti, Mauritius, Moldova and Spain abolished the death penalty for all crimes. South Africa abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1996, Belgium (1863 de-facto abolitionist) abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1997, Georgia, Nepal, Poland and South Africa abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece 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 abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2000, Cote D’Ivoire and Malta abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Albania abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2001, Bosnia-Herzegovina abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Chile abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2002, Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances
2002, Cyprus and Yugoslavia (now two states Serbia and Montenegro) abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Turkey abolished the death penalty for ordinary 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, Mexico abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Liberia abolished the death penalty for all crimes but re-introduced in 2008.
2006, Philippines abolished (again) the death penalty for all crimes.
2007, Albania, Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
2007, Italy cancel the word capital punishment from its Constitution.
2008, Uzbekistan and Argentina abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2009, Bolivia, Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2010, Gabon and Australia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2012, Latvia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
2015, Madagascar, Fiji and Suriname abolished the death penalty for all crimes
After the 1994 failed moratorium bid, in 18 years, 53 countries abolished the death penalty, 3 per year. The little grow is explained by the great expansion of the retentionist countries: two states, Ussr and Yugoslavia, turned into twenty.
Non è accaduto nulla che non sia accaduto prima o che non sarebbe accaduto in ogni caso.
Also
1785, Last execution in Liechtenstein.
1786 30th November, Tuscany abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1787, Capital punishment abolished in Austria: restored in 1795
1825 – 1917, Grand Duchy of Finland is a de-facto abolitionist country.
1847 1st March, Michigan abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1847 4th October, Tuscany abolished again the death penalty.
1848, San Marino abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1849 4th July, The Roman Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes (Const. Art 5.)
1853, Argentina* abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1853, Wisconsin abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1859 30th April, Tuscany abolished again the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1863, Venezuela abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1863, Belgium, last execution for an ordinary crime.
1865, San Marino abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1865 13th March, The Italian House voted the abolition of the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1866 – 1930, Romania abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1867, Portugal abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1870, The Netherland abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1877, Costa Rica abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1882, Brazil* abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1885, Last execution in Minnesota (abolitionist in 1911)
1887, Maine abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1890 – 1926, Italy, with Zanardelli Code, abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1903, Panama abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1905, Norway abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1906, Ecuador abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1907, Uruguay abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1910, Colombia abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1917 – 1920 Revolutionary Russia is abolitionist.
1921, Sweden abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1921, Argentina* abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1922, Queensland abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1924, The Dominican Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1926 – 1947, The death penalty come back in Italy.
1928, Iceland abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1929, Puerto Rico abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1933, Denmark abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1942, Switzerland abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1947, Italy abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1947 – 1950, USSR is abolitionist for ordinary crimes.
1949, Germany Federal Republic of, abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1949, Finland abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1950, Austria and Israel abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1954, Greenland abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1954 last execution in Papua New Guinea
1955, New South Wales abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1956, Honduras abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1956 – 1959, Ceylon is abolitionist
1957, Alaska and Hawaii are abolitionist.
1961, New Zealand abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1962, Monaco abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1964, Last British executions.
1965, Iowa is abolitionist.
1965, Great Britain abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1966, Salomon Islands abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1968, Austria abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1969, 18th December, Murder Abolition Act. Great Britain confirm the abolition.
1969, Holy See abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1971, Malta abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
1972, Finland abolished the death penalty for all crimes
1972, 29th June, Furman Decision
1973, Sweden abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
1973, United Kingdom abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.
* Argentina (1853, 1921) and Brazil (1882) abolished the death penalty, but reintroduced it for politically motivate crimes in the first and second half of the Twentieth Century: there were not executions, but thousands of “desaparecidos”.
De Facto Abolitionist countries
Algeria, Benin, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo (Republic of), Eritrea, Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nauru, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tonga, Tunisia, Zambia
Retentionist countries
Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe
