In April, the International Commission Against the Death Penalty (ICDP) released a new report titled, How States Abolish the Death Penalty. The report examines the experiences of 13 countries, including Argentina, France, Haiti, the Philippines, South Africa, and 2 states in the U.S. (Connecticut and New Mexico), in their paths to ending capital punishment. The report noted that some states took intermediary steps to abolition, including establishing an official moratorium on executions, reducing the scope of the death penalty, or removing mandatory sentences. The report recommended vigorous public debate on the subject, the publication of information about the use of the death penalty, and the emergence of principled leadership on the issue. The report was released during a recent meeting of the ICDP in Oslo, Norway. Read full text of the report.

(“How States Abolish the Death Penalty,” ICDP, April 2013; DPIC posted May 2, 2013). See International and Studies.