Additional Resources

Archival DPIC Content

• International News and Developments: 2000
  
• International News and Developments: 2001
• International News and Developments: 2002
  
• International News and Developments: 2003
• International News and Developments: 2004

Eighth World Congress Against the Death Penalty

The Eighth World Congress Against the Death Penalty was held in Berlin, Germany from November 15 to November 18, 2022, renew­ing the orga­ni­za­tion’s call for a glob­al mora­to­ri­um on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Despite the COVID pan­dem­ic, more than a thou­sand par­tic­i­pants from 90 countries attended.

Although the Death Penalty Information Center is not a mem­ber of any abo­li­tion orga­ni­za­tions, DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham and Managing Director Anne Holsinger attend­ed the Congress. DPIC pre­sent­ed an offi­cial side-event, Politics, Human Rights, and the Death Penalty in the U.S., mod­er­at­ed by Mr. Dunham and fea­tur­ing for­mer Wisconsin U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, the exec­u­tive direc­tor of the American Constitution Society; for­mer Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, a com­mis­sion­er on the World Commission Against the Death Penalty; and human rights and cap­i­tal appeal lawyer Sandra Babcock, the fac­ul­ty direc­tor of the Cornell Center for the Death Penalty Worldwide. 

The Sixth World Congress Against the Death Penalty met in Oslo, Norway from June 21 to June 23, 2016. The event was attend­ed by more than 1300 rep­re­sen­ta­tives from 80 coun­tries, with par­tic­i­pants includ­ing human rights offi­cials from the United Nations and European Union, Justice Ministers from both abo­li­tion­ist and reten­tion­ist coun­tries, Nobel Peace Prize lau­re­ates, glob­al death-row exonerees, non-gov­ern­men­tal human rights orga­ni­za­tions, attor­neys, jour­nal­ists, and activists from dozens of countries.

Executive Director Robert Dunham was invit­ed to the Congress to address the state of the death penal­ty in the U.S. You can see the slides accom­pa­ny­ing Mr. Dunham’s pre­sen­ta­tion here and read the Final Declaration of the Sixth World Congress here.

The Fifth World Congress Against the Death Penalty was held in Madrid, Spain from June 12 – 15, 2013. Richard Dieter, then DPIC’s Executive Director, was invit­ed to the Congress to address devel­op­ments in the death penal­ty in the U.S. since the Fourth World Congress. Read more about the Fifth World Congress here.

The Fourth World Congress was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 24 – 26, 2010. Read Bianca Jagger’s speech to the World Congress, Feb. 24, 2010.

Read about the Third World Congress held in Paris, France, in February 2007.

First International Congress on Prison Systems in the 21^st Century

The con­fer­ence was held July 31- August 2, 2015, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Presenters includ­ed: Alvino de Sá, Ana Conduto, Taurino Araújo, Brent Turvey, Roger Greco, and Richard Dieter (DPIC, speak­ing on U.S. death penal­ty), among oth­ers. Click here for Mr. Dieter’s presentation.

Global Panel at the UN Human Rights Commission

On April 24, 2014, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights at the UN con­duct­ed a pan­el on ​“Moving Away from the Death Penalty – Discrimination against mar­gin­alised groups.” Among the par­tic­i­pants was Stephen Bright (l.) of the Southern Center for Human Rights. His remarks can be found here. See a video of the pro­gram.

United Nations’ Death Penalty Conference in Minsk, Belarus. The United Nations, with the coop­er­a­tion of the Belarus Foreign Ministry, held an inter­na­tion­al death penal­ty con­fer­ence, The Death Penalty: Transcending the Divide, in Minsk, Belarus on March 10, 2016. Belarus is the only coun­try in Europe that still car­ries out the death penal­ty. The con­fer­ence fea­tured pre­sen­ta­tions by Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights; Andrea Rigoni, a mem­ber of the Italian Parliament and rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; for­mer Czech Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg; and Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Makei, among oth­ers. DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham pre­sent­ed to the con­fer­ence on using a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary approach to ana­lyze pol­i­cy issues relat­ing to the admin­is­tra­tion of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. (Photo cour­tesy U.S. Embassy, Minsk: DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham (DPIC) speaks at the UN death penal­ty con­fer­ence in Minsk.)

EU Rendez-vous: The Death Penalty in the US: On the Cusp of Repeal This event was a pan­el dis­cus­sion on the sta­tus of the death penal­ty in the United States. Former Executive Director Richard C. Dieter was asked to sit in on a pan­el to answer the ques­tion, ​“What is hap­pen­ing to the death penal­ty in the U.S.?” Mr. Dieter was joined by Sarah Turberville of the Constitution Project and Diann Rust-Tierney of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The event took place on October 21, 2014 and was spon­sored by the European Union. This event was held at the res­i­dence of the Ambassador from the Netherlands. The video of the event is avail­able here.

“Fighting Crime in the U.S. and Internationally: Is the Death Penalty Necessary? A Unique Conversation Between U.S. and European Law Enforcement.” A pan­el of law enforce­ment offi­cials from the U.S. and Europe dis­cussing the mer­its of the death penal­ty in reduc­ing vio­lent crime. The offi­cers also addressed whether cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment actu­al­ly helps to keep cit­i­zens safe, assists heal­ing for vic­tims, and uses crime-fight­ing resources effi­cient­ly. (National Press Club, Wash., D.C., Oct. 13, 2010).

“The Status of the Death Penalty in the United States,” by Richard C. Dieter, pre­pared for the Subcommittee on Human Rights, European Parliament, January 29, 2007.

“Cross-Cultural Death-Penalty Experiences,” pan­el pre­sen­ta­tion, remarks by Richard C. Dieter, International Leadership Conference on Human Rights and the Death Penalty, Dec. 6 – 7, 2005, Tokyo, Japan; pub­lished at 28 Thomas M. Cooley Law Review 23 (2011).

“International Influence on the Death Penalty in the US,” Foreign Service Journal, October 2003.

“A Response to the Initial Report of the United States to the United Nations on the Race Convention.” Richard Dieter’s Ford Foundation Symposium Presentation, October 17, 2000.

DPIC Report: ​“International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the US” (1999).

“The United States Death Penalty and International Law: US Compliance with the Torture and Race Conventions,” Richard Dieter’s Ford Foundation Symposium Presentation, November 12, 1998.

Related Books:

The Death Penalty in Iran: the Road to Abolition is Paved with Paradox, Sanaz Alasti, January 1, 2021.