
DPIC Page: Foreign Nationals on United States' Death Rows
Some of those on death row in the U.S. are citizens of other countries, raising human rights issues and issues of U.S. compliance with international treaties.

Cornell Law School: International Death Penalty Database
Maintained by the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide (Cornell Law School)
Overview
More than 70% of the world’s countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice. However, the death penalty continues to exist in many parts of the world, especially in countries with large populations and those with authoritarian rule. In recent decades, there has been a clear trend away from capital punishment, as many countries have either abolished the death penalty or discontinued its use. The U.S. remains an outlier among its close allies and other democracies in its continued application of the death penalty.
While international law does not prohibit the death penalty, most countries consider it a violation of human rights. The use of the death penalty worldwide is relevant in evaluating U.S. standards of decency and what should be considered cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Some Justices of the Supreme Court have referred to international law as further affirmation of their own conclusions about the death penalty, particularly as it may apply to specific classes of defendants such as juvenile offenders.
At Issue
There are a number of disagreements that may arise between countries that impose the death penalty and those that do not. Countries without the death penalty are particularly concerned when one of their citizens faces execution in the U.S. Some countries refuse to extradite individuals to the U.S., or even to provide incriminating evidence, if the defendant could face the death penalty. In addition, many countries and international bodies consider the death penalty to be a human rights issue and various U.S. death-penalty practices have been criticized as violating U.S. treaty obligations and international human rights law. The concern for human rights around the world has always been important in U.S. diplomacy, but the U.S. is often challenged because of its use of the death penalty and the protection that affords to other countries that use it in particularly abusive ways.
What DPIC Offers
International research on the use of the death penalty owes particular gratitude to Amnesty International, which has regularly monitored and reported on capital punishment around the world. DPIC passes this information on with attribution through its website and makes an effort to highlight those areas where international norms and practices reflect on the death penalty in the U.S. DPIC has issued one report focusing on this topic and regularly highlights relevant research and developments that occur around the world.
News & Developments
News
Jun 01, 2023
Uganda’s Controversial “Anti-Homosexuality Act” Includes Possibility of Death Sentence

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s (pictured) decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 on May 29 has drawn widespread international criticism. The new law prescribes that people convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” may now be punished with a death sentence. Although same-sex relationships were already illegal in the country, the new law, which passed with the support of 341 out of 389 members of parliament, includes harsher punishments for “promoting” homosexuality and engaging in same-sex relations. Uganda last carried out an execution in 2005.
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Nov 01, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Algeria, Belarus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam
Algeria: On October 23, 2023, 38 individuals were sentenced to death for the mob killing of Jamal Ben Ismail, who had been mistakenly identified as the arsonist responsible for the August 2021 fires that killed 90 people in the northwest region. Despite the death sentences, all prisoners will be resentenced to life imprisonment due to the nationwide moratorium in place since 1993 when the last executions occurred.
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Oct 12, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Vietnam
October 10, 2023 marked the 21st World Day Against the Death Penalty. Regarding this year’s theme, “The Death Penalty, an Irreversible Torture,” Raphaël Chenuil Hazan, executive director of France-based abolitionist group EPCM, said “Today, we no longer need to demonstrate to anyone that the death penalty is a sophisticated form of torture, both in the phase of sentencing or investigation (where physical and psychological torture is often used to obtain confessions), where the elements of a fair trial are often unfortunately not met, and during the psychologically unbearable wait for…
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Oct 10, 2023
French Embassy Hosts Exhibit Featuring Former Death Row Prisoners’ Artwork to Raise Awareness
On October 10, 2023, the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. will host opening night of ‘C’est la vie? Restoring Awareness on Capital Punishment through Art,’ in conjunction with several other members of the European Union. The event “will feature the work of death row inmates, and some of whose sentences have been overturned, and a discussion on the influence that art has had on their lives.” With the European Union Delegation, Witness to Innocence, and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, the French Embassy, along with the embassies of…
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Sep 06, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and Vietnam
On August 4, a South Korean national convicted of drug-trafficking was executed in China, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who added during a press conference that this execution was “unrelated to the current bilateral relations” between the two nations. This was the first time a South Korean national was executed in China for drug-trafficking since 2014, when four were executed.
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Sep 01, 2023
New DPIC Podcast: Dr. Roya Boroumand discusses capital punishment in Iran
In the August 2023 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Anne Holsinger, Managing Director of DPIC, speaks with Dr. Roya Boroumand (pictured), Executive Director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran. A specialist in Iran’s post-World War 2 history, Dr. Boroumand provides historical context for ongoing events and discusses the current increase in executions.
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Aug 14, 2023
Singapore Announces Plans to Execute More Death-Sentenced Prisoners Convicted of Non-Violent Drug Offenses
Human rights advocates are criticizing the Singapore government’s plan to execute more death-sentenced prisoners convicted of non-violent drug offenses. Singapore has so far hanged 16 people since resuming state executions in March last year, and all of those executed were low- to mid-level drug offenders convicted of trafficking amounts of drugs that would currently result in relatively small punishments in the UK and US. There is widespread public support for use of the death penalty as an effective policy for reducing drug trafficking in Singapore. In the U.S., one presidential candidate supports…
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Aug 02, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday’s International Roundup: Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore
On July 25, 2023, Ghana’s parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making Ghana the 124th nation worldwide and the 29th African nation to do so. Although the death penalty remains in the constitution for acts of treason, the new law removes the death penalty as possible punishment for murder, genocide, piracy, and smuggling. The current 176 death row prisoners, including six women, are expected to have their sentences commuted to life in prison. Last year seven people were sentenced to death despite Ghana not having carried out an execution…
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Jul 05, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday’s International Roundup: China, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and UAE
A total of 68 executions have occurred in Saudi Arabia this year, with more than 20 executions relating to terrorism charges occurring since early May, according to Agence France-Presse. On July 3, five men, including one Egyptian national, were executed for a deadly attack on a house of worship in the Al-Ahsa governorate, resulting in five dead and several injured. On June 25, two Yemeni nationals were executed on terrorism charges, and on June 12, three Saudi men were executed for the killing of a security officer and terrorism charges.
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Jun 07, 2023
Worldwide Wednesday’s International Roundup: Zimbabwe, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, and Saudi Arabia
On March 23, Zimbabwe’s parliament passed a new “Patriotic Bill” which carries the possibility of a death sentence for non-violent crimes in violation of the “most serious crimes” international legal standard. The law will punish citizens whose activities “willfully damage the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe,” including boycotts, sanctions, and any act considered “subversion” by the state. Depending on the offense, punishments include a loss of citizenship, heavy fines, imprisonment, and the death penalty – although the country has not executed anyone since 2005 and had previously indicated a…
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May 24, 2023
Iran Continues Aggressive Use of Death Penalty Despite International Condemnation
Iran continues to use the death penalty in violation of international law, including death sentences for crimes failing to meet the “most serious” crime threshold, the use of torture, and performing public executions. According to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), there have been at least 277 executions thus far in 2023, with at least 106 executions in the first 20 days of May, constituting the “bloodiest month” in more than five years.
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