Publications & Testimony

The Diet Members’ League for Abolition of the Death Penalty, a par­lia­men­tary group of the gov­ern­ing Liberal Democratic Party, has draft­ed leg­is­la­tion to replace the death penal­ty with life in prison. In addi­tion, the bill would estab­lish pan­els in both Houses of the Diet to study cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The bill does not pro­pose an imme­di­ate aban­don­ment of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, but instead impos­es a four-year mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions. During this time, the…

In​“Last Meal,” Jacquelyn C. Black recre­ates the last acts of 23 peo­ple exe­cut­ed in Texas. Photographs depict­ing each inmate’s last meal are accom­pa­nied by descrip­tions of the inmates, and tran­scripts of their last words before exe­cu­tion. The book also con­tains gen­er­al infor­ma­tion about the death penal­ty. Award-win­n­ing direc­tor Liz Garbus notes,​“This pow­er­ful and dis­turb­ing book gives invalu­able insight into the inhu­man­i­ty of the death penal­ty, while providing…

Lewis, Neil A.,​“Rules Set Up for Terror Tribunals May Deter Some Defense Lawyers,” New York Times, July 13, 2003Lyall, Sarah,​“Families of 2 British Terrorism Suspects Oppose Military Trials by the U.S.,” New York Times, July 5, 2003.Lewis, Neil A.,​“Six Detainees Soon May Face Military Trials,” New York Times, July 4, 2003.Safire, William,…

Inclusion or exclu­sion of a can­di­date on this page does not imply sup­port by DPIC. For more infor­ma­tion on each can­di­date, go to their indi­vid­ual 2004 Election home­page, or vis­it The Washington Post’s 2004 Election…

A new Amnesty International report exam­ines the case of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman, a Tennessee death row inmate sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on June 18. His case involves ques­tions of inad­e­quate defense and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. The report notes that after learn­ing of excul­pa­to­ry and mit­i­gat­ing evi­dence that was kept from the jury at Abdur’Rahman’s tri­al, eight of the orig­i­nal tri­al jurors said that they no longer have con­fi­dence in their sen­tenc­ing ver­dict. In…

A new Amnesty International report exam­ines the case of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman, a Tennessee death row inmate sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on June 18. His case involves ques­tions of inad­e­quate defense and pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct. The report notes that after learn­ing of excul­pa­to­ry and mit­i­gat­ing evi­dence that was kept from the jury at Abdur’Rahman’s tri­al, eight of the orig­i­nal tri­al jurors said that they no longer have con­fi­dence in their sen­tenc­ing ver­dict. In…

American mil­i­tary offi­cials say that a Canadian teen being held at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba could be eli­gi­ble for the death penal­ty. The 17-year-old boy was cap­tured in Afghanistan last July and is accused of killing a U.S. medic dur­ing bat­tle as a mem­ber of al-Qaida. After 18 months of impris­on­ment, none of the 700 detainees have been offi­cial­ly charged, but a review of their cas­es by President George W. Bush is pend­ing. Some of the cas­es could involve capital…

Although he beheads up to sev­en peo­ple a day, Saudi Arabia’s lead­ing exe­cu­tion­er, 42-year-old Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi, says that he leads a nor­mal life and is car­ry­ing out God’s will. Using a sword giv­en to him as a gift by the gov­ern­ment, Al-Beshi has per­formed pub­lic exe­cu­tions since 1998 and has since trained his son, Musaed, to also become an exe­cu­tion­er.​“An exe­cu­tion­er’s life, of course, is not all killing. Sometimes it can be ampu­ta­tion of hands and legs. I use…

North Carolina’s Attorney General has announced that the state will retry Alan Gell, whose death sen­tence was vacat­ed last year when a North Carolina judge ruled that pros­e­cu­tors with­held impor­tant evi­dence that might have exon­er­at­ed Gell at his 1998 tri­al. After acknowl­edg­ing that pros­e­cu­tors from his office vio­lat­ed court orders and the U.S. Constitution by not hand­ing over the evi­dence, Attorney General Ray Copper announced that the state will not seek the death…

Despite the fact that the Constitution defin­ing Puerto Rico’s sta­tus as a self-gov­­ern­ing com­mon­wealth asso­ci­at­ed with the United States uncon­di­tion­al­ly bans cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, the U.S. is seek­ing the fed­er­al death penal­ty in the tri­al of two Puerto Rican men. The tri­al has spurred grass-root protests against the death penal­ty. Gov. Sila M. Calderon, the Commonwealth’s top elect­ed offi­cial, said the case demon­strates the need to fur­ther reform the U.S. — Puerto…