Entries tagged with “Human Rights Watch”
Executions
Jun 24, 2026
Jordan Resumes Executions After 9‑Year Hiatus with the Hanging of 6 Men
On June 21, 2026, Jordan performed its first executions since March 2017, hanging six men convicted of terrorism-related or drug-trafficking charges on a single day, all accused of directly or indirectly causing the deaths of law enforcement or security forces. On the same day the executions were carried out, Prime Minister Jafar Hassan announced during a cabinet session that Parliament intends to expand capital crimes to include “major drug traffickers and smugglers operating in coordination…
Issues
Aug 27, 2024
68 Human Rights Organizations Express Support for Iranian Prisoners’ “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” Abolition Movement Entering Its 31st Week
Amidst a continued post-election execution surge and increased suppression of peaceful prison protests, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and 67 human rights organizations across four continents expressed their support for the ongoing “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” weekly hunger strike movement currently spanning 17 Iranian prisons across the country. The August 27, 2024 statement, published a day after the first public hanging of the year, “call[ed] for an immediate halt on all executions…
Issues
May 01, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Uganda, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe
Missouri’s April 9th execution of Brian Dorsey, despite widespread support for his clemency, once again garnered condemnation from the European Union, which described it as a “inhuman and degrading practice.” The EU’s statement highlighted the lack of the death penalty as a deterrent and the irreversibility of the punishment, noting that 197 death-sentenced prisoners have been exonerated. “The EU continues to call for the universal abolition of the death penalty and for States, that maintain…
Issues
Jun 12, 2022
Malaysian Government Pledges to End Mandatory Death Penalty
The cabinet of the government of Malaysia announced on June 10, 2022 that it had reached agreement to abolish the nation’s mandatory death penalty laws and submit legislation to parliament to provide judges discretion to impose other penalties for capital crimes. Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the cabinet also agreed to study proposals to substitute sentences for those currently on death row for offences carrying the death penalty. Amnesty International reports that as of February…
Issues
Oct 29, 2020
Human Rights Organizations: Saudi Arabia’s Claims to Have Banned the Death Penalty for Juveniles are Belied by the Kingdom’s Actual Practices
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty against people accused of crimes committed as juveniles, despite a royal decree claiming to ban that practice, human rights organizations and defense lawyers have charged. On October 19, 2020, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights issued a statement saying that thirteen prisoners still faced the death penalty in the kingdom for alleged crimes committed as juveniles. The following day, citing “glaring exceptions” in the…
Issues
Apr 25, 2019
Saudi Arabia Condemned for Mass Execution of 37 People, Including Juveniles, After Unfair Trials
In an action condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups as a flagrant violation of international law, Saudi Arabia beheaded 37 people, including juvenile offenders, in six separate locations on April 23, 2019. It was the nation’s largest mass execution since January 2016. Most of the people executed were members of the Shi’a Muslim minority community. The human rights advocates blasted Saudi officials for targeting politically disfavored groups and disregarding international fair…
Issues
Sep 14, 2017
Human Rights Groups Urge U.S. Government To Sanction Officials Accused Of Torture, Executions Under New Law
A coalition of 23 human rights groups, including Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, and Reprieve, has urged the United States government to issue sanctions against foreign government officials who they say have used the death penalty to repress political dissent by torturing peaceful protesters into confessing to capital offenses they did not commit. In a September 12, 2017 letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the non-governmental organizations…