134 nations drop death penalty; 62 still have it

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3 (Reuters) – A total of 134 countries have given
up capital punishment, 10 more than had done so at the start of 2003,
a campaigner against capital punishment reported on Friday.

Of the total, 81 have abolished the death penalty completely, 14 have
abolished it for ordinary crimes, one — Russia — has pledged to
abolish it, and six are observing moratoriums, the Rome-based
organization Hands Off Cain said.

Another 32 countries allow capital punishment but have in effect
abolished it by not carrying out an execution for at least the past 10
years, the group said.

Since the start of 2003, Benin, Ghana, Malawi and Morocco had in
effect abolished the practice by not executing anyone for at least 10
years while Kazakhstan and Tajikistan had put in place a legal
moratorium on the practice, it said.

Another four countries — Bhutan, Samoa, Bosnia and Armenia — either
abolished the death penalty or tightened an existing partial ban since
the start of last year, the group reported at a presentation at
U.N. headquarters.

In all, 62 countries retain the death penalty and in 2003 put to death
at least 5,523 individuals, the group said.

One country alone, China, executed at least 5,000 people last year
while Iran put to death at least 154 and Iraq had executed at least
113 people by April 9, 2003, when the U.S.-led occupation suspended
the death penalty, it said.

12/03/04 18:56 ET