COUNTRY STATUS ON THE DEATH PENALTY (as of June 30, 2010)

Abolitionist: 96

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda*, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Czech Republic, Colombia, Cook Islands*, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (The former Yugoslav Republic of), Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City* and Venezuela.

Abolitionist for Ordinary Crimes: 8

Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Fiji, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Peru.

De Facto Abolitionist (countries that have not carried out any executions for at least 10 years or countries which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty; date of last known execution in parenthesis): 44

Antigua and Barbuda (1991), Bahamas (2000), Barbados (1984), Belize (1985), Benin (1993), Brunei Darussalam (1957), Burkina Faso (1988), Cameroon (1988), Central African Republic (1981), Comoros (1997), Congo (1982), Dominica (1986), Eritrea (no death penalty since independence in 1993), Gabon (1985), Gambia (1981), Ghana (1993), Grenada (1978), Guyana (1997), Jamaica (1988), Kenya (1987), Laos (1989), Lesotho (1995), Liberia (2000), Madagascar (1958), Malawi (1992), Maldives (1952), Mauritania (1987), Morocco (1993), Myanmar (1988), Nauru (no executions since independence, 1968), Niger (no executions or death sentences since 1976), Papua New Guinea (1957), Saint Lucia (1995), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1995), Sierra Leone (1998), South Korea (1997), Sri Lanka (1976), Suriname (1982), Swaziland (1982), Tanzania (1994), Tonga (1982), Trinidad and Tobago (1999), Tunisia (1991) and Zambia (1997).

Retentionist Countries Observing a Moratorium on Executions: 6

Algeria, Guatemala, Mali, Mongolia, Russia and Tajikistan.

Retentionist: 43

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Chad, China, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian National Authority*, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan*, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Source: Hands Off Cain

Underlined: countries (2) which have binding obligations not to use the death penalty

In bold: liberal democracies¹ (7) that retain the death penalty

In italics: changes (5) with regard to 2008

* Non-UN member States

¹ The classification “liberal democracy” is based on the rigorous analytic standards employed by Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2010 report on the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world (www.freedomhouse.org).