The worldwide situation (Updated to: 28/07/2004)

12 January 2017 :


Abolitionist: 81
Andorra, Angola, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda*, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d´Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City*,Venezuela.

Abolitionist for ordinary crimes: 14
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Cook Islands*, El Salvador, Fiji, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Mexico, Peru, Turkey.

De facto abolitionist (countries that have not carried out any executions for 10 years): 32
Antigua and Barbuda (1991), Barbados (1984), Belize (1985), Benin (1993) , Brunei Darussalam (1957), Burkina Faso (1988), Cameroon (1988), Central African Republic (1981), Congo (1982), Dominica (1986), Gabon (1979), Gambia (1981), Ghana (1993) , Grenada (1985), Jamaica (1988), Kenya (1987), 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), Senegal (1967), Sri Lanka (1976), Suriname (1982), Swaziland (1982), Togo (1978), Tonga (1982), Tunisia (1991).

Committed to abolishing the death penalty as members of the Council of Europe: 1
Russia.

Retentionist countries observing a moratorium on executions: 6
Algeria, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali and Tajikistan.

Retentionist: 62
Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, China, Comoros, Cuba, Democratic People´s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority*, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan*, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.


In bold, liberal democracies (15) that retain the death penalty
In italics, changes compared to 2002
Underlined, countries (29) that carried out executions in 2003
*Non-UN member states



The classification "liberal democracy" is based on the rigorous analytic standards employed by Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2004 report on the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world (see www.freedomhouse.org).