04 January 2006 :

Abolitionist: 90 
Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda*, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (former Yugoslav Republic of), Malta, Marshal Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (federated states of), Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, united kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City* and Venezuela. 
 
Abolitionist for ordinary crimes: 10 
Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cook Islands*, El Salvador, Fiji, Israel, Latvia and Peru.
 
De facto abolitionist (countries that have not carried out any executions for 10 years; date of last known execution in brackets): 37 
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), Eritrea (no death penalty since independence in 1993), Gabon (1985), Gambia (1981), Ghana (1993), Grenada (1978), Jamaica (1988), Kenya (1987), Laos (1989), Lesotho (1995), 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), Sri Lanka (1976), Suriname (1982), Swaziland (1982), Tanzania (1994), Togo (1978), Tonga (1982) and Tunisia (1991).
 
Committed to abolishing death penalty as members of the Council of Europe: 1 
Russia. 
 
Retentionist countries observing a moratorium on executions: 5
Algeria, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mali.
 
Retentionist: 54 
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, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian National Authority*, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan*, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 
 
In bold, liberal democracies¹ (11) that retain the death penalty
* 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 2006 report on the state of political rights and civil liberties around the world (see www.freedomhouse.org)