Death Penalty Worldwide

Thailand is one of the minority of countries in the world today retaining and practicing the death penalty

COUNTRY STATUS ON THE DEATH PENALTY (Updated to: 02/01/2006)

Abolitionist: 88
Andorra, Angola, Armenia, 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, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, 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, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor Leste, 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 (1979), Gambia (1981), Ghana (1993), Grenada (1985), 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: 55
Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, China, Comoros, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian National Authority*, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan*, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Source: Hands Off Cain
*Non-UN member states

Liberal democracies that retain the death penalty: 12
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).