The Death Penalty Project

30/04/2026

The death penalty continues to exist in more than 70 countries. An estimated 28,000 people are on death row around the world. And globally, the annual number of ex*****ons are sharply on the rise.

Our work is rooted in a simple but profound belief: the death penalty is wrong, for all people, in all circumstances. It is cruel, discriminatory, arbitrary and irreversible.

We want to see the punishment consigned to history, once and for all. But taking action against capital punishment is not straightforward – so how do we do it?

At our core, we are fierce litigators, providing free legal representation and directly challenging the legality of the death penalty through the courts. Our team and strategies also expand beyond the legal sphere into policy engagement, research and alliance building. We work alongside a global network of partners, who are all vital collaborators in our joint fight for justice and human rights.

What we do – and support from people like you – has truly never been more urgent. Find out more about our approach, our partners and how you can get involved in our fight against the death penalty on our website.

⚖️🔗 👉 https://deathpenaltyproject.org/about/what-we-do/

13/04/2026

In September 2024, British citizen Youssouf Ezangi was sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Alongside 36 others, he was convicted by a military court for his alleged involvement in an attack on the Palais de la Nation on 19 May 2024. The legal proceedings violated fundamental fair trial rights.

The DRC’s Constitution and international law prohibit civilians from being tried for capital crimes before military tribunals. Defendants reported brutal treatment upon arrest, and their access to legal representation was inhibited. They also faced an automatic, mandatory death sentence upon conviction, meaning there was no opportunity for mitigating evidence to be considered. Following his trial, Mr Ezangi was held in a cell with approximately 250 other people, living under a real and immediate risk of ex*****on.

Throughout his trial and appeal, we have provided assistance and advice to Mr Ezangi’s legal team in the DRC and to the UK FCDO. Our priority has been to raise fair trial concerns, challenge practices that violate domestic and international law, and advance legal and political remedies to prevent his ex*****on.

On 31 March 2026, following a diplomatic agreement between the Congolese and British Governments, Mr Ezangi was transferred from N’dolo Prison in Kinshasa to HMP Belmarsh in London. As the UK has abolished the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment upon transfer. Further legal proceedings will now follow before the High Court.

👉 More on Mr Ezangi’s case:

https://deathpenaltyproject.org/british-citizen-returned-to-the-uk-after-18-months-living-under-a-sentence-of-death-in-the-drc/

📰 Read yesterday’s Observer article on his return:

https://observer.co.uk/news/international/article/london-plumber-sentenced-to-death-for-african-coup-attempt-back-in-the-uk

08/04/2026

Our 2025 Annual Report brings together our legal wins, global partnerships and the human stories that drive our mission forward. Last year, together, we:

⚖️ Provided direct legal representation or assistance to 20 individuals facing death sentences. Three people were spared death sentences, and one person had their death sentence overturned.

💡 Held high level engagements about criminal justice with decision-makers in eight countries. In total, we are working towards reform with our partner organisations in more than 20 countries.

📖 Published two major research reports — on abolitionist de facto states and the trauma capital punishment systems can inflict on victims' families.

🏛️ Delivered three targeted training workshops to more than 80 individuals working in criminal justice, covering urgent human rights issues such as mental health in capital punishment cases.

Dive deeper into the stories, the data and the impact we can have thanks to your support. Read our Annual Report today: https://deathpenaltyproject.org/resource/the-death-penalty-project-annual-report-2025/

01/04/2026

This year marks 50 years since The Death Penalty Project’s organisational mission first took shape. In that time, we have been taking massive strides in protecting the rights of people facing capital punishment and advancing fairer, more humane justice systems around the world.

Grounded in the belief that the death penalty is a cruel, discriminatory and arbitrary punishment, we create lasting change, providing free legal representation, directly challenging the legality of capital punishment and promoting human rights standards in criminal justice systems.

Today, we are stepping forward with a refreshed look and a new website – a renewed expression of who we are: a bold and impactful legal action charity working in more than 20 countries, tackling one of the most urgent human rights challenges of our time.

We are ending the death penalty and its legacy. End of sentence.

Join us.

📰 Read our newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/deathpenaltyproject.org/a-refreshed-look-same-commitment-to-ending-the-death-penalty

🔗 Browse our new website: https://deathpenaltyproject.org/

31/03/2026

Yesterday, the Israeli Knesset passed new legislation which makes the death penalty the automatic sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks — a measure that The Death Penalty Project unequivocally denounces.

The law is discriminatory by design, entrenching a two‑tier system of justice that violates the right to life. Key provisions in the legislation strip away the most basic fair trial and due process safeguards, a clear breach of Israel’s obligations under international human rights law.

Israel has not carried out an ex*****on since 1962 and, for the past two decades, has been a prominent supporter of the UN General Assembly’s resolutions calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty.

These developments act as a deeply troubling illustration of how the death penalty functions in practice not as an instrument of justice, but as an instrument of politics.

We call for the immediate repeal of this legislation and reaffirm our core and unwavering belief: the death penalty is wrong, for all people, in all circumstances. It is cruel, discriminatory, arbitrary and irreversible.

15/01/2026

We've settled into the new year, and at The Death Penalty Project, we have bold strategies and ambitious plans for the months ahead. But right now, we’re taking some time to reflect on our impact in 2025.

These achievements would not have been possible without donations from people like you, or the thousands of hours of time and expertise we generously receive pro bono from many lawyers, doctors, forensic experts and academics. We are incredibly grateful for your support.

If you are wondering how you can best fuel more of this work in the coming year, we encourage you to consider setting up a monthly gift. Regular support gives us a steady stream of funds we can rely on year-round, helping us to plan ahead and positively impact the lives of thousands of people in prison and their families. Follow this link to set up your gift today: https://deathpenaltyproject.org/?form=DONATE

Do look out for some exciting developments from us in the first few months of 2026.

15/12/2025

Last Wednesday, on International Human Rights Day, it was an absolute privilege to host our event, 'Life After Death Row', at Whitechapel Gallery, exhibiting the important work of Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, a Bangladeshi anthropologist and documentarian.

Through Johan’s evocative storytelling, we explored the resilience of seven individuals wrongly convicted and subjected to the horrors of death row in Bangladesh. Their stories challenge the acceptance of the at a critical moment in the country’s politics.

These seven stories are only the beginning. In Bangladesh, more than 2,618 people remain on death row - most from poor, marginalised backgrounds - in a system marred by torture, coerced confessions, ineffective legal representation and arbitrary sentencing.

Johan, alongside our patrons Antony Gormley and Baroness Helena Kennedy KC and our Co-Executive Director Saul Lehrfreund, unpacked these harrowing statistics in a panel discussion. They covered the vital role of art in human rights movements as well as the dire need to abolish capital punishment in and beyond.

Thank you to everyone who joined us to reflect, learn, and stand against injustice.

Seven stories. Thousands more.

20/10/2025

"The global trend is clear: states are moving away from the death penalty and life sentences without parole, recognizing that justice cannot be built on punishments that extinguish all hope. By doing the same, Taiwan would align with international human rights standards and show that justice can protect society while still upholding dignity, fairness and the human capacity for change."

Our Co-Executive Director Saul Lehrfreund and Senior Research Fellow Catherine Appleton make the case in today's Taipei Times for a justice system that rejects both the death penalty and life without parole - not as a denial of justice, but as a demand for better justice. Read their piece here 📖 👉

Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

16/10/2025

📸 'Living on Death Row' is a powerful exhibition by Mosfiqur Rahman Johan which opened last week at Drik Gallery in Dhaka to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty. Through remarkable photography and deeply sensitive storytelling, his work conveys the anguish and resilience of people condemned to death in Bangladesh.

We’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Mosfiqur Rahman Johan over the past year. His work sits within the important intersection of art, human rights, and advocacy - acting as a reminder that behind every statistic, policy or case lies a life, a story, a demand for justice.

🔗 Read more about the important exhibition:

These are the questions that photographer Mostifqur Rahman Johan confronts in his exhibition Living on Death Row, curated by Tanzim Wahab and co-curated by Hadi Uddin. The exhibition, hosted at Drik Gallery, portrays the stories of 12 individuals who spent years in condemned cells before finally bei...

09/10/2025

Both sides of the death penalty debate agree that addressing the needs of victims and bereaved families in the aftermath of a traumatic crime is a major concern. Yet the debate has often relied on assumptions about their experiences and views on capital punishment.

Through a collection of in-depth interviews with families of victims of homicide in the US, our new report by Dr Amelia Inglis offers a deeper understanding of their complex and diverse opinions and needs.

Those in favour of the death penalty often claim that it is an important form of retributive – or “an eye for an eye” – justice, and therefore helps victims and bereaved families heal.

However, the research reveals that the death penalty can in fact have the opposite effect, inflicting further harm and retraumatising them. This is in part due to agonising but often unavoidable delays in legal proceedings, characterised by procedural safeguards as a person sentenced to death moves through appeals processes.

Click through for first hand insights from interviewees, and head to our website to read the full findings 👉 📖 https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/understanding-victim-experiences-in-capital-punishment-cases/

07/10/2025

As World Day Against the Death Penalty approaches this Friday, the abolitionist movement unites under a common belief: the death penalty protects no one.

Two weeks ago, we launched a new report, produced in collaboration with the Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford, examining abolitionist de facto (ADF) states. These are often overlooked countries in the death penalty landscape, which occupy a grey area between retention and abolition, as they have not carried out ex*****ons for at least a decade but retain the death penalty in law. Our findings include:

1️⃣ In ADF states, time alone does not necessarily lead to abolition of the death penalty. Without deliberate legal and policy momentum, a suspension in ex*****ons may become the status quo, sometimes for decades.
2️⃣ The retention of death penalty laws can be domestically beneficial for policymakers, to complement a “tough on crime” narrative, while suspending ex*****ons is internationally beneficial, as it sidesteps criticism which may be directed at retentionist states. This can make the ‘grey area’ of de facto abolition appear as an attractive and convenient destination.
3️⃣ Where death sentences continue to be passed, ADF status does not shield against arbitrariness, discrimination or fair-trial violations. Individuals on death row in ADF states also face the ongoing psychological distress that ex*****ons will resume, as well as poor conditions of detention.

Our report findings remind us that the death penalty not only fails to protect, but it also causes significant harms, even where ex*****ons no longer take place.

Read the study in full 📖 👉 https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/abolitionist-de-facto-making-sense-of-a-death-penalty-without-ex*****ons/

The Executive Summary is also available in French:https://deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DPP-ADF-Report-Executive-Summary-French.pdf

How do we make sense of abolitionist de facto countries, where no ex*****ons have taken place for at least a decade, but the death penalty remains in law?