Today is International Day Against the Death Penalty. October 10th has been a moment to focus on the issue since 2001.
This year continues the theme of challenging the misconception that the death penalty can make people and communities safer.
Around the globe there are 12 countries that have the death penalty in relation to LGBTIQA+ people and activities. Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Uganda maintain laws.
The countries that are responsible for the most executions are China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen. At least28,085 individuals are known to be under a sentence of death around the world at the end of 2024.
Today the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe strongly reaffirmed their unequivocal opposition to the death penalty, in all cases and in all circumstances.
They highlighted that there had been progress over the last year. Globally more than two-thirds of all countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.
2024 saw the abolition of the death penalty by Zimbabwe, and the ratification of the second optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire. The same year, a record number of 130 countries voted in favour of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
Currently Belarus is the only European nation that maintains a death penalty in its laws, but in the USA executions remain a prominent part of many states justice systems, and earlier this year President Donald Trump signed an executive order endorsing the death penalty to maintain public safety.
The European Union says the death penalty, including the process leading to its execution, represent an inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the ultimate denial of human dignity.
They also highlight that studies consistently show that states with capital punishment do not have lower crime rates than those without. Plus, the death penalty also makes miscarriages of justice irreversible and any reformation and social rehabilitation impossible.
The Center of Statistics of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) have published their annual report that show how common place executions are in the nation.
Between October 10, 2024, and October 8, 2025, at least 1537 individuals were executed by hanging in Iran, rising to 86.07% compared to the same period last year. Of these executions, 8 were carried out in public. The defendants were deprived of the right to a fair trial.
The report comes as the Iranian government announces plans to implement a new anti-espionage law expanding government control over social media and online activity which could expand the death penalty for internet speech.
