The alarming rise in executions in 2025, particularly those related to drug crimes (which increased 97% from 2024 according to the latest Harm Reduction International report), cast a long shadow over the first quarter of 2026. The international community’s attention was particularly focused on the situation in Iran, where peaceful protests that began December 2025 were met with a brutal crackdown and human rights violations, reportedly resulting in thousands of deaths, as well as mass arrests that have left hundreds at risk of execution.
The need to address this violent trend was central to the parliamentary workshop organized by Parliamentarians for Global Action in Mexico City on 25 March. Parliamentarians are more crucial than ever in this difficult context. During discussions, parliamentarians heard poignant testimonies from a defense lawyer and representatives of the abolitionist movement, including experts on the differentiated impact of the death penalty and prison conditions based on gender. In concrete results, parliamentarians from The Gambia and Jamaica committed to action steps, paving the way for change accompanied by sustained political engagement.
The urgency of these commitments by champion parliamentarians is underscored by radical legislative initiatives elsewhere in the world. In late March, the Israeli Knesset passed a law reinstating the death penalty for Palestinians, a move condemned by the UN, the international community and civil society as a violation of international law. Meanwhile, the Maldives Government has proposed a bill to effectively end its six-decade moratorium. Faced with the rise of these regressive measures, parliamentarians must translate their commitments into concrete legislative action.
The link between gender and the death penalty was raised during the Commission on the Status of Women 70th Session (CSW70) thanks to civil society organizations. The delegation from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty advocated for the goals of the abolitionist cause, amplified the voices of women sentenced to death, and proposed solutions. Conclusions of CSW70 included, for the first time, references to women in conflict with the law, emphasizing the need to “address the specific needs and circumstances of all women and girls subject to arrest, detention, prosecution, trial and sentencing, including irreversible criminal penalties.”
Positive developments:
Malaysia:
o New parliamentary data indicate that 976 people, including 889 men and 87 women, were released as of 30 September 2025. This follows Malaysia’s resentencing project process related to the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in November 2023.
United States:
o Oklahoma State Senator Nikki Nice is campaigning for a bill to reinstate a moratorium in the state until June 2028. Oklahoma resumed executions in 2021, after observing a six-year moratorium.
o The New Hampshire House of Representatives rejected a bill to reinstate the death penalty, as well as other bills that would have expanded its application. The state abolished capital punishment in 2019, but one person remains on death row.
Setbacks
Iran:
o Nationwide demonstrations in the country, which began on 28 December 2025, led to serious human rights violation in the country, with thousands of people killed during the crackdown. Hundreds of protesters are at risk of death sentences, including children.
o Since the beginning of the year, at least 184 men and 5 women were executed.
Israel:
o The Knesset adopted a death penalty law targeting Palestinians living under occupation. The law authorizes military courts to impose mandatory death sentences for deliberate killings in actions that are defined as terrorist acts, and denies pardon. Experts and civil society organizations stress its blatant incompatibility with international law and call for its immediate repeal.
Maldives:
o Government plans to introduce a bill to end the longstanding moratorium on the death penalty in the Maldives.
United States
o Florida Supreme Court upheld a law enabling non-unanimous death verdicts. Florida, along with Alabama, is one of only two states to permit non-unanimous death verdicts.
o Alabama approved a bill expanding the scope of the death penalty.
o Bills are being considered to reinstate the death penalty in Wisconsin (where it was abolished in 1853), and in West Virginia (which abolished it in 1965).
o In Utah, a bill seeks to expedite death penalty proceedings.
o From January-March 2026, a total of 7 executions were recorded, included:
§ 4 executions in Florida
§ 2 executions in Texas
§ 1 execution in Indiana
§ 1 execution in Oklahoma
New Reports and Resources:
Harm Reduction International (HRI):
o The Death penalty for drug offences: global overview 2025. The report shows that at least 36 countries still retain the death penalty for drug-related offences, and that 1,212 people were executed for such offences (a 97% increase between 2024 and 2025).
Universal Periodic Review – 51st session:
o States formulated recommendations to abolish the death penalty to Lebanon; Maldives; Mauritania; Oman; Saint Lucia; and Singapore. Concerns were also conveyed to Chad regarding the decree seeking to reinstate the death penalty.
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP):
o WCADP launched an online learning platform designed to strengthen knowledge, advocacy and global action to end the death penalty.
The Rights Practice, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, The Square Circle Clinic, Justice Project Pakistan, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, Transformative Justice Collective, Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights, Centre for Prisoners Rights, Japan Federation of Bar Associations, and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network:
o Kuala Lumpur Guidelines – Regional guidelines for lawyers representing individuals facing the death penalty and execution in Asia