On 24 March 2021, the governor of Virginia (USA), Mr.Ralph Northam, signed into law a bill that ends capital punishment in the State. Virginia has thus become the first Southern US State to abolish the death penalty.
The signature of the law follows the vote on the abolition on 5 February 2021.
PGA strongly welcomes this landmark decision after the Trump Administration resumed the federal death penalty between July 2020 and January 2021 and, after a 17- years hiatus, oversaw the executions of 13 death row inmates.
Virginia has had the second-highest number of executions (the first one being Texas) in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in the country in 1976.
Executions are still authorised in 27 states across the US, though several States have enacted a moratorium on carrying out the punishment.
Contact:
Ms. Frederika Schweighoferova
Senior Legal Officer
International Law and Human Rights Program
About the Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty
The goal of the campaign launched by PGA in 2013 is to ensure the right to life is upheld and to promote justice systems grounded in the rule of law, in line with SDG 16, particularly target 16.3. Parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in the movement to restrict the use of the death penalty and ultimately abolish it through drafting legislation; deliberating on national policies; and enlightening public opinion.
To date, PGA has successfully mobilized MPs from approximately 30 countries. Over the years, PGA members have:
- Contributed to reducing the scope of the death penalty, abolishing it altogether, blocking its reintroduction or the resumption of executions, or ratifying relevant international instruments in Malaysia, Uganda, and the Philippines.
- In the United States, PGA member Rep. Renny Cushing won a decades-long legislative battle to make New Hampshire the 21st US State to abolish the death penalty.
- Supported related initiatives in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, and Kenya.
