A protest against the death penalty in Paris. Photo: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
This week, the African nation of Togo became the world’s 94th country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
In the United States, capital punishment–or, put more bluntly, the death penalty– remains a deeply divisive issue.
In other countries, however, Amnesty International reports the death penalty abolition movement is gaining support, and they signal Togo legislators’ unanimous repeal of capital punishment earlier this week as the most recent proof of this trend.
Togo is the 15th African Union member nation to abolish the death penalty for all types of crimes, though it’s not likely to be the last: Mali is considering a similar move.
To see a full list of the countries that reject the death penalty as a form of punishment for all crimes, click here.
To learn more about the death penalty abolition movement in the United States, visit the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, which offers 10 ways you can take action to help abolish the death penalty. To read up on the death penalty abolition movement in other parts of the world, visit the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
Julie Schwietert
Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.
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