Amnesty International, USA, July 20, 2017.
In 2014, the Maldives government under President Abdulla Yameen announced that executions would resume after more than 60 years without the death penalty being implemented.
In 2014, the Maldives government under President Abdulla Yameen announced that executions would resume after more than 60 years without the death penalty being implemented.
“The country was a leader in the region, with an enviable record of shunning this cruel and irreversible punishment at a time when many other countries persisted with it. Now, when most of the world has abolished the death penalty, it is heading in the wrong direction by reviving its use.” (David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s Senior Advisor on South Asia.)
As of today, 141 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice; in the Asia-Pacific region, 20 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and a further seven are abolitionist in practice.
Sources close to the government of Maldives have confirmed that executions in the country will resume on 21 July 2017. The Maldives Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death sentences of three men, who are all now at imminent risk of execution. If carried out, it would be the first executions in the country in over 60 years.
