Amnesty International Report Shows Decline in Use of Death Penalty Internationally

 A new report by Amnesty International states that over half of the countries in the world no longer use capital punishment.  The report also notes:

111 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice

Over 30 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes since 1990, including countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe

Recent crime figures from abolitionist countries show that abolition does not have harmful effects. In Canada, or example, the homicide rate fell 43% from a high of 3.09 in 1975, a year before the abolition of the death penalty, to 1.76 in 1999. 

the report is available at: http://www.aiusa.org/abolish/facts_fgures032002.pdf