Capital punishment in Cuba

Last updated

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Cuba , however it is seldom resorted to. The last executions were carried out in 2003. National legislation provides for the death penalty for murder, threatening to commit murder, aggravated rape, terrorism, hijacking, piracy, drug trafficking and manufacturing, espionage, and treason. The typical method is execution by firing squad. [1]

Contents

Overview

The 1940 Constitution of Cuba banned capital punishment for peacetime offenses, but the penalty was officially reinstated by law as well as in practice following the Cuban Revolution, in 1959. The number of people executed remains uncertain, with most estimates around 5,000, [2] but some sources suggest the number to be as high as 49,000. [3] The last death sentences were officially commuted in December 2010. [4] [5] [6]

The last recorded executions were on April 11, 2003, [7] The case concerned three men who were found guilty of having hijacked a Regla ferry. The hijack occurred on April 4, 2003; during the incident, the plaintiffs were alleged to have threatened to kill passengers, demanding sufficient fuel to travel to the United States. [8] [9] [10]

In 2010, the sentences of all remaining death row inmates in Cuba were commuted. The last person to have their death sentence commuted was Humberto Eladio Real, who killed a man during an attempted insurgency raid in 1994. His sentence was reduced to 30 years in prison in December 2010. [11] To date, no further death sentences have been handed out.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment by country</span>

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as a punishment for a crime. It has historically been used in almost every part of the world. Since the mid-19th century many countries have abolished or discontinued the practice. In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution by firing squad</span> Execution by multiple shooters on command

Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading, is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually readily available and a gunshot to a vital organ, such as the brain or heart, most often will kill relatively quickly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Killing a person as punishment for allegedly committing a crime

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment by the United States federal government</span> Legal penalty in the United States

Capital punishment is a legal punishment under the criminal justice system of the United States federal government. It is the most serious punishment that could be imposed under federal law. The serious crimes that warrant this punishment include treason, espionage, murder, large-scale drug trafficking, or attempted murder of a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.

Capital punishment was abolished in Colorado in 2020. It was legal from 1974 until 2020 prior to it being abolished in all future cases.

Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution, even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in South Korea. As of December 2012, there were at least 60 people on death row in South Korea. The method of execution is hanging.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Guatemala, and is carried out by lethal injection and, to a lesser extent, the firing squad. The death penalty today remains only in Guatemala's military codes of justice, and was abolished for civilian offences in October 2017.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the United Arab Emirates.

Capital punishment in Kazakhstan was abolished for all crimes in 2021. Until 2021, it had been abolished for ordinary crimes but was still permitted for crimes occurring in special circumstances. The legal method of execution in Kazakhstan had been shooting, specifically a single shot to the back of the head.

Capital punishment has been a legal penalty in Kenya since before its independence, and continues to be so under Kenyan law. No executions have been carried out in Kenya since 1987, when Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu, leaders of the 1982 coup d'état attempt, were hanged for treason.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Nigeria.

Capital punishment remains a legal penalty for multiple crimes in the Gambia. However, the country has taken recent steps towards abolishing the death penalty.

Capital punishment in Malawi is a legal punishment for certain crimes. The country abolished the death penalty following a Malawian Supreme Court ruling in 2021, but it was soon reinstated. However, the country is currently under a death penalty moratorium, which has been in place since the latest execution in 1992.

Capital punishment has been abolished in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone abolished capital punishment in July 2021 following a decision by the nation's Parliament.

Capital punishment is no longer a legal punishment in Rwanda. The death penalty was abolished in the country in 2007.

Capital punishment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is legal; however, the nation has not carried out any executions since 2003, meaning that the country experienced a de facto moratorium on the death penalty from their latest executions in 2003 until March 2024.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Cameroon. However, the country not carried out any official executions since 1997, making it de facto abolitionist, since it also has a moratorium.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Uganda. The death penalty was likely last carried out in 1999, although some sources say the last execution in Uganda took place in 2005. Regardless, Uganda is interchangeably considered a retentionist state with regard to capital punishment, due to absence of "an established practice or policy against carrying out executions," as well as a de facto abolitionist state due to the lack of any executions for over one decade.

References

  1. ↑ "Death Penalty Worldwide". The Death Penalty Worldwide database. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Twentieth Century Atlas - Death Tolls". users.erols.com.
  3. ↑ O'Grady, Mary Anastasia (30 December 2005). "Counting Castro's Victims". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ↑ "Resources and Information". www.cubaverdad.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
  5. ↑ "Dödsstraffet i världen Dödsstraffet Mänskliga rättigheter Amnesty" [The death penalty in the world The death penalty Human rights Amnesty] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  6. ↑ "United States Department of State".
  7. ↑ "when three men were executed by firing squad for ferry hijacking". The Independent .
  8. ↑ "Cuba, Hijack Timeline, 21st Century". www.mapreport.com.
  9. ↑ "Cuba ferry hostages released". BBC News. April 4, 2003 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "Cuba ferry hijackers executed". BBC News. 2003-04-11. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  11. ↑ "Cuba commutes sentence of last death row inmate". BBC News. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2022-03-01.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.