Mapping Death Row

Foreign Nationals on Death Row

Between 2020 and 2023, the DPRU undertook a project working with a network of human rights NGOs, including The Death Penalty Project, Eleos Justice, Harm Reduction International, Justice Project Pakistan, Project 39a, and ADPAN, among others, researching foreign nationals at risk of capital punishment in Asia and the Middle East, funded by the ESRC.

In collaboration with HURIDOCS (an NGO that helps human rights organisations gather, organise and present data for social good) we developed an interactive database on foreign nationals at risk of the death penalty that recorded socio-demographic, jurisdictional and offence-related data as well as producing country reports, thematic reports, case studies and other resources on each retentionist country in these regions. It covered cases of foreign nationals sentenced to death or executed across these two regions between 2016 and 2021.

This project was intended to support academic researchers and researchers in civil society organisations to better understand how being a foreign national can impact on the likelihood of being convicted and sentenced to death for a capital offence and any patterns of difference and disadvantage. It was also intended to assist legal and consulate representatives to better support and assist foreign nationals on death row.

As part of this project, the DPRU produced a number of country briefing reports, profiling the status of foreign nationals on death row in the retentiontionist and abolitionist de facto jurisdictions of Asia and the Middle East. These country reports, which were published in August 2023, are available below:

Country reports

• Afghanistan - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2021)

• Bahrain - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Bangladesh - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Brunei Darussalam - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• China - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Egypt - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• India - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Indonesia - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Iran - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Iraq - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Japan - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Jordan - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Kuwait - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Laos - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Lebanon - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Maldives - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Myanmar - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• North Korea - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Oman - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Pakistan - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Qatar - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Saudi Arabia - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Singapore - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• South Korea - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Sri Lanka - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Taiwan - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Thailand - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• United Arab Emirates - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)

• Vietnam - Foreign nationals and the death penalty country report (2023)