Where we research

The Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU) is international in its reach and includes all jurisdictions that retain the death penalty. It pays particular attention, however, to South and Southeast Asia, the Commonwealth countries of Africa and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, where there are few due process protections and retention for crimes that are not typically thought of as the most serious. In these countries, there is little scholarship on the death penalty and our commitment to working with academic and civil society partners can help to build capacity for research and engagement that could have an impact on the retention and administration of capital punishment.

Our recent work, in collaboration with our partner organisations, has included research on capital punishment in Indonesia, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya and Malaysia as well as a project researching foreign nationals on death row across Asia and the Middle East. A new three-year project, funded by the ESRC, on people on death row for drug offences across Asia and the Middle East started in 2022.