WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has released a new report revealing how the de facto abolition of executions often hides the “human, political and legal effects” of retaining death penalty laws, urging greater scrutiny of nations that have halted executions but not repealed capital punishment.
Published Oct. 31, 2025, and updated Nov. 3, 2025, the DPIC report marks the 40th anniversary of the United Nations’ creation of the “abolitionist de facto” (ADF) category. Titled Between Retention and Abolition: Making Sense of a Death Penalty Without Executions, the study examines how countries that have not executed anyone in more than a decade—or have an official moratorium—continue to use capital punishment as a political and symbolic tool.
The DPIC, a national nonprofit providing data and analysis on capital punishment, serves as a leading source for policymakers, journalists, and the public. For more than 30 years, the organization has been known for its independent reporting and analysis. According to its statement, DPIC “does not take a position on the death penalty itself but is critical of problems in its application.”
The report was authored by researchers from the U.K.-based Death Penalty Project and the Death Penalty Research Unit at the University of Oxford. The authors said the study fills a major knowledge gap about ADF states, offering examples of their practices and underlying rationales.
“ADF states should be praised for the cessation of executions, but greater attention must be paid to their active contribution to the persistence of capital punishment worldwide,” the DPIC stated.
“The ADF category remains a critical but understudied component of the global death penalty landscape. Recognising the complex, and often contradictory, functions of the death penalty in these states is essential for abolitionist efforts,” the report added.
There are currently 42 ADF countries, including 20 in Africa and 13 in the Caribbean. Although they have not carried out executions, these nations differ in how active their death penalty systems remain. Some continue to impose new death sentences, with judges using capital punishment symbolically to convey the seriousness of crimes, even when executions are unlikely.
In 2024, at least 263 new death sentences were imposed in ADF countries. Seventy percent of those nations still maintain death rows, with a combined population of at least 2,850 individuals—many of whom have endured decades of confinement under harsh conditions that cause severe psychological harm.
Beyond its legal implications, the death penalty also plays a political role. In several ADF countries, politicians invoke it to bolster “tough on crime” agendas, sometimes proposing its expansion to new offenses despite moratoriums. According to DPIC, “the report proposes a ‘competing logics’ theoretical framework,” suggesting ADF status can arise when a country seeks to appear firm on crime domestically while avoiding international condemnation.
While ADF status has often been viewed as a step toward abolition, the report cautions against such assumptions. Some nations that ultimately abolished the death penalty never had ADF status, and others have resumed executions after years of inactivity. Many have remained in limbo for decades, trapped by political convenience and public inattention.
The report warns that the absence of executions can dull public awareness about capital punishment’s realities, allowing governments to retain it as a symbol of control. DPIC concludes that these nations face “hidden human, political and legal effects of retaining death penalty laws” and warns that “time can be the enemy of progress.”
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