A recent report from a far-reaching commission established by the Californian senate on the administration of capital punishment in the state concluded that “the system is broken”.

A recent visit to Taiwan by a joint World Coalition-ADPAN delegation left the impression that the Asian island was on course to “join a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty”, as was reported in the local media.

As the World Coalition held its general meeting in Nantes at the end of June, discussions focussed on the involvement of corporations and local authorities.

On June 17, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Shinji Mutsuda and Yoshio Yamazaki were executed in Japan. Lawyer Maiko Tagusari, who defended one of the three men, denounces the rising number of executions in her country.

A World Coalition delegation found the door closed on June 16 when they attempted to handover to the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong a petition urging for changes in the death penalty system in China.

Between 12-14 May, representatives from Arab civil society organisations gathered in Alexandria, Egypt at the invitation of the Swedish Institute to discuss the implementation of the UN moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the Arab world.

With public meetings, football matches and media action Malian activists have been covering all bases to try to push through adoption of a law abolishing the death penalty before the end of the parliamentary session.

Two leading American grassroots organisations have come together to raise awareness about the execution of mentally ill defendants.

A study of the rulings by New Delhi's Supreme Court for more than 50 years concluded that "the administration of the death penalty in India is manifestly flawed".

The Jordan-based Amman Centre for Human Rights has released its second annual report on the status of the death penalty in Arab countries. The report gives both an overview of the region and a detailed look at each Arab state.