Film screenings and death penalty updates

Last week, CPJP gathered in Melbourne for a screening of GUILTY – a powerful film tracing Myuran Sukumaran’s final 72 hours, before he was executed alongside fellow Australian Andrew Chan in Indonesia on 29 April 2015.

The evening was hosted in partnership with Bayside Community Care, and it was wonderful to be joined by so many people who share our commitment to a world without the death penalty.

CPJP Ambassador Christie Buckingham, who served as Myuran's spiritual witness at his execution, gave a rare and deeply moving account of her years alongside him – his fears, his hope, and even the light moments right up until the end. Filmmaker Maggie Miles spoke to the weight and care that went into making the film, including working closely with Myuran's family through something still so raw, because they believed – as we do – that this story matters.

Each year since their executions, we pause to remember Myuran and Andrew. Evenings like last week help ensure that their story continues to be told, and that the case against the death penalty is never forgotten.

This year Indonesia stands on the cusp of a historic milestone. Next month will mark 10 years since its last execution, at which point it will qualify as a de facto abolitionist state under United Nations criteria.

Couldn’t join us, but would like to support our work? With the end of the financial year fast approaching, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. Every contribution helps.

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Brisbane film screening: Stolen Lives

Later this month on Thursday 25 June, our friends in Brisbane are screening Stolen Lives, a poignant new documentary about Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle, whose lives were destined to come together in an extraordinary way. After both were wrongfully sentenced to death and exonerated, they met, fell in love and got married – going on to dedicate their lives to helping fellow exonerees.

Hosted by Julian Wagner Memorial Fund, Australians Against Capital Punishment and the Griffith University Innocence Project. All funds raised will help Australian volunteer lawyers supporting people facing the death penalty around the world.

Buy tickets for Stolen Lives

New report from Amnesty International: Death Sentences and Executions 2025

Each year, Amnesty International releases a landmark report monitoring the use of the death penalty worldwide.

In 2025, known executions increased by 78% from 2024, with 2,707 people executed. Almost half were for drug-related offences, despite international law restricting the death penalty to intentional killing.

While these figures are shocking, Amnesty International is clear that it is due to a small group of increasingly isolated states, with the report stating:

“In a global context where the international human rights system was under unprecedented and existential threats, progress towards abolition continued.”

Read Amnesty International’s full report

Spotlight on executing countries

Seventeen countries carried out executions in 2025, with the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia accounting for 93% of the known executions. China is believed to execute in the thousands, but figures are secret and therefore not included in Amnesty’s report.

Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran executed at least 2,159 people in 2025 – more than double the number in 2024 and 80% of all known executions globally. This surged in the second half of 2025, with more than twice as many executions as in the first six months.

While the internet blackout severely limited information from Iran, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has documented at least 711 executions so far in 2026. This includes the execution of people arrested during the January 2026 protests, with reports of confessions extracted via torture. With internet access beginning to be restored this month, the true numbers may come to light.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia executed at least 356 people in 2025, with drug-related offences accounting for 67% of those killed last year.

Earlier this year, CPJP joined 37 international human rights organisations in calling for an immediate halt to executions in Saudi Arabia, as executions surpassed 2,000 since 2015. This includes the execution of child defendants, the disproportionate executions of foreign nationals, and politically motivated executions.

Singapore

Singapore was the only member of the Commonwealth to execute people in 2025, carrying out 17 executions, almost double those in 2024 and the highest number since 2003. In 2026, Singapore has already executed 12 people, all for drug-related offences.

In last month’s peer review of Singapore’s human rights record by UN member states, 41 recommendations were made about the death penalty, many calling on Singapore to move towards abolition. For a comprehensive update, we recommend this blog post by Singaporean journalist and activist, Kirsten Han.

United States of America

The USA is the only country in the Americas to execute people. Forty-seven people were executed in 2025, the highest number since 2009. So far in 2026, 15 people have been executed.

The controversial nitrogen gas method of execution has been under the spotlight in recent weeks, culminating in the US Supreme Court blocking Alabama's planned execution of Jeffery Lee in a 6-3 decision on 11 June. Nitrogen gas suffocation was first used in Alabama in 2024 and has since been used to execute a further six people in Alabama and one person in Louisiana.

In late May, a federal judge initially ruled that execution by nitrogen gas is constitutionally permissible, rejecting arguments that it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. However, a federal appeals court found the method unconstitutional, concluding that the one to three minutes of suffering it causes is "intolerable." The US Supreme Court then declined Alabama's last-minute request to overturn that ruling. Lee's execution by nitrogen gas is blocked, but the state has since applied to the Alabama Supreme Court to execute him by lethal injection instead.

Also in May, the state of Tennessee gave Tony Carruthers a one-year reprieve after an attempted execution via lethal injection failed. This occurred despite serious concerns that he was wrongfully convicted and Tennessee’s refusal to conduct forensic testing that his lawyers believe could exonerate him.

Podcast recommendations

We regularly hear that one of the best ways to truly understand the human aspect of the death penalty is through personal stories. Our film screenings are one way to bring these to you. But there are more ways to engage, including some great podcast episodes.

The latest episode of Voices Beyond Verdicts, a podcast by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, tells the story of Mary Jane Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker and trafficking victim, who was convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia and scheduled to be executed alongside Andrew and Myuran. Granted a last-minute reprieve, Mary Jane spent almost 10 more years on death row before being repatriated to the Philippines in December 2024, where she remains detained while her lawyers argue there is no legal basis for her ongoing imprisonment.

The Hon. Lex Lasry AM KC will be familiar to many of you. A CPJP Ambassador, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and current Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, he is well known for his longstanding, outspoken opposition to the death penalty. Recently Lex spoke with the William & Lonsdale Lives in the Law podcast, stating:

“What the death penalty does is lower the government of the country that imposes it to the level of the criminal. It’s just judicial murder.”

Ways you can support CPJP’s work

You can purchase a t-shirt or tote bag featuring some of the hauntingly beautiful artwork created by Myuran Sukumaran. We remain ever grateful to Myuran’s family, the Campbelltown Arts Centre and Das T-Shirt Automat for this collaboration.

Buy a t-shirt or tote bag

Released in 2022, The Penalty is Death is an updated edition of the classic 1968 study of capital punishment, with a revised introduction by Barry Jones AC. Available as a paperback or e-book, it was first published following the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the last person to be executed in Australia. As a CPJP Ambassador, Barry Jones AC generously donates all proceeds from sales of The Penalty is Death to support our work.

Buy The Penalty is Death

We have partnered with Willed, which provides a simple, cost-effective means to write your will and, if you wish, to leave a bequest to CPJP.

Create a will

If you would like to apply for our overseas volunteer program in the United States, please get in touch.

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