Death penalty for drug offenders in Southeast Asia: Weakening of resistance to change?

Although the global movement towards abolition of the death penalty has been supported by an increasing number of countries in the world, the number of persons executed for drug offences actually increased in the last few years. Known executions for drug offences now account for more than 40 per cent of all global executions. Most such executions take place in Asia. Of the 34 countries in the world that still retain the death penalty for drug offenders, all nine of those identified as “high application states” (China, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Vietnam) are found in Asia. However, resistance to change is not as strong as before and there are hopeful shifts in drug policies in the region. This article provides an overview of the state of play regarding the death penalty for drug offender s in Southeast Asia.