International Commission Against the Death Penalty


The International Commission against the Death Penalty was founded in Madrid in October 2010, as a result of a Spanish initiative. ICDP is an independent body composed of 16 commissioners who have experience in international law and human rights, and are committed to global abolition of capital punishment. Their experience, background, geographical representation and personal involvement towards abolishing the death penalty, enables them to engage with senior officials from different countries.

Supporting group

The Commission is supported by a diverse group of 19 countries from all world regions. ICDP opposes capital punishment in all situations, and urges the immediate establishment of a universal moratorium on executions as a step towards total abolition of the death penalty.

ICDP commissioners

The work of ICDP is varied: letters and statements about specific cases are issued urging States not to carry out executions and condemns carried out executions. ICDP organizes and attends meetings and events to promote abolition of the death penalty.
ICDP’s Members conduct country missions and engage dialogue with different stakeholders working on the abolition, such as NGOs, government representatives, members of parliament. For example, Commissioner Ruth Dreifuss visited Tajikistan in 2011 and 2013 “to advocate for full abolition of the death penalty in the national law”.
Several reports and opinion pieces have been published by ICDP, including a report on How States abolish the death penalty “which reviews the processes towards abolition of capital punishment by analysing the experiences of 13 States”.