The Death Penalty in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados

In order to investigate the important question of why the countries of the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados are yet to abolish the death penalty, despite not carrying out executions for many years, The Death Penalty Project carried out research, the first of its kind, in the 6 member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) as well as Barbados.

The research, carried out in 2020, aimed to uncover possible reasons as to why this part of the world is so reluctant to eradicate the death penalty, despite the punishment being barely used and when over 75% of countries around the world have abolished.

This briefing note sets out the key findings from the research. The full study is available to download or read online here.