The Future

To mark 50 years of fighting the death penalty, our Five Conversations film series traces the moments, clients and partnerships that have shaped our history and continue to inform our work as we look to the future. This episode, The Action, examines the complexities of advocating for abolition.

In this conversation, our Co-Executive Directors Saul Lehrfreund and Parvais Jabbar reflect on three decades years of leading The Death Penalty Project. Amidst reflections on how the organisation developed from fighting to prevent individual executions, to now influencing policy reform at the domestic and international level, they discuss the continued urgency of the death penalty as a critical human rights issue and what is next for the organisation in our mission to end capital punishment, everywhere.
In this conversation, our Co-Executive Directors Saul Lehrfreund and Parvais Jabbar reflect on three decades years of leading The Death Penalty Project. Amidst reflections on how the organisation developed from fighting to prevent individual executions, to now influencing policy reform at the domestic and international level, they discuss the continued urgency of the death penalty as a critical human rights issue and what is next for the organisation in our mission to end capital punishment, everywhere.

Our Anniversary Campaign: 50 years of fighting capital punishment

50 years ago, Simons Muirhead Burton represented Michael de Freitas in a high-profile death penalty case in Trinidad and Tobago. Michael was executed, sparking a commitment within the firm to take on more death penalty cases. This marked the beginning of what would become The Death Penalty Project.

When this work began in the 1970s, only 20 countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, that number stands at 125. But the fight is far from over. More than 28,000 people are estimated to be on death row worldwide, and executions are on the rise.

We are death penalty experts, taking action alongside our partners for criminal justice reform where the death penalty and its legacy still exists. After five decades of impactful action, we need your support to continue to fuel our work until the death penalty has ended, everywhere.

Make a donation to our Anniversary Fund today