State Sponsors of Terrorism, Worldwide Death Penalty Database
I was checking out a thread downstairs yesterday and noticed the mention of Iran with regard to state sponsorship of terrorism, so I’d like to point out that the Department of State puts out a fairly detailed yearly report called Country Reports on Terrorism:
U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by April 30 of each year, a full and complete report on terrorism with regard to those countries and groups meeting criteria set forth in the legislation. This annual report is entitled Country Reports on Terrorism. Beginning with the report for 2004, it replaced the previously published Patterns of Global Terrorism. […]
The reports contain a chapter specifically devoted to state sponsors of terrorism. There are four countries the U.S. has designated as state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. In case you’re not aware of how a country gets on the list (I wasn’t), the determination is based on the following criteria:
Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws: section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act. Taken together, the four main categories of sanctions resulting from designation under these authorities include restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions. […]
Based on the reports I looked at, it appears they aren’t released until sometime between May-August, so I guess we should expect to see a new one for 2013 within the next 3-6 months.
Here’s the one for 2012 for anyone who’s interested:
Additionally, since the death penalty (in Iran) was also mentioned in the thread I linked to above, and since I know many here are against it regardless of which country it happens in, I began searching and found a site called Death Penalty Worldwide which provides a searchable worldwide death penalty database as well as a mini “Country of the Day” profile that changes on each page refresh.
Being wary of any site I’m unfamiliar with, I read their About Us and FAQ pages, then Googled the site’s creator, Professor Sandra Babcock. Based on the half dozen items I read, she appears to be a well-respected Clinical Professor of Law.