Background

Troy Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia in 1989. No physical evidence directly links him to the murder – no murder weapon was ever found. The case against Troy Davis primarily rested on witness testimony. Since his trial, seven of nine key witnesses have recanted or changed their testimony, some alleging police coercion.

In 2009, the US Supreme Court ordered a federal evidentiary hearing to review Troy Davis’ innocence claim. At the 2010 hearing, US District Court Judge William Moore addressed whether Troy Davis could show “by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in the light of the new evidence” that had emerged since his 1991 murder trial. Under this “extraordinarily high” standard, Judge Moore wrote in his August 2010 opinion, “Mr Davis is not innocent”. Elsewhere in his ruling, he acknowledged that the new evidence presented by Troy Davis cast “some additional, minimal” doubt on his conviction, and that the state’s case was not “ironclad”. In 1991, the jury had found Troy Davis guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Moore noted, “but not to a mathematical certainty”.

In 2007 Troy Davis was less than 24 hours from execution when the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a stay. The Board said that it would not allow an execution to go ahead “unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused”. Since then Troy Davis has faced two more execution dates, both in 2008, which were stayed by the courts.

Amnesty International believes that the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state. This cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice.

It violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.

An execution – just like torture – involves a deliberate assault on a prisoner. It is often used disproportionately against the poor, the powerless and the marginalized, as well as against people whom repressive governments want to eliminate.

Amnesty International does not know if Troy Davis is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is facing execution.

As an abolitionist organization, Amnesty opposes his death sentence either way. It nevertheless believes that this is one in a long line of cases in the USA that should give even ardent supporters of the death penalty pause for thought. For it provides further evidence of the danger, inherent in the death penalty, of irrevocable error. Amnesty International considers that the execution of Troy Davis would contravene the international standard which states that the death penalty may not be imposed when there is any room for an alternative explanation of the facts.

Soon after its creation in 1961, Amnesty International began sending appeals to prevent the execution of prisoners of conscience.

Amnesty opposes the death penalty regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.

The organization began its global campaign against the death penalty in 1977. At that time only 16 countries had abolished capital punishment. More than thirty years later, 139 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. Fifty-eight countries are now classified as retentionist and far fewer use it. In fact the progress made towards abolition of the death penalty during the past ten years alone is enormous, with more than 30 countries becoming abolitionist in law or in practice. The majority of the world’s executions take place in only a few countries: China, North Korea, Iran & and the United States of America.

The worldwide trend towards abolition of the death penalty recorded further progress in 2010. In 2010, 23 countries carried out executions and 67 imposed death sentences in 2010. Methods of execution in 2010 included beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting.

One more country, Gabon, abolished the death penalty for all crimes and the President of Mongolia established an official moratorium on executions. For the third time, the UN General Assembly adopted with more support than ever before a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Only one European country – Belarus – maintains the practice. Amnesty International is currently actively campaigning for the elimination of the death penalty in Belarus.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/end-death-penalty-belarus

You can follow Amnesty’s ongoing work for the abolition of the death penalty on our Death Penalty blog
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog2.php?blog=abolish_death_penalty

An overview of the death penalty is published annually in the Amnesty International Annual Report. Download an overview of the death penalty in 2010
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/001/2011/en/ea1b6b25-a62a-4074-927d-ba51e88df2e9/act500012011en.pdf