USA

“I had always known, of course, that there were imperfections in the system, but I honestly thought that when a person faced death, he or she would at least be given adequate legal defense. I thought the Constitution promised that.” Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking.

Machinery of Death: State Executions in the USA

Overview Police Brutality Human Rights Violations on the US-Mexico Border Abuse of Prisoners Women in Detention Arbitary detention of asylum-seekers Super-maximum security Death Penalty Racism and the death penalty International Context FAQ

The US is one of four countries which together account for 75 percent of all state executions in the world. Today, more than 3500 people wait on death row. In disregard of international standards, the inmates on death row include 70 people sentenced for crimes committed under the age of 18.

More than 100 countries have abolished the death penalty because it’s inhumane and it doesn’t work. Although restoring the death penalty has had no impact on the murder rate in the US, the US is increasing its rate of executions day by day. As a consequence, innocent people are dying, many because of the colour of their skin.

African Americans make up 12 per cent of the US population, but 42 per cent of those on death row. Statistics show that a death sentence is most likely if the victim is white and the person convicted of the crime is a person of colour.

More than 70 people have been released from death row in the last 20 years after evidence of their wrongful conviction came to light. Others haven’t been so lucky.

Since 1991, five Texas executions have proceeded despite lingering doubts over the defendant’s guilt. In January 1995, Texas executed Jesse Jacobs even though his prosecutors admitted that he was not the actual killer and may not ever have been present when the murder was committed.

If you are charged with a capital crime in the US and cannot afford a competent lawyer, you are more likely to be sentenced to death. Defendants routinely receive grossly inadequate legal support. Calvin Burdine, an openly gay man, awaits execution in Texas. During his trial, Burdine’s lawyer referred to “queens” and “fairies,” and failed to interview a single witness in his preparations. The lawyer even fell asleep during the trial.

Spurred by revulsion at the atrocities of World War II, the international community adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. At its heart is the right of every human being to life and to freedom from cruel treatment. The death penalty is a calculated denial of those basic, universal rights.

As a step toward abolishing the death penalty, Amnesty International is calling on US officials to ban the execution of children, child offenders and the mentally impaired.