HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WRITES TO UNITED STATES PRESIDENT ON APPLICATION OF DEATH PENALTY TO MENTALLY DISABLED

15 June 2001


Welcomes Statement that Capital Punishment Should Never Be Applied
to "Mentally Retarded"; Urges Intervention in Cases of
Mentally Disabled Awaiting Execution


The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has welcomed the statement by United States President George W. Bush on 11 June that the death penalty should never be applied to any individual who is "mentally retarded".

"I have written to President Bush, in the light of this statement, urging him to intervene in several cases where persons with mental disabilities are awaiting execution in the United States", Mrs. Robinson said today. "In particular, I have asked that he make his administration's views known to the courts considering these cases and to the State governors considering signing legislation to ban this practice. The world would welcome American leadership on this very important issue".

The High Commissioner noted that the principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proscribing cruel and inhuman punishment were similar to those in the American Constitution prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.

While reiterating her well-known opposition to the death penalty, the High Commissioner said: "The human rights of people with mental disabilities have been widely neglected in virtually every country. I welcome President Bush's recognition of this very important issue, which has most recently been raised by several widely respected former American diplomats in a filing before the U.S. Supreme Court. I believe the President's statement could mark a turning point - - not only with respect to the right to life itself but with respect to the other human rights of people with mental disabilities who are disproportionately represented in prisons throughout the world".

"This would be a major step in the fight for the rights of those with mental disabilities - one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of all - and a significant step forward in making the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights truly universal", Mrs. Robinson said.


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