UNITED NATIONS INVESTIGATOR CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO HALT EXECUTIONS UNTIL IT CAN ENSURE FAIRNESS AND IMPARTIALITY IN USE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

HR/98/21
3 April 1998


The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions recommends that the United States stop executions until it can ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process.

The Special Rapporteur, Bacre Waly Ndiaye (Senegal), visited the United States from 21 September to 8 October 1997. He requested the visit after receiving reports which suggested that the guarantees and safeguards set forth in international instruments relating to fair trial procedures and specific restrictions on the death penalty were not being fully observed.

During his mission, he met officials of the United States Federal Government in Washington, DC, and visited the states of New York, Florida, Texas and California, as well as non-governmental organizations and victims? families. He also visited death row inmates in Huntsville, Texas.

In his report to the Commission on Human Rights (document E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.3), the Special Rapporteur urged continued respect for the de facto moratorium in existence since 1984 on the execution of women. Mr. Ndiaye says he deeply regrets that the execution of Karla Faye Tucker in Texas last February ended this moratorium. Prior to the execution, he had sent an appeal to the United States authorities requesting clemency for Ms. Tucker on humanitarian grounds.

The Special Rapporteur says the increase in the use of the death penalty in the United States runs counter to the international trend towards decreasing the number of offenses punishable by death and decisions in many countries around the world to abolish the death penalty. In the United States, Mr. Ndiaye observed a tendency to increase the application of the death penalty both at the state level and the Federal level, where the scope of this punishment has been dramatically extended.

In his report, the Special Rapporteur notes that the small percentage of defendants who receive a death sentence in the United States are not necessarily those who commit the most heinous crimes. Many factors other than the crime itself appear to influence the imposition of a death sentence. Race and economic status, both of the victims and the defendants, are key elements in determining whether the death penalty is applied. Those who are able to afford expert legal representation have less of a chance of being sentenced to death than those who cannot.

The Special Rapporteur's report highlights what he sees as the politics influencing the use of the death penalty, particularly during election campaigns. He believes the system of election of judges to relatively short terms of office, and the practice of requesting financial contributions for election campaigns, particularly from members of the Bar and the public, could put at risk the independence and impartiality of the elected members of the judiciary.

Further, the discretionary powers of the prosecutor as to whether or not to seek the death penalty raises serious concern regarding the fairness of its administration.

The Special Rapporteur notes that people with reservations regarding the death penalty are less likely to sit as jurors and argues that a "death qualified jury" will be predisposed to apply the harshest sentence. He is convinced that such a jury does not represent the conscience of the community as a whole, but only the views of that part of the community which favours capital punishment.

The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned by the current practice of imposing death sentences on juveniles which, he says, violates international law. He is also concerned about the execution of mentally retarded and insane persons. The Special Rapporteur deplores these practices and sees them as a disturbing step backwards in the promotion and protection of the right to life.

Mr. Ndiaye says that because of the definitive nature of a death sentence, a process leading to its imposition must comply fully with the highest safeguards and fair-trial standards, and must be in accordance with restrictions imposed by international law. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that, in the United States, guarantees and safeguards, as well as specific restrictions on capital punishment, are not fully respected.

While acknowledging the difficulties that authorities face in fighting violent crime, he believes that solutions other than the increasing use of the death penalty need to be sought. Moreover, the inherent cruelty of executions risks fostering and perpetuating a culture of violence.