Amnesty International Highlights America's And George W Bush' S Appalling Death Penalty Record
Amnesty International New Zealand will protest the heinous use of the death penalty by America and George W Bush on the
eve of his presidential inauguration.
A vigil will occur outside the:
American Consulate
(Citibank Building, 23 Customs Street East, Auckland)
7.30am-9am,
Friday, January 19
"As the United States inaugurates a new president, state executioners have already killed the first of 13 prisoners set
to die this month", says Amnesty International New Zealand Anti-Death Penalty Co-ordinator, John Lee.
"We, as members of Amnesty International in New Zealand, believe that the United States of America must recognize the
damage being done to its international reputation by this relentless and increasingly isolated use of a punishment which
fallible, brutal and has no demonstrable effect on violent crime."
The inherent flaws within the death penalty are revealed when looking at just four of the 13 people to be executed in
America this month.
Wanda Jean Allen's jury was left unaware of her substantial mental impairments due to her lawyer's inexperience and
inadequate resources.
Dion Smallwood, suffering from serious untreated mental illness at the time of his crime, is due to be executed in
Oklahoma imminently (18 January American time)
Bobby Harris is due to be executed in North Carolina tomorrow (19 January American time). His lawyer was so ill with
cancer that he failed to prepare adequately for the trial, and the jury never heard important mitigating evidence.
Philip Workman is due to be put to death in Tennessee on 31 January for killing a police officer during a robbery. There
is strong evidence that he did not fire the fatal bullet.
During George W. Bush's five-year governorship, 152 men and women were put to death in Texas, almost twice the amount
killed in any other state in over two decades. In many cases, Texas violated international human rights safeguards in
its pursuit of judicial killing.
"President Bill Clinton failed to take any meaningful stand against violations of US obligations relating to the death
penalty occurring at state level. Despite George W Bush's disturbing record on capital punishment, Amnesty International
calls on him to broaden his view of justice and to take into account international standards of human rights and
decency," says Mr Lee.
"A majority of countries have turned their backs on the death penalty and found alternative ways to confront violent
crime. It's time America did the same," concludes Mr Lee.