Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
March 2024
We are pleased to attach the February – March death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Note as ever, there are no details from China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than any other country, because the information is a state secret.
January 2024
Kenneth Smith was executed yesterday (25 January) in Alabama after serving over 30 years on death row. What brought the execution to world-wide attention was the use of nitrogen hypoxia as the chosen method. Reports seem to show that the execution was prolonged and took over 20 minutes to complete. One report said he ‘thrashed violently’ while dying. This is the first time the gas has been used to execute someone and is as a result of pharmaceutical companies, in America and elsewhere, being reluctant to supply the drugs needed for lethal injection.
The jury in his trial voted for a life sentence but the judge in the case overruled them.
This was not the first attempt at executing Smith: there was an attempt in November 2022 by lethal injection but which failed after several unsuccessful efforts to find a vein. Smith suffered considerably during and after that attempt.
Executions are declining in the USA, the only country in the Americas which still executes its citizens.
Amnesty is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.
Sources: BBC; Death Penalty Information Center; Montgomery Advertiser; Birmingham Real-Time News
January 2024
We attach the latest monthly death penalty report around the world for the period mid December 2023 to mid January 2024 thanks to group member Lesley for its preparation. We note as usual that there is no information from China – believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined – because the information is a state secret. It is noted that in 2023, the USA was the only G7 country to execute people with Texas the state carrying out most executions.
December 2023
We are pleased to attach the latest monthly death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in preparing it. As well as news from America, we report Iran has used the conflict in Gaza to mount a series of executions hoping the world will not notice. For the first time we include a small item about China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but where details are a state secret.
November 2023
We are pleased to attach the death penalty report for the period mid October to mid November thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. An interesting item is the shift in opinion in the USA away from the use of the penalty. Once again, we note that China – believed to be the world’s largest user of the penalty – does not feature as all details are a state secret.
October 2023
We are pleased to attach the death penalty report for mid-September to mid-October 2023 thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling the information. The report mentions the World Day Against the Death Penalty in which several group members took part sending an email and/or an email to Singapore concerning its use of the penalty for drugs offences. Note as ever that China does not feature as the details are a state secret. The country is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined.
September 2023
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report produced by group member Lesley for the period mid August to mid September 2023. As ever there is good news and bad with some countries engaged in heavy use of the penalty. China – believed to be the world’s largest executioner of its citizens – is briefly mentioned but detailed statistics are not available because they are a state secret. It is depressing to note in the UK, that following the conviction of Lucy Letby of murdering new born infants and attempting to murder others, a national newspaper ran a poll showing a strong majority to bring the death penalty back for such crimes.
July 2023
We are pleased to attach the death penalty report for mid June to July thanks to group member Lesley for its preparation. Features developments in USA, Tanzania and Malaysia. Note there is no material on China which is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together but details are a state secret.
May 2023
We are pleased to attach the latest report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Note that although China appears briefly, it remains the country thought to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world combined but details are a state secret.
May 2023
Richard Glossip has been on death row in Oklahoma, USA, for 25 years for a murder it seems likely he did not commit. He was accused of the murder of motel owner Barry van Treese in 1997. The conviction was largely based on the plea bargain struck by Justin Sneed, who has a history of mental illness, in a deal which saved his own life.
Two independent investigations have cast doubt on the veracity of the trial. First the only evidence seemed to be the plea bargain by Sneed who in fact admitted committing the murder. Further testimony by prison inmates was not given to the jury. The State withheld evidence and other evidence was either lost or destroyed by the DA’s office.
As Mr Glossip’s execution date of May 18th draws near, there has been a flurry of activity to get it delayed or vacated. On April 7th, the Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond – a pro death penalty Republican – asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate the conviction. He said “the only witness to allege Mr Glossip was involved in this case cannot be believed, it is unconscionable for the State to move forward with his execution“.
On April 20th, the Oklahoma Court upholds the conviction. On 26th April the Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend clemency on 2-2 vote which meant the Governor, Kevin Stitt, was unable to do so either.
On May 5th, the Supreme Court of the United States stays the execution pending the disposition of two writs of certiorari. Should they be denied this stay will terminate automatically.
So that is the current position. The case reveals some troubling aspects of the legal system in this instance. Relying on plea bargain evidence should not be the sole justification for a conviction let alone an execution. The failure to present all the evidence to court is also questionable and the loss or destruction of other evidence is also to be deplored. The fundamental problem with the death penalty is that mistakes cannot ever be rectified once the deed is done.
We must hope that the intervention of the Supreme Court will lead to the state authorities to think again.
Sources: Death Penalty Information Centre; Wikipedia; New York Times, Save Richard Glossip Campaign
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 