Ashanti Chimurenga - USA

Directress of the Amnesty International Program for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States

ABSTRACT: Amnesty International wrote an open letter to President Bill Clinton to urge the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. Capital sentences are often issued indiscriminately against the poor, minorities, mentally handicapped and people who cannot afford a decent lawyer. The United States allow the execution of minors.

("HANDS OFF CAIN", 1 February 1994)

Amnesty International launched a major challenge to the American president Bill Clinton so that, in his capacity as the highest political representative of the nation, he pronounce himself on the fundamental value of life, which is violated by capital executions. In an open letter on the use of the death penalty addressed to Bill Clinton, in January this year Amnesty expressed its position. Thus, we asked President Clinton to appoint a presidential committee to examine and issue reports on all aspects related to the use of the death penalty. The letter asks to urge the States to adopt an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty until the commission has received the findings of the research.

"There is no government act more serious than that of deliberately killing a human being" - declared Amnesty. We say the time has come for the U.S. government to examine at the highest possible level all the available information on the social and constitutional impact and on the actual request of such a penalty.

In 1993 alone, ten States have carried out the execution of 38 human beings. The number of executions has grown since 1976, when the United States Supreme Court allowed the reintroduction of the death penalty, in spite of the fact that it was evident that it is not a deterrent, but in fact diverts economic resources from a use aimed to reduce crime. Millions of dollars are spent to kill, and society is less safer every day. While we witness a surge of the use of the death penalty, the federal congress has not yet pronounced itself on the document that denounces the racism of the administration of justice and aims to obtain legislative measure avoiding sentences based on racial prejudice.

In one of the most famous cases of capital punishment - the McCleskey vs. Klemp case - the United States Supreme Court recognized the existence of racial prejudices in the American legal system, but considered it "inevitable". The point of departure of our document is this "scandal".

There is plenty of documentation that proves that capital sentences are issued indiscriminately against the poor, the minorities, the mentally handicapped and people who cannot afford an adequate lawyer.

The United States Supreme Court authorized the execution of minors, mentally handicapped and now even persons who are probably innocent. The United States is one of the six nations that still allow the execution of minors: we can say there are more minors sentenced to death in the U.S. than in any other nation of the world.

The open letter to Clinton asks the U.S. to withdraw the reservations advanced during the ratification of the international convention on civil and political rights, in 1992. In patent contrast with the spirit of the Convention, the U.S. advanced reservations on the article that forbids executions against minors. These reservations have been bitterly criticized by Sweden, which has adopted formal measures to change the American position.

The open letter is one of Amnesty's recent initiative to step up its struggle for the abolition of the death penalty. In August 1993, our U.S. section organized a commission of inquiry on the use of the death penalty in the United States. Among the participants were several international personalities, including Nicoḷ Amato, former director of the Italian penitentiaries and representative of Italy to the European Committee against torture and inhuman treatments.