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Citation:“Why Amnesty Opposes the Death Penalty without Exception.” Death Penalty | Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/.

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Citation:“Why Amnesty Opposes the Death Penalty without Exception.” Death Penalty | Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/.

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Summary: Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights. Amnesty has been campaigning to abolish the death penalty around the world, for 40 years. The website first gives some background about the death penalty such as some execution methods, where they take place, how many executions happen per year,  and other information. The Websites main emphasis has been on reasons it should be abolished, and the reasons they give are: It is irreversible and mistakes happen, It is often used within skewed justice systems, It is discriminatory, and It is used as a political tool. The website goes into further detail, but explains each point thoroughly. The website even gives some insight on what they are doing to abolish the death penalty. And they even have some other information, like case studies, and a map which pinpoints exact places where the death penalty has happened.

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We know that, together, we can end the death penalty everywhere.

Every day, people are executed and sentenced to death by the state as punishment for a variety of crimes - sometimes for acts that should not be criminalized. In some countries, it can be for drug-related offences, in others it is reserved for terrorism-related acts and murder.

Some countries execute people who were under the age of 18 when the crime for which they have been convicted was committed, others use the death penalty against people with mental and intellectual disabilities and several others apply the death penalty after unfair trials - in clear violation of international law and standards. People can spend years on death row, not knowing when their time is up, or whether they will see their families one last time.

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception - regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.

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About the death penalty

Amnesty International holds that the death penalty breaches human rights, in particular the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Both rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948.

Over time, the international community has adopted several instruments that ban the use of the death penalty, including the following:

The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty, and Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.

The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Although international law says that the use of the death penalty must be restricted to the most serious crimes, meaning intentional killing, Amnesty International believes that the death penalty is never the answer.

Amnesty International has never felt more hopeful that this abhorrent punishment can and will be relegated to the annals of history
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International

Juvenile Executions

The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18 is prohibited under international human rights law, yet some countries still resort to the death penalty in these situations. Such executions are few compared to the total number of executions recorded by Amnesty International each year.

However, their significance goes beyond their number and calls into question the commitment of the executing states to respect international law.

Since 1990 Amnesty International has documented at least 163 executions of people who were below the age of 18, in 10 countries: China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the USA and Yemen.

Several of these countries have changed their laws to exclude the practice. Iran has executed more than twice as many people who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime as the other nine countries combined. At the time of writing Iran has executed at least 113 of them since 1990.

Execution Methods used in 2022

Beheading

Hanging

Lethal injection

Shooting

Where do most executions take place?

In 2022, most known executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA - in that order.

China remained the world's leading executioner - but the true extent of its use of the death penalty is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least 883 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out there.

Excluding China, 90% of all reported executions took place in just three countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The global view: death sentences and executions 2008-2022

*This map indicates the general locations of boundaries and jurisdictions and should not be interpreted as Amnesty International's view on disputed territories.

**Country names listed reflect nomenclature in May 2023

How many death sentences and executions take place each year?

Death sentences

Amnesty International recorded at least 2,016 death sentences in 52 countries in 2022, a slight decrease from the total of 2,052 reported in 2021. At least 28,282 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2022.

Executions

Amnesty International recorded at least 883 executions in 20 countries in 2022, up by 53% from 2021 (at least 579 executions).

Reasons to abolish the death penalty

It is irreversible and mistakes happen

Execution is the ultimate, irrevocable punishment: the risk of executing an innocent person can never be eliminated. Since 1973, for example, more than 191 prisoners sent to death row in the USA have later been exonerated or released from death row on grounds of innocence. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt.

It does not deter crime

Countries who execute commonly cite the death penalty as a way to deter people from committing crime. This claim has been repeatedly discredited, and there is no evidence that the death penalty is any more effective in reducing crime than life imprisonment.

It is often used within skewed justice systems

In many cases recorded by Amnesty International, people were executed after being convicted in grossly unfair trials, on the basis of torture-tainted evidence and with inadequate legal representation. In some countries death sentences are imposed as the mandatory punishment for certain offences, meaning that judges are not able to consider the circumstances of the crime or of the defendant before sentencing.

It is discriminatory

The weight of the death penalty is disproportionally carried by those with less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds or belonging to a racial, ethnic or religious minority. This includes having limited access to legal representation, for example, or being at greater disadvantage in their experience of the criminal justice system.

It is used as a political tool

The authorities in some countries, for example Iran and Sudan, use the death penalty to punish political opponents.

What is Amnesty International doing to abolish the death penalty?

For over 45 years, Amnesty International has been campaigning to abolish the death penalty around the world.

Amnesty International monitors its use by all states to expose and hold to account governments that continue to use the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. We publish a report annually, reporting figures and analysing trends for each country. Amnesty International's latest report, Death Sentences and Executions 2022, was released in May 2023.

The organization's work to oppose the death penalty takes many forms, including targeted, advocacy and campaign based projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe and Central Asia , and Middle East and North Africa regions; strengthening national and international standards against its use, including by supporting the successful adoption of resolutions by the UN General Assembly on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty; and applying pressure on cases that face imminent execution. We also support actions and work by the abolitionist movement, at national, regional and global level.

When Amnesty International started its work in 1977, only 16 countries had totally abolished the death penalty. Today, that number has risen to 112 - more than half the world's countries. More than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.

Case Studies

Saved from death row: Hafez Ibrahim

Thanks to Amnesty's campaigning efforts, the execution of Hafez Ibrahim, from Yemen, was stopped not once, but twice. Hafez, who was accused of a crime he insists he didn't commit, first faced a firing squad in 2005. He was taken to a small yard in a Yemeni prison and brought before a row of officers with rifles in hand. He thought that moment would be his last.

Just before he was about to be shot, he was taken back to his cell, with no explanation. "I was lost, I did not understand what was happening. I later learned that Amnesty International had called on the Yemeni President to stop my execution and the message was heard," Hafez said.

In 2007, Hafez was about to be executed again when he sent a mobile text message to Amnesty International. "They are about to execute us." Hafez said.

It was a message that saved his life. The message sparked an international campaign, persuading the President to stop the execution for a second time.

Now Hafez is a lawyer helping juveniles who languish on death row corridors across Yemen.

Activists on a mission: Souleymane Sow

Amnesty International's work to abolish the death penalty is also bolstered by its incredible activists, who take it upon themselves to campaign against this abhorrent practice.

Souleymane Sow, has been volunteering with Amnesty International since he was a student in France. Inspired to make a difference, he returned to Guinea, set up a local group of Amnesty International volunteers and got to work. Their aim? To promote the importance of human rights, educate people on these issues and abolish the death penalty in Guinea. Along with 34 NGOs, they finally achieved their goal in 2017.

"My colleagues and I lobbied against the death penalty every day for five months. In 2016, Guinea's National Assembly voted in favour of a new criminal code which removed the death sentence from the list of applicable penalties. Last year [2017], they did the same in the military court, too," said Souleymane.

"It was the first time so many NGOs had come together to campaign on an issue. People said they were happy with our work and they could see that change is possible. Most of all, it inspired us to continue campaigning."

It was such an incredible achievement - and it showed the importance of people power.
Souleymane Sow

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The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

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Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception. Here's why.

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Opinion: I honestly believe that the death penalty should be abolished. The reason I firmly believe this is because the death penalty does not solve any problems. In fact it creates way more unnecessary problems than there already are. Let’s take Florida for example, enforcing the death penalty costs Florida $51 million a year above what it would cost to punish all first-degree murderers with life in prison without parole. Based on the 44 executions Florida had carried out since 1976, that amounts to a cost of $24 million for each execution. There are so many things wrong with the statement I just made. There is no reason that we should be raising taxes, or using taxpayers money, to have someone killed, when they can just stay in prison. A place where they won’t get out. Killing someone because they commit a crime does not make the situation better. Two wrongs do not make a right. Fighting crime, with crime, does not solve crime. People want a criminal justice system that's sensible, effective, and creates a safe society with less crime and evidence shows that the death penalty has no impact on public safety. If and when we abolish the death penalty, we should focus our time, energy and resources on supporting victims and families harmed by violence. Not wasting time, and energy on a useless death penalty case, that does no one any good.

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Opinion: I believe that my side won the debate. I believe that we gave more points, and we were able to rebut. The arguments that they gave, seemed more like straw man arguments. The main point was that we should focus on fixing the justice system,, and that the whole system is corrupt, but we should not start with the death penalty, because people can escape prisons. Which is invalid because we live in 2021, where there are cameras everywhere, and security is very tight.

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Citation: “5 Reasons Why The Death Penalty Is Wrong.” Human Rights Careers, 11 May 2020, www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/why-death-penalty-is-wrong/.

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Citation: “5 Reasons Why The Death Penalty Is Wrong.” Human Rights Careers, 11 May 2020, www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/why-death-penalty-is-wrong/.

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Summary: Human Right Careers, give five valid reasons on why the Death Penalty should abolished, they went into full detail with each reason. Really making sure the reader understood each point. The five reasons they gave were: #1. It’s inhumane, and what they mean by that is in the United States, research shows that 3% of executions between 1890-2010 were “botched.” meaning  It causes severe suffering to the prisoner. And when injections go wrong, it can take a long time for a prisoner to die. #2. The death penalty disproportionately affects certain groups, Studies show that the mentally ill, people of color, and the poor make up the majority of death row inmates. #3. The death penalty can be used as a tool for control, not justice. the death penalty is only intended for use as punishment for the most serious crimes, like murder. However, in places around the world, governments use executions for non-lethal crimes. #4 It can’t be undone if new evidence is revealed. The last reason number 5. It doesn’t deter crime The fact that it doesn’t prevent crime may be the most significant reason why the death penalty is wrong. Many people might believe that while the death penalty isn’t ideal, it’s worth it if it dissuades potential criminals. However, polls show people don’t think capital punishment does that.

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The death penalty is wrong because it disproportionately affects certain groups, inflicts physical and psychological torment, burdens taxpayers, and doesn't deter or resolve the root causes of crime.
Over 70% of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, but it's still used in places like China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Public opinion is divided, but over the years, support for the death penalty has waned. Supporters say it's a valuable crime deterrent while opponents argue it fails in this purpose. In this article, we'll explore these claims, as well as other reasons why the death penalty is wrong.

#1. It's inhumane
#2. It inflicts psychological torment
#3. It burdens taxpayers
#4. It doesn't deter crime
#5. It doesn't address the root causes of crime
#6. It's biased against people experiencing poverty
#7. It's disproportionately hurts people with disabilities
#8. It has a racial bias
#9. It's used as a tool of authoritarianism
#10. It's irreversible

#1. It's inhumane
Content warning: This paragraph includes descriptions of a botched execution
Methods of execution have included firing squads, hanging, the electric chair, and lethal injections. Are these punishments inhumane? Death penalty critics look to The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which is an international treaty intended to prevent actions considered inhumane. While the Convention doesn't take a clear stance on the death penalty, many believe executions should be classified as cruel and inhumane. For those who believe executions can be performed "humanely," there's still the problem of botched executions. Research shows that 3% of executions between 1890-2010 in the US were botched. Lethal injection has the highest rate of error despite being the most common execution option. When injections go wrong, it can take a long time for a prisoner to die.

In 2014 in Oklahoma, Clayton Lockett was subjected to a botched execution. Things started poorly while the execution team hunted for a viable vein and realized they didn't have the right needles. Then, it took at least 16 pokes to get an IV inserted. Lockett was in clear distress as the drugs began to enter his body, and the execution was halted. Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the first drug - midazolam - was administered. While it's not clear if the drug can be blamed in Lockett's case, sedatives like midazolam have played a role in several botched executions. Given these facts, the death penalty can easily be considered inhumane.

#2. It inflicts psychological torment

While the death penalty can cause severe physical pain, the time spent on death row can inflict psychological torment, as well. According to The Death Penalty Information Center, death-row prisoners in the United States typically spend over a decade waiting for their execution dates or for their death sentences to be overturned. During those agonizing years, prisoners are isolated, excluded from any employment or educational programs, and restricted from exercise or visitation. This can cause what some experts call "death row syndrome," which makes prisoners suicidal and delusional. The prisoner is essentially tortured while on death row.

The death penalty doesn't only affect death-row prisoners. Those working on death row suffer, too. In 2022, NPR released an investigation where they spoke with current and former executioners, lawyers, wardens, and other workers who had been involved with more than 200 executions. They reported "serious mental and physical repercussions." Nearly everyone NPR spoke with no longer supported the death penalty. While some may still believe death is an appropriate punishment for certain crimes, society needs to consider the health of those tasked with carrying out that punishment.

#3. It burdens taxpayers with high costs

States use taxpayer money to fund executions. You may think death penalty sentences cost less than life imprisonment, but research shows that's not true. According to data collected by Amnesty International, Kansas paid 70% more for a death penalty case than a comparable non-death penalty case. The median cost of a non-death penalty case (through the end of incarceration) is $740,000 while the median cost of a death penalty case through execution is a striking $1.26 million. Why is the death penalty so expensive? Legal and pre-trial fees, as well as the length of death penalty trials, the cost of appeals, and heightened security on death row all cost more than non-death penalty cases.

Many taxpayers have moral qualms about their taxes going to the death penalty, but there are tangible consequences, too. The money used for death penalty cases is being diverted from other measures such as mental health treatment, victim services, drug treatment programs, and more. Most people would prefer their taxes to pay for these types of services rather than long trials, appeals, and other death-penalty case activities.

#3. It doesn't deter crime

Many people can admit the death penalty is not a perfect system, but if it deters crime, isn't it worth keeping? That statement contains a big "if." The Death Penalty Information Center has information showing that states without the death penalty have a consistently lower murder rate than states with the death penalty. Since 1990, the gap has increased. A 2020 analysis found that 9 out of 10 states with the highest pandemic murder rates were states with the death penalty. 8 out of the 11 states with the lowest pandemic murder rates had abolished the death penalty. Data like this suggests that the death penalty does not deter murder.

Why isn't the threat of death enough to dissuade people from committing murder? The answer may lie in human psychology and the minds of those committing crimes. According to an article in Psychology Today, most offenders don't behave rationally during a crime. Poor mental health is a common trigger. According to research, 43% of those in state prisons have a diagnosed mental disorder. When it comes to what's known as "expressive crimes," which are crimes driven by rage, depression, and drug or alcohol use, people are not thinking about the consequences they might face. The death penalty doesn't factor into their decision-making.

#4. It doesn't address the root causes of crime

The causes of crime are complex, but there's little doubt that the death penalty fails to address them. Consider the United States, which experienced a post-2020 increase in violence. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, gun violence was a major contributor. The FBI found that guns were responsible for 77% of murders nationwide in 2020. In the same report, COVID-19 was frequently referenced as a factor as more people experienced disruptions to their jobs and social lives. Americans' mental health suffered, as well, and while people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of crime rather than perpetrators, certain illnesses (and a lack of treatment) are linked to criminal behavior.

The death penalty doesn't address any of the possible roots of violent crime, including socioeconomic disruptions and mental health. Considering the cost of death penalty cases and their effect on the mental health of all those involved, one could argue that the death penalty contributes to conditions that lead to crime.
Want to learn more about the death penalty? Check out these articles.
#6. It's biased against people experiencing poverty

The death penalty is not applied equally based on the crimes people commit. Certain groups are much more likely than others to receive a sentence. According to The International Federation of Human Rights, 95% of prisoners on death row in the United States come from "underprivileged backgrounds. " This doesn't mean people experiencing poverty have an inherent urge to commit crimes. The criminalization of poverty increases a person's risk for arrest, while the high cost of education, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, and other assistance can push people into crime.

Once in the criminal justice system, those with money can pay for private lawyers, investigations, appeals, and other actions that help them avoid the death penalty. Those experiencing poverty have to rely on underfunded public defenders. Rather than punishing those who've committed the most severe crimes, the system punishes those with the fewest resources. If the death penalty disproportionately affects people experiencing poverty, it's a deeply unfair and unjust system.

#7. It's disproportionately hurting people with intellectual disabilities

People with intellectual disabilities face increased discrimination in the criminal justice system. They're more likely to falsely confess to a crime, less equipped to work with lawyers, and more likely to experience harsh and violent treatment in prison. In the United States, jurisdictions using capital punishment are required to make sure that people with intellectual disabilities are not sentenced to death or executed. However, the standards for this determination are not consistent. According to The Innocence Project, at least 12 states use IQ scores to determine intellectual disability, a method many experts find problematic. Certain states also require clear evidence, while others only ask for a "preponderance of evidence." This means a person could be considered intellectually disabled in one state and not in another.

Even if a person with intellectual disabilities is not ultimately killed by the state, the road to a new sentence is brutal. Raymond Riles, who was sent to death row in 1976, remained there for more than 45 years despite being repeatedly deemed mentally incompetent. In 2021, his death sentence was finally tossed and he was sentenced to life in prison. Riles' story is just one of many where a person with intellectual disabilities is mistreated or executed.

#8. It has a racial bias

In the United States, racial discrepancies are the biggest concern for many death penalty critics. According to research, 35% of people executed in the last 40 years have been Black, despite the fact Black Americans only make up 13% of the general population. When researchers take a closer look, they discover patterns of discrimination based on race. Virginia in particular has been scrutinized for its history, which has roots in early capital punishment laws. White defendants could only be executed for first-degree murder, while a variety of non-homicide crimes could get enslaved Black defendants executed. Between 1900-1969, Virginia executed 73 Black men for non-homicide crimes, while 185 were executed for murder. In that same time frame, no white person was executed for a non-homicide crime while 46 were executed for murder. In 2021, Virginia abolished the death penalty, citing the state's history of racial disparities.

There's also racial bias regarding what crimes receive death penalty sentences. According to a 2003 study, prosecutors were more likely to seek the death penalty when the victim was white, while they were less likely to pursue that verdict if the victim was Black. Another study, this one from 2007, reflected similar findings. Nationally, mountains of research show racial bias in how the death penalty is applied.

#9. It's used as a tool of authoritarianism

In theory, the death penalty is only meant to punish the most serious crimes, like murder. However, in places around the world, governments use executions freely and for non-lethal crimes. According to Amnesty International, recorded executions in 2022 hit their highest figure in five years. 883 people (which does not count the thousands possibly executed in China) were killed across 20 countries, which represents a 53% rise since 2021. Amnesty's Secretary General says almost 40% of all known executions are for drug-related offenses, while in Iran, people were executed for protesting the regime. Because the governments still using the death penalty often hide their numbers, there are likely more executions not on the record.

It's clear many governments inflicting the death penalty are not interested in justice, but rather in suppression and control. By using the death penalty arbitrarily, authorities set shifting definitions for what's "unacceptable" in society and what's an appropriate punishment. It makes citizens fearful and violates their human rights. As long the death penalty is legal, it has the potential to be abused for a government's own purposes.

#10. It can't be reversed in light of new evidence or errors

What makes the death penalty distinct from life in prison is that the judgment can't be reversed if new evidence is discovered. It's a disturbingly frequent occurrence. In 2000, Professor James Liebman from Columbia Law School released a study examining every capital conviction and appeal between 1973-1995. More than 90% of the states that gave death sentences had overall error rates of 52% or higher. 85% of states had error rates of 60% or higher. A more recent analysis from 2014 collected data from all death sentences between 1973-2004. They estimated that around 1 in 25 of those given a death sentence had likely been incorrectly convicted. While most of those who receive a death penalty sentence are eventually removed from death row to serve life imprisonment, innocent prisoners are never freed.

The Death Penalty Information Center maintains a database of exonerations, which means the person was acquitted or the charges were dismissed completely. Reasons include false confessions, insufficient evidence, perjury, official misconduct, and inadequate legal defense. Data like this exposes how flawed the criminal justice system is and how frequent errors are. It's not a system we should trust with people's lives.

The death penalty: a reading list

Interested in learning more about the death penalty? Here's where to start:

This 2015 book (also made into a film) follows Bryan Stevenson as he establishes the Equal Justice Initiative. The book mostly focuses on Stevenson's work for Water McMillian, a Black man sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit.

Written in 1994, this book follows a Roman Catholic nun as she learns about the death penalty in America, gets to know everyone touched by the system, and works through her beliefs.

In this award-winning 2022 book, Maurice Chammah tracks the story of capital punishment through stories of those with personal experience, like a prosecutor turned judge, a lawyer, executioners, and the prisoners living on death row. Chammah is a journalist and staff writer for The Marshall Project.

A collection of 99 first-person, anonymous accounts of men on death row in the United States, this 2021 book shines a light on the humanity of the people who've been sentenced to death. The book is organized into eight life stages from early childhood right to the moment a man faces his execution.

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10 Reasons Why The Death Penalty is Wrong

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The death penalty is wrong because it disproportionately affects certain groups, inflicts physical and psychological torment, burdens taxpayers, and doesn't deter or resolve the root causes of crime. Over 70% of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, but it's still used in places like China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United [...]

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Citation: “US Death Penalty Must Be Abolished, Rights Experts Urge President Biden | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1087012.

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Citation: “US Death Penalty Must Be Abolished, Rights Experts Urge President Biden | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1087012.

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Summary: This article was about The United Nations informing people about new news on the status of the death penalty being abolished. The UN thinks President Biden should do everything in his power to end death row executions in the United States. The call comes after a resumption of federal executions in the US in the last year of Donald Trump’s Presidency, in which 13 people were put to death. In their appeal to the White House, the rights experts insisted that the death penalty served “no deterrent value and cannot be reconciled with the right to life”. The article also talks about different reasons it should be abolished such as how the punishment is “inherently flawed” and disproportionately affected African-Americans and people living in poverty, they maintained.

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The call comes after a resumption of federal executions in the US in the last year of Donald Trump's Presidency, in which 13 people were put to death.

In their appeal to the White House, the rights experts insisted that the death penalty served "no deterrent value and cannot be reconciled with the right to life".

'Inherently flawed'

The punishment is "inherently flawed" and disproportionately affected African-Americans and people living in poverty, they maintained.

Due process guarantees were also violated by the practice, the rights experts alleged, before calling on Mr. Biden to grant clemency to 48 people, many on death row for a decade or more.

"This should be only a first step", the experts declared. "We further urge the president, as well as members of Congress, to strongly support legislative efforts to formally abolish the death penalty at a federal level."

They argued that the president "should consider all other possible federal-level actions including directing the Department of Justice to stop seeking the death penalty and withdrawing notices of intent to seek the death penalty in ongoing cases."

Thousands on death row

Thousands more individuals remain on state death rows across the country and several executions are scheduled at state level in 2021.

In their appeal for concrete measures to halt the practice, the experts urged lawmakers to consider linking federal funding to alternative sentencing and banning the sale and transport of chemicals used in lethal injections.

Although 108 countries have abolished capital punishment, 60 per cent of the world's population live in the 48 countries that retain it, such as China, India and Iran.

"There is no time to lose with thousands of individuals on state death rows across the country", they said, making clear that they had written to the White House to express their concerns.

The full list of experts involved, is at the bottom of the press statement released by the human rights office, OHCHR, here.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The experts are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

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US death penalty must be abolished, rights experts urge President Biden

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The call comes after a resumption of federal executions in the US in the last year of Donald Trump's Presidency, in which 13 people were put to death. In their appeal to the White House, the rights experts insisted that the death penalty served "no deterrent value and cannot be reconciled with the right to life".

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Very interesting, as it was just released yesterday that the Biden administration wants to reinstate the death penalty against Tsarnaev. I was a little sad to see that!