While in law or practice many countries have outlawed capital punishment, startling numbers retain and use the death penalty, most often to punish those convicted of murder. In 2007 alone, at least 1,252 people were known to be executed in 24 countries, and the true figure was certainly much higher. Of those known executions in 2007, the vast majority were carried out in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA.

Here in New Zealand, capital punishment is not an issue which occupies the national consciousness all that often. Many would be surprised to learn that it is not that long ago that New Zealand also sanctioned state executions. Between the 1930s and late 1950s, the issue of capital punishment formed a major ideological divide between New Zealand’s political wings, with the state’s position changing almost as frequently as each parliamentary term. It took until 1989 for New Zealand to successfully abolish all remnants of capital punishment. In 1990, we were the first country to ratify the ICCPR Optional protocol, which confirmed our commitment to abolition of the death penalty.

While there is a global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, many countries retain the stance of a ‘right’ to execute. The United States is one such nation renowned for its state-sanctioned executions. To change such an entrenched system involves changing a nationally embedded eye-for-an-eye ideology: a process which will not occur overnight. However, slowly but surely, international law and opinion are beginning to impact upon United States law. In a globalizing world, there is a greater recognition of the need for international cooperation and respect for the laws of other democracies. This recognition is finding its way into high level court decisions. Just three weeks ago, a stay of execution was granted to Troy Davis, convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1989. Davis, who maintains his innocence, has spent the last seventeen years on death row. His entire case was based on shady witness testimony (much of which has since been withdrawn due to being influenced by police pressure), a lack of physical evidence and dubious court procedure. While the Supreme Court’s decision is merely an interim measure, it is encouraging to see that a mass of international public opinion has surely made an impact upon a justice system that is plainly flawed. Amnesty International opposes Troy Davis’s execution unconditionally, regardless of questions of guilt or innocence.

The death penalty is the ultimate in cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment, a violation to the preciousness of each life; imposed in a discriminatory and arbitrary manner. Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is the frequency with which it has been inflicted upon innocent people. Too numerous are the cases where wrongly convicted individuals have made harrowing journeys though death row to their ultimate fate, revealing the human fallibility of criminal justice and the perils of such a barbaric system.

This year to mark the sixth annual World Day against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International called for the abolition of capital punishment. Amnesty’s latest campaign ‘Countdown to a death penalty free world’ is targeting the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on India. The death penalty is mandatory in India, including for drug-related offences. Despite a 1980 Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty should be used only in the “rarest of rare” cases, there are grave concerns about arbitrariness and discrimination in the processes that lead to people being sentenced to death. There have been cases of the death penalty being imposed on those who were children at the time of the offence and on people suffering from mental illness.

Amnesty International therefore calls on the government of India to immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty as provided by UN General Assembly resolution. Use your freedom to free others from the atrocities of capital punishment. Add your voice to the petition online at http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/india-must-establish-a-moratorium-on-executions

- Maria Clark