Lethal Injection Challenge

The US Supreme Court voted unanimously that an inmate on death penalty can pursue an appeal on the grounds that lethal injection would be cruel and unusual punishment, BBC reported (Lethal injection challenge upheld).

The US and countries like China and Iran continue to lead the statistics for the number of death penalty executions carried out. According to Amnesty International, in 2003, 65 people were executed, 24 only in the state of Texas. Since the US Supreme Court lifted a moratorium on executions in 1976 a total of 885 prisoners were put to death. Out of those 885 executions 300 were carried out in Texas. International standards for use of the death penalty are violated, including by executing people who were under 18 at the time the crime was committed.

The Amnesty International 2004 Report states that Mexico brought a case in the International Court of Justice on behalf of more than 50 of its nationals on death row in the USA. The US is alleged to have violated the UN Vienna Convention on Consular Relations which requires states to inform foreign nationals upon arrest of their right to seek consular assistance.

But the cup for the highest number of executions goes to China. According to Amnesty International 2004 Report the death penalty continues to be used extensively and arbitrarily as a result of political interference. In 2003, people were executed for non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and pimping as well as drug offences and violent crimes. By the end of 2003, with the limited records available, Amnesty International had recorded 1,639 death sentences and 726 executions, although the true figures were believed to be much higher.