GENEVA – Severe physical pain and psychological distress are an inherent part of the design and implementation of all capital punishment, and the practice must be abolished immediately, said Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in a report to the UN Human Rights Council today.
Based on testimonies from death row survivors, their relatives, forensic evidence and academic research, the report unequivocally finds that the cumulative and prolonged death penalty process generates suffering so severe that it amounts to torture and violates international law.
“The death penalty is not only a denial of the right to life, but also an affront to human dignity for those subjected to it and their relatives at all stages of the prolonged and torturous process,” Tidball-Binz said.
The Special Rapporteur is a forensic doctor with extensive experience in documenting torture.
The report examines all stages of capital punishment from the perspective of men and women facing it and their families: starting with arrest, interrogation and pre-trial detention, through to trial, sentencing and imprisonment, followed by the execution itself and its aftermath.
The findings reveal that each stage of the process generates deep and lasting trauma which extends to children, spouses and other relatives long after their loved one is executed.
“The death penalty is also plagued by racial and other forms of discrimination and inequality, disproportionately impacting people of African-descent and foreign nationals, as well as those living in poverty and with disabilities,” the expert said. “The death penalty compounds the vulnerability of marginalised communities, including exposure to wrongful convictions.”
Exonerated death row prisoners and their relatives, interviewed by the expert, qualified the continuous terror and uncertainty of a pending execution, combined with humiliating treatment, dire prison conditions, isolation and coercion, amongst other abuses, as “psychological warfare.”
“Capital punishment amounts to a State-controlled regime of deliberate suffering, which has no place in a criminal justice system founded on human rights,” said Tidball-Binz. “Only immediate abolishment can ensure compliance with State obligations and respect for human life and dignity.”
