Days numbered for US death penalty: Europe rights body
STRASBOURG (AFP) - Europe's top human rights body the Council of Europe said in a statement that the death penalty in the United States is "on its deathbed" after two key rulings by US courts.
STRASBOURG (AFP) - Europe's top human rights body the Council of Europe said in a statement that the death penalty in the United States is "on its deathbed" after two key rulings by US courts.
"The United States of America is on its way to join the rest of the civilized world where this inhuman and barbaric punishment has already been rejected," the council's Secretary General Terry Davis said in the statement.
He referred to a recent decision by a judge in the state of California who ruled that execution by lethal injection was unconstitutional, and the suspension of executions in Florida by the state's governor,
Jeb Bush, after an executed prisoner died in agony last week.
The death penalty still applies legally in 38 of the 50 US states
"These decisions... mark the definitive beginning of the end... I have no doubt that this trend is welcomed by a lot of Americans who, given a proper choice, prefer just security to cruel revenge," Davis said.
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