Death penalty amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment

Death penalty amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment

Peter Hall,
Chair, Physicians for Human Rights-UK
91 Harlech Rd, Abbots Langley, Herts, WD5 0BE

Sir,

Dr. Groner's article on the complicity of health practitioners in the death penalty has rightly aroused considerable discussion, particularly with regard to ethics and regulation by professional bodies.

However, it is the position of PHR-UK that all existing methods of carrying out the death penalty violate human rights, because they amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. As such, States that are parties to such UN human rights treaties as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Convention against Torture can be held accountable before some of the most respected international human rights bodies. China, the United States and other death penalty States are parties to such treaties. PHR-UK is currently working to bring its medical expertise to bare on the decisions of core human rights treaty monitoring committees.

Anyone wishing to help or find out more about how modern methods of execution violate human rights is welcome to contact the undersigned.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Peter Hall, MBBS, MRCPI, DGM
Chair, Physicians for Human Rights-UK