Blog de César Salgado

Amnistía Internacional publicou esta semana unha nota de prensa sobre o caso de Troy Davis, condenado á morte nos Estados Unidos. O seu caso, vistas as graves deficiencias do xuízo, ben podería ser o dun inocente condenado por erro.

A nota de prensa leva por título “USA: Georgia Supreme Court upholds Troy Davis death sentence despite innocence concerns”. Copio un extracto do seu contido:

Amnesty International regrets that on 17 March 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, denied death row inmate Troy Davis a new trial or an evidentiary hearing on post-conviction evidence of innocence. He has been on death row for more than 16 years for the murder of a police officer which he maintains he did not commit. Many of the witnesses presented by the prosecution at the trial have since recanted or contradicted their testimony. It now looks like his case will head back to the state clemency board. [...]

More than 120 people have been released from death rows in the USA since 1975 on the grounds of innocence. [...]

Enlaces relacionados:

• Coalición Mundial contra a Pena de Morte
• Death Penalty Information Center
• National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP)

About NCADP:

Since its inception in 1976, NCADP has been the only fully staffed national organization exclusively devoted to abolishing capital punishment. NCADP provides information, advocates for public policy, and mobilizes and supports individuals and institutions that share our unconditional rejection of capital punishment.

Our commitment to abolition of the death penalty is rooted in several critical concerns.

First and foremost, the death penalty devalues all human life - eliminating the possibility for transformation of spirit that is intrinsic to humanity.

Secondly, the death penalty is fallible and irrevocable - over one hundred people have been released from death row on grounds of innocence in this “modern era” of capital punishment.

Thirdly, the death penalty continues to be tainted with race and class bias. It is overwhelming a punishment reserved for the poor (95% of the over 3700 people under death sentence could not afford a private attorney) and for racial minorities (55% are people of color).

Finally, the death penalty is a violation of our most fundamental human rights - indeed, the United States is the only western democracy that still uses the death penalty as a form of punishment.