HRW report on USA and juvenile life without parole

Human Rights Watch publicou un breve informe de actualización sobre os Estados Unidos, centrado nas condenas a prisión perpetua sen posibilidade de apelación (life without parole) aplicadas a persoas que eran menores de idade cando se cometeron os delictos polos que foron condenadas (juvenile offenders).

O informe leva por título “The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Youth Offenders in the United States in 2008″. Copio un extracto do seu contido:

Youth (persons below the age of 18) can and do commit terrible crimes, causing enormous suffering to victims and their families. When youth commit such crimes, they should be held accountable, but in a manner that reflects their age and immaturity and their special capacity for rehabilitation. Instead, in 39 US states and under federal law, teens who are too young to vote, buy cigarettes, or serve on the juries they appear before, are tried as adults and, if convicted, are sentenced to juvenile life without parole (JLWOP). Life without parole means that a young person is sentenced to die in prison. [...]

There are currently 2,484 persons in US prisons serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18.

In 11 states, black youth arrested for murder are significantly more likely to be sentenced to JLWOP than are white youth arrested for the same crime.

There are no youth serving JLWOP anywhere else in the world. [...]