FOLLOW ENGLISH VERSION IS THE ORIGINAL TEXT:

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

1 March 2001
AMR 51/031/2001
38/01


The USA is about to carry out its 700th execution since resuming
judicial killing in 1977, Amnesty International warned today,
pointing out that more than 500 of them have occurred since
1993. Nine more prisoners are scheduled to be executed in the
next nine days, including two this evening.

"The USA is engaged in a cruel, brutalizing, unreliable,
unnecessary and hugely expensive activity for no measurable
gain," Amnesty International said. "The fact that it is
violating human rights standards in the process only adds to the
deepening shadow being cast on its international reputation by
its relentless resort to this outdated punishment."

As of this morning, there had been 697 executions in 31
US states since 1977. Between this evening and next Friday, nine
more prisoners are scheduled to be put to death in seven states:

-- 1 March, Oklahoma: Robert Clayton - his IQ has been assessed
at 68. An IQ of 70 or under indicates possible mental
retardation. International standards oppose use of the death
penalty against such individuals.
-- 1 March, Virginia: Thomas Akers - he has borderline mental
retardation and a long history of mental illness. He pleaded
guilty to the crime, asked to be sentenced to death and has been
allowed to drop his appeals.
-- 2 March, North Carolina: Ernest McCarver - his IQ has been
measured at 67. He is facing execution despite the fact that the
state legislature is about to consider proposals to outlaw the
use of the death penalty against the mentally disabled. Thirteen
of the 38 death penalty states have enacted such legislation.
-- 6 March, Georgia: Ronald Spivey, a 61-year-old is facing death
in the electric chair after more than two decades on death row.
-- 7 March, Missouri: Antonio Richardson - International law
prohibits the use of the death penalty against those who were
under 18 at the time of the crime. Antonio Richardson was 16.
This would be the USA's ninth execution of a juvenile offender
since January 1998, out of a known world total of 12.
Richardson's IQ has been assessed at 70.
-- 7 March, Texas: Dennis Dowthitt - he has been diagnosed with
serious mental illness. His lawyers are fighting for a reprieve
so that they can further investigate his long-held claims of
innocence.
-- 8 March, Oklahoma: Phillip Smith - he has consistently
maintained his innocence. He was convicted on circumstantial
evidence. In 1999, the prosecution's key trial witness, who put
Smith at the crime scene, recanted his testimony.
-- 9 March, North Carolina: Willie Fisher - he was defended by a
lawyer whose severe depression and other health problems meant
that did not adequately prepare for the trial. He was
subsequently disbarred for failing to properly represent
clients. International standards require that capital defendants
be provided with adequate legal representation above and beyond
the protection afforded in non-capital cases.
-- 9 March, Delaware: David Dawson - he has been incarcerated for
15 years. He has learned to read and write on death row. He is
held in his cell 24 hours a day, except for 45 minutes of
recreation, alone, followed by 15 minutes to shower three times a
week.

Since 1977, there have been about half a million murders
in the USA. The 700 men and women executed so far have been
selected by a system riddled with arbitrariness, discrimination
and error. It is a lethal lottery of which the USA should be
ashamed, and which other countries should condemn.

"The victims of violent crime and their families deserve
respect, compassion and justice", Amnesty International said.
"Killing a selection of prisoners offers none of these things.
It is an illusory solution to a pressing social problem, and
merely amounts to a failure of political vision."

Among the 700 were those who committed their crimes when
they were still children, the mentally impaired, those denied
adequate legal representation, foreign nationals denied their
consular rights, and defendants whose guilt remained in doubt.
Race continues to play a role in who gets a death sentence. In
over 80 per cent of the 700 cases, the crimes involved white
victims.

"There is no evidence that the US authorities have
prevented a single crime with this policy," Amnesty International
continued. "They have diverted countless millions of dollars away
from more constructive efforts to fight crime. And the macabre
absurdity is that it creates more victims - the family members of
the condemned - often in the name of victims' rights."

"The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence,
not a solution to it. The sooner US politicians begin to find
the political courage to educate public opinion rather than hide
behind it, the better".

Since the USA resumed executions in 1977, over 60
countries have abolished the death penalty. Currently, 108
countries, are abolitionist in law or practice.

LINKS:

Death Penalty Information Center – Comprehensive information on Death Penalty

www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

Moratorium 2000 – Petition to put a moratorium on the Death Penalty in the United States

www.moratorium2000.org