Download PDF - Amnesty International

IF YO
YO
IL
RDER
ND WILL BE
E STATE.
amnesty
international
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 1977
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE 1978
THE FACTS
Even in the most sophisticated and stringent
criminal justice systems, the sentencing process
can be affected by factors such as the
defendant's resources, race, religion and by
public support for the death penalty. There are
cases where one prisoner has been executed
while another whose crimes are equally grave
and which were committed in similar
circumstances was not.
In the United States and a number of other
countries, only a relatively small percentage of
the total number of people convicted of offences
carrying the death penalty are sentenced to
death.
THE FIGURES
In the USA, studies have shown that killers of
whites are far more likely to receive a death
sentence than IdIlers of blacks even though
blacks and whites are victims of homicide in
roughly equal numbers. Some 48 per cent of the
nation's death row population in 1986 were nonwhites although they make up only around 17%
of the population.
Again in the USA, some 1,300 prisoners on
death row constituted little over 3% of the 33,526
convicted murderers in US prisons in 1983.
In 1980 the United Nations General Assembly
expressed alarm at the incidence of summary
and arbitrary executions throughout the world.
Six countries including the USA have executed
juveniles since 1980 contrary to agreed
international human rights treaties and
standards.
FIND OUT MORE
... about the facts on the death penalty by
contacting your Amnesty International state
office or phoning (02) 267 2075.