TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Tell President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhumane punishment that violates the right to life.

Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases, and without exception — regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence, or method of execution. People can spend years on death row, not knowing when their time is up, or whether they will see their families one last time.

President Biden promised to work to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level — but has not acted.

ACT NOW: Tell President Bident to take action on the death penalty now.

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President

Joe

Biden

White House

Dear President Biden,

Amnesty International USA’s report, THE POWER OF EXAMPLE: WHITHER THE BIDEN DEATH PENALTY PROMISE?, outlines the USA’s international human rights obligations in relation to the death penalty. It recalls the 13 federal executions conducted during your predecessor’s final six months in office – after 17 years with none – and how those executions left the USA on the wrong side of international law and set an appalling and dangerous example to retentionist U.S. states and other countries. I welcome your pledge to work for abolition of the death penalty at federal and state level, but I am concerned that there has been little visible progress on this pledge during your time in office. I urge you to ensure the federal death penalty is not left for future administrations to act upon. The execution spree that occurred in the federal death chamber between July 2020 and January 2021 showed where such inaction can lead.

I urge you to take the following action on the death penalty:

Immediately commute all existing federal death sentences and dismantle the federal execution chamber;
    
    Work with Members of Congress to abolish the death penalty at the federal level, under the Military Commissions Act, and military law;
    
    Support a public information campaign about the arbitrariness, racial bias and impact, errors, and other realities of capital punishment in the USA, and about the global picture which has seen nearly 100 countries abolish the death penalty in the past half century;
    
    Actively oppose executions at the state level, and ensure that your administration does nothing to facilitate the death penalty in states, whether in litigation, before treaty or regional bodies, or in relation to execution methods; 
    
    Commit the USA to work for an end to the death penalty worldwide and to demonstrate this commitment on the global stage.
 
Over fifty years ago, the US Supreme Court overturned existing capital statutes because of the arbitrary way in which the death penalty was being handed out. I believe that the federal government failed in its duty to lead the country away from judicial killing. There have been more than 1,500 executions since Furman v. Georgia was decided in 972, and the evidence of arbitrariness, discrimination and error in the U.S. capital justice system has never been more apparent. Additionally, the US Supreme Court in its recent rulings has shown a tendency to choose finality over fairness, even when questions of innocence are at hand. Thus your leadership is all the more vital. I urge you to act on your abolitionist promise by immediately commuting all federal death sentences. The example against the death penalty set by your administration must be clear, direct and effective from now on.

Yours sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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