Oklahoma Governor Henry Commutes Death Sentence of Osvaldo Torres

(Washington, DC) – Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of Amnesty International USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, released the following statement on the commutation of Osvaldo Torres's death sentence by Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry:


Amnesty International USA commends Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry's principled decision to commute the death sentence of Osvaldo Torres. While we welcome Governor Henry's action, we strongly urge Oklahoma authorities to comply with the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling and grant Mr. Torres effective judicial review. Mr. Torres's case was cited specifically in a March 31, 2004 judgment by the ICJ, in a case brought by Mexico on behalf of its nationals on US death rows. The ICJ ruled that the USA had violated its Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) obligations and further stipulated that the US must provide effective judicial review and reconsideration of the impact of the violations in the cases of the foreign nationals involved. This decision is binding on the US and all jurisdictions within it. We hope that Oklahoma will abide by this ruling and further demonstrate its sincere commitment to international human rights obligations.

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