Contact: Sharon Singh, [email protected], 202-675-8579, @spksingh
(Washington, D.C.) – Amnesty International USA executive director Suzanne Nossel issued the following statement as the state of Texas plans to execute the 250th person this evening under Governor Rick Perry’s tenure:
“When Governor Perry took office, he suggested that Texas justice ‘can be better,’ but 250 state killings later – including executions of teenage offenders, the mentally disabled and likely innocent – it is clear little effort has been made to improve things under his leadership.
“Governor Perry’s anachronistic enthusiasm for state killing is in stark contrast to the clear trend away from the death penalty exhibited by ordinary Texans in juries, where death sentences have declined dramatically over the last dozen years.
“Amnesty International calls on the governor to support clemency in this and future cases along with working to end the death penalty in Texas.
“Perhaps Mr. Perry needs to spend more time paying heed to his constituents and less time as the Grim Reaper.”
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.