New York, April 18, 2002
The Honorable George H. Ryan
Governor of Illinois
207 State Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Dear Governor Ryan:
We write to commend the efforts of the Commission on Capital Punishment in Illinois and to urge you to maintain the moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois until the commission's reforms have been fully implemented. We also urge you to commute the death sentences of all those currently on death row in Illinois, given the likelihood that their cases were prejudiced by the numerous flaws in the state's death penalty system identified by the commission.
While the reforms that the commission recommends would greatly improve the fairness and integrity of the death penalty process, we urge you to press for abolition of capital punishment in Illinois. Human Rights Watch agrees with the majority of the commission members who support abolishing the death penalty in your state. Those members oppose the death penalty "because of moral concerns" and because "no system can or will be constructed which sufficiently guarantees that the death penalty will be applied without arbitrariness or error." Indeed, numerous other state and national studies have also identified serious flaws in the administration of capital punishment that have contributed to death sentences being levied on innocent people. Since 1973, one hundred innocent persons have been released from death row in twenty-four states, with some prisoners coming within hours of execution before being spared.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of human dignity and the inviolability of the human person. We also believe the ultimate, final punishment should never be imposed because of the arbitrariness, risk of error, and prejudice inherent in all criminal justice systems. Recognition that the death penalty violates basic human rights has also fueled a growing movement to abolish capital punishment around the world. Members of the European Union, for example, are united in their opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances, considering it an "inhuman, medieval form of punishment and as unworthy of modern societies." Out of the world's nearly 200 countries, 109 have rejected judicial executions in law or practice and less than thirty carry out executions in any given year.
We thank you for your commitment to ensuring the integrity and fairness of your state's criminal justice system.
Sincerely,
/s/
Jamie Fellner
Director, U.S. Program
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