In a speech describing his views on the death penalty, Gov. Ryan said he had concluded that capital punishment was applied unfairly and arbitrarily and risked executing persons who were innocent. For these reasons, the Governor said he would no longer "tinker with the machinery of death."
He also discussed the international implications of his decision. He relayed a telephone conversation in which former South African President Nelson Mandela reminded him that "the United States sets an example for the rest of the world regarding justice and fairness. Today the United States is not in league with most of our major allies: Europe, Canada, Mexico, most of South and Central America. These countries rejected the death
penalty. We are partners in death with several Third World countries. Even Russia has called a moratorium."
In noting the importance of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Gov. Ryan stated that five men on death row were not afforded the opportunity to contact their consulates. He expressed concern that if the United States did not uphold international law at home, it could not expect its citizens to be protected abroad.
Gov. Ryan's historic action comes on the heels of his granting pardons to four men on death row whose confessions were allegedly obtained through police coercion. In pardoning the four men on January 10, Gov. Ryan stated he believed the men were innocent but had been wrongfully prosecuted and convicted. He cited evidence that all four were beaten and tortured and then sentenced to death based on confessions they allegedly made. All but one of the men, who was convicted of a separate crime, have been released from prison.
For additional information about the Chicago Police Department's use of torture, see the Human Rights Watch report, "Shielded from Justice" available on the web at http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/uspo53.htm.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances. The death penalty is a form of punishment unique in its cruelty and is inevitably carried out in an arbitrary manner, inflicted primarily on the most vulnerable - the poor, the mentally ill, and racial and ethnic minorities. The intrinsic fallibility of all criminal justice systems assures that even when full due process of law is respected, innocent persons may be executed.
