AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE : Florida Lethal Injection Commission’s Findings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:            Contact:  Ben Somberg, 212/633-4268
Thursday, March 1, 2007                     or Wende Gozan, 212/633-4247

Florida Lethal Injection Commission’s Findings “Should Give Pause to Those Who Assume That the Process is Orderly,” Says Amnesty International

In response to the findings of the Florida Governor’s Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection, Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of Amnesty International USA’s Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, issued the following statement:

“Amnesty International is encouraged by the findings and recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection and by the openness of the Commission’s hearings on Florida’s lethal injection practices.  The actual practice of lethal injection has hidden for too long behind a veil of secrecy and vague legislative wording that fails to convey what actually occurs in the death chamber.  By holding open hearings and recommending that the governor reconsider the appropriateness of the three-drug combination commonly used throughout the United States, the Commission has taken a step in the right direction.

“Although the Commission’s mission did not include reviewing the decisions to enact the death penalty or provide for executions by lethal injection, the Commission’s findings should give pause to those who assume that the process is orderly, controlled or humane. Amnesty International hopes that the Commission’s report will encourage legislators throughout the country to re-examine both the secretive machinery of death and the wisdom of the death penalty.  Today’s report is just one more indication that the death penalty system is fundamentally broken. Lawmakers should abolish this outdated practice once and for all.”

For more information, see: www.amnestyusa.org/abolish