Russia calls on the US to abandon the death penalty at the federal level

✔ The following article has been Google translated from Russian. Click here to read the original.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the use of lethal injections violates the international legal ban on the use of torture and other "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment"

MOSCOW, July 16. / TASS /. Russia calls on the US authorities to abandon the death penalty at the federal level and put an end to this practice in the states where it is legalized.

This was announced on Thursday at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"We urge the US authorities to refrain from imposing capital punishment at the federal level, to put an end to this practice that is inappropriate to modern human rights standards in the states where it is legalized," she said.

“We are convinced that this step, along with maintaining capital punishment at the state level, is contrary to US human rights obligations. This practice is unacceptable because the use of lethal injections violates the international legal prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, "the diplomat emphasized.

Zakharova pointed out that, given the high risk of judicial errors and procedural violations, the application of capital punishment deprives convicts of the right to a fair trial.

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According to her, the disproportionate use of the death penalty in the United States is also of concern to certain categories of people, primarily on a racial basis, which “undermines the guarantees of equality of all before the law and the court, and also testifies to the discrimination of convicts in violation of international law in the protection of human rights and freedoms. "

"US policy simply does not meet recognized international standards for the humane treatment of convicts. US authorities violate the rights of not only their own citizens, but also foreigners who are sentenced to death. They are often deprived of procedural guarantees and assistance due to failure by the US authorities to fulfill their obligations under Vienna convention on consular relations of 1963 on timely notification of consulates of the state of origin of prisoners, "the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. authorities could execute the first death sentence in 17 years for a criminal convicted at the federal level.

Earlier Thursday it was reported that a second similar sentence had been carried out.

According to the Washington Post, the last time the US federal authorities carried out the death penalty in 2003. Since then, a kind of unofficial moratorium has been in force because the rules for the use of lethal injections have not been agreed.

Meanwhile, the exceptional punishment in the country continued to be applied in recent years at the level of state authorities.

Source: tass.ru, Staff, July 16, 2020

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