254. The Special Rapporteur was informed that executions in the United States during 1997 amounted to the highest annual judicial death toll in four decades. Sources reported that 74 people were executed in 17 states, including mentally-ill or mentally-handicapped persons and foreign nationals whose rights to consular assistance had been violated. Allegations were also received claiming that many of those on death row were sentenced after trials in which they did not receive adequate legal representation.

Communications sent

     255. Several urgent appeals were transmitted to the Government on behalf of persons who were facing execution. The individuals on whose behalf they were sent include the following:
     (a) Robert Smith, reportedly scheduled to be executed on 29 January 1998 and who allegedly failed to appeal his death sentence (15
January 1998);
     (b) Karla Fay Tucker, upon whose behalf the Special Rapporteur sent three urgent appeals addressed to the Governor of Texas, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Secretary of State. Ms. Tucker was scheduled to be executed on 3 February 1998 and was the first women in 15 years to be executed in the United States (28 January 1998);
     (c) Wilfred Berry, reportedly scheduled to be executed on 3 March 1998 and who apparently requested to be sentenced to death and withdrew his legal appeals. Although he was twice diagnosed with schizophrenia, the court found Wilfred Berry mentally competent to waive his legal appeals (27 February 1998);
     (d) Joseph John Cannon, reportedly scheduled to be executed on 22 April 1998 for a crime he allegedly committed at the age of 17 (2 March 1998);
     (e) Napoleon Beazley, reportedly sentenced to death for a murder that he committed at the age of 17 (28 May 1998);
     (f) Anthony Porter, reportedly scheduled to be executed on 23 September 1998. He was convicted of murdering two people and, based on Intelligence Quotient results, is said to be the most severely mentally retarded person executed in the United States since 1977 (21 September 1998).

Communications received from the Government

     256. The Government replied to all of the Special Rapporteur's transmissions during the period under review. In its replies, the Government detailed the legal safeguards ensured to defendants in criminal cases and specifically cases in which the death penalty applies. The Government also assured the Special Rapporteur that her inquiries would be sent to the appropriate authorities of the state concerned. This type of reply was sent in response to allegations concerning the following individuals: Robert Smith (23 January 1998), Karla Fay Tucker (6 February 1998), Napoleon Beazley (3 June 1998) and Anthony Porter. Furthermore, in the case of Anthony Porter, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that a mental competency hearing would take place before 2 November 1998 (13 October 1998).

Observations

     257. The Special Rapporteur's concerns as they relate to the United States are limited to issues pertaining to the death penalty. The increasing use of the death penalty is a matter of serious concern and particularly worrisome are the continued executions of mentally-ill and mentally-handicapped persons as well as foreigners who were denied their international right to consular assistance. The Special Rapporteur views the persistent application of the death penalty and subsequent executions of persons who committed crimes as minors as a very serious and disturbing practice that inherently conflicts with the prevailing international consensus.