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U.S. Backslides in Human Rights with Federal Death Penalty

By humanrightsathome

As the U.S. Department of Justice begins to carry out federal death penalties after a 17-year hiatus, the European Union has stepped up its condemnation of the practice and its efforts to end U.S. executions though diplomatic pressure.  In July 2020, the E.U. condemned  he resumption of federal executions  and urged against the reversal of a trend toward abolishing the death penalty, both in the U.S. and universally.

Just a month earlier, the European Union issued its annual report on human rights and democracy worldwide, which includes an update of developments in the U.S.  In that report, covering the year 2019, the E.U. stated that “the United States served as a good example of the continuous progress towards abolition:

• New Hampshire became the 21st abolitionist state in law in the US;
• Governor Newsom declared a moratorium on executions in California, the state with the most death row inmates in the US;
• Indiana reached 10 years without executions, bringing the number of US states without executions for ten or more years to
32 out of a total of 50. 

The European Union ‘s report also found positive news in the failed attempt to re-start federal executions in 2019 — a fleeting reprieve that has now been superseded, with three executions in four days last week.