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USA: Supreme Court lethal injection ruling leaves injustice of death penalty in place

Lethal injection chamber at Huntsville in Texas, the US state which executes more prisoners than any other © AP GraphicsBank
Risk of wrongfully-convicted person being executed remains
 
Today’s US Supreme Court ruling in favour of the use of Midazolam, a controversial drug used in Oklahoma’s lethal injection executions, fails to resolve the death penalty’s fundamental flaws, Amnesty International said.
 
Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director Steven W Hawkins said: 
 
“This decision does not change the fact that regardless of the method of execution, the death penalty is broken beyond repair.
 
The death penalty is the ultimate violation of human rights. The Court’s decision today will not resolve the death penalty’s fundamental flaws, including the risk of executing a wrongfully-convicted person. 
 
“The only discussion should be how to put an end to this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment once and for all.”
 

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