"This decision is shameful. It is a huge disappointment for the administration of justice in the United States of America, which decided to confirm the execution of someone who always claimed to be innocent and was condemned without any material evidence. The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall urgently reconsider its position. We also demand that Chatham County (Savannah) District Attorney Larry Chisolm seeks a withdrawal of the death warrant", said Florence Bellivier, Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights and President of the World Coalition against the death penalty.
Troy Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark Allen Macphail in Savannah, Georgia. He was sentenced without any material evidence, on the sole basis of witness testimonies. Since his 1991 trial, seven of nine key witnesses have recanted or changed their testimony, some alleging police coercion. One of the last two witnesses has been the main suspect, accused by other witnesses. The execution was postponed in extremis 3 times.
"FIDH opposes the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances. The case against Troy Davis clearly illustrates that the death penalty is cruel and inhumane, and illustrates as well the absurdity of this system. The death penalty may be applied by national justice system capable of making irreparable mistakes", added Florence Bellivier.
In contrast to the 139 countries worldwide that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, the USA, together with China, North Korea and Iran is among the states which most apply the death penalty today. 3,200 people are currently on US death rows. Currently the US State of Georgia has over 100 persons on its death rows and three persons have been executed in this state in 2011 already. In the past four years, three states in the USA – New Jersey, New Mexico and Illinois – have abolished the death penalty, taking into account the inability to exclude judicial errors, and the possibility of executing innocent persons.