International Community to Focus on Mental Illness and the Death Penalty

On October 10 many inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions and coun­tries are focus­ing on the use of the death penal­ty around the world. The empha­sis this year is on men­tal health issues relat­ed to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, with groups advo­cat­ing for a ban on the exe­cu­tion of indi­vid­u­als with seri­ous men­tal ill­ness or intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties. People with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties are vul­ner­a­ble to manip­u­la­tion dur­ing inter­ro­ga­tion and have dif­fi­cul­ty assist­ing in their own defense. Mental health prob­lems can be exac­er­bat­ed by the extreme iso­la­tion on death row. Recently, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a pub­li­ca­tion, ​“Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends, and Perspectives,” which also dis­cussed inter­na­tion­al issues relat­ed to the death penal­ty. In a pref­ace to the pub­li­ca­tion, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, ​“The death penal­ty has no place in the 21^st cen­tu­ry. Leaders across the globe must bold­ly step for­ward in favour of abo­li­tion. I rec­om­mend this book in par­tic­u­lar to those States that have yet to abol­ish the death penal­ty. Together, let us end this cru­el and inhumane practice.”

(“Death Penalty and Mental Health: Detailed Factsheet,” World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, October 10, 2014, the 12^th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty). See DPIC’s pages on International Developments, Mental Illness, and Intellectual Disability.