INTERNATIONAL: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Calls for Hold on Executions

On August 3, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes the U.S., called for a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in the region and released a report review­ing key areas of con­cern about the death penal­ty. The report made a series of rec­om­men­da­tions for mem­ber States, includ­ing:
 — States should refrain from any mea­sure that would expand the appli­ca­tion of the death penal­ty or rein­tro­duce it,
 — States should take any mea­sures nec­es­sary to ensure com­pli­ance with the strictest stan­dards of due process in cap­i­tal cas­es,
 — States should adopt any steps required to ensure that domes­tic legal stan­dards con­form to the height­ened lev­el of review applic­a­ble in death penal­ty cas­es, and
 — States should ensure full com­pli­ance with deci­sions of the Inter-American Commission and Court, and specif­i­cal­ly with deci­sions con­cern­ing indi­vid­ual death penal­ty cas­es and pre­cau­tion­ary and provisional measures.

With respect to the U.S., the IACHR report cites the fail­ure of the U.S. to pro­vide some for­eign nation­als fac­ing the death penal­ty with their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and raised con­cerns about racial bias in some cases.

IACHR seeks to pro­mote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a con­sul­ta­tive body to the Organization of American States.