General rapporteur on abolition of the death penalty concerned about the latest execution in the United States | WPN World People News

Marietta Karamanli (France, SOC), general rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, said today that she stood aghast at news of what appears to have been yet another botched execution in the United States.

“I am deeply shocked at the apparently bungled execution of Joseph Wood, on 23 July 2014 in Arizona, who took nearly two hours to die – during most of which he was seen gasping and snorting – after having been administered an experimental drug cocktail whose origin the state had kept secret”, Ms Karamanli said.

While the Council of Europe has consistently condemned all forms of capital punishment, the execution of Joseph Wood is particularly disturbing given that it seems to have been the latest in a series of botched state killings by experimental lethal injections that have taken place in the U.S. this year.

“It is beyond comprehension that the United States, a country which enjoys observer status with our Organisation and shares our common values of the rule of law and respect for human rights continues to tolerate such cruel treatment”, she added.

Source: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe