Statement on Capital Punishment
Steven Hill, Adviser
U.S. Delegation

Human Rights Council
Geneva, Switzerland
March 29, 2007

Thank you, Mr. President.

International law does not prohibit capital punishment. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specifically recognizes the right of countries to impose the death penalty for the most serious crimes, carried out pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court and in accordance with appropriate safeguards and observance of due process.

In this respect, the United States urges all governments that employ the death penalty to do so in conformity with their international human rights obligations and to ensure that it is not applied in an extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary manner.