UN. PANEL CALLS FOR US DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM

March 7, 2008: the United States should impose a death penalty moratorium and stop sentencing young offenders to life in prison until it can root out racial bias from its justice system, a United Nations panel said. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also called on Washington to end racial profiling of Americans of Arab, Muslim and South Asian descent, and to ensure immigrants and non-nationals are not mistreated.
The 18 independent experts expressed concern that racial minorities in the United States were more likely than whites to be sentenced to death or to life without parole as juveniles. Their report urged Washington to "adopt all necessary measures, including a moratorium, to ensure that the death penalty is not imposed as a result of racial bias on the part of prosecutors, judges, juries and lawyers." (Sources: Reuters, 07/03/2008)