Remembering Troy Davis

Last week saw hope, and then that hope quickly dashed, for Troy Davis. Despite a high-profile and world-wide campaign to get the courts in Georgia, USA, to grant him a retrial, Troy was executed on Thursday 22 September, after 20 years on death row. He had been convicted of a murder, based mainly on eyewitness testimony; seven of the nine witnesses have since recanted their evidence; many have said that police coerced them into their testimony; one has not spoken about the case at all; and the ninth is a suspect himself, who has even been heard to confess to the crime. Troy's case was clearly a tragedy, of someone most likely killed for a crime he did not commit.

At the moment, 139 countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, either in law or in practice. Last year, 67 countries still gave death sentences, but only 23 actually carried them out. Last year, at least 527 people were executed in the world outside China - there are no reliable figures for Chinese executions which are thought to number thousands every year. There has been progress in several countries, but 23 countries and 527 individuals plus an unknown number of Chinese people are still horrendous numbers.

And although it is perhaps easier to campaign against a clearly unjust execution, and for someone who appears innocent of the crimes they have been accused of, we should never forget that every execution is a crime against humanity, against article 3 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("Everyone has the right to life"). So whether for armed robbery in Belarus, for being gay in Uganda, for drug smuggling in Singapore, for racist murder in the US, or for “enmity against God” in Iran, death penalty is always, everywhere, for every crime, and every non-crime simply wrong.

Troy died with his dignity and humanity intact. His last words were to his executioners: "For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.” Troy's campaign is over. But we can still keep on working.

We can send a message of solidarity to Troy's family.

We can read more about Amnesty's death penalty campaign.

We can work for every future person waiting to be executed.

Wherever they are, whatever they have been convicted of.

We can end this crime against humanity.

And we can remember Troy.