1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,880
Speaker 1: Executions in the US have steadily decreased in the last

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,440
Speaker 1: two decades. Twenty people were put to death last year,

3
00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: down from but as the recent executions of four people

4
00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:11,720
Speaker 1: in Arkansas show, in some parts of the country the

5
00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,120
Speaker 1: death penalty is very much still around. Now, a high

6
00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,640
Speaker 1: profile group is making a new push for abolution abolition

7
00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,560
Speaker 1: of capital punishment worldwide. It's called the International Commission Against

8
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,759
Speaker 1: the Death Penalty, and its members are in the US

9
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,599
Speaker 1: this week for meetings that they try to drum up

10
00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,480
Speaker 1: support with US. Are two members of that commission, that commission,

11
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,519
Speaker 1: Navi Play, a South African judge who served as the

12
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,680
Speaker 1: u n's High Commissioner on Human Rights, and Bill Richardson,

13
00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,440
Speaker 1: former governor of New Mexico and also the former US

14
00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,479
Speaker 1: Ambassador to the u N. Thank you both for joining US.

15
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,800
Speaker 1: Commissioner Play, uh just start tell us who are you

16
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,760
Speaker 1: meeting with this week and what sorts of reactions are

17
00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:54,160
Speaker 1: you getting so far? It's very much Bloomberg ready for

18
00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,400
Speaker 1: doing this. Yes, we are here as commissioners of the

19
00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 1: i c d P, which is a state supported the organization.

20
00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:07,200
Speaker 1: We met this morning with representatives of states. They were

21
00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:16,000
Speaker 1: all invited about four or five representatives turned up like Tanzania, Zambia, UM,

22
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:23,720
Speaker 1: Vietnam and Belarus with different experiences. Uh. Some call themselves

23
00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,080
Speaker 1: abolitionist states, but they all have the death penalty in

24
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,400
Speaker 1: their statutes and they they identified as their main obstacle

25
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:39,240
Speaker 1: to removing the that particular law public opinion. So it's

26
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,560
Speaker 1: very interesting that we hear from them, and we are

27
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,600
Speaker 1: here to ask what can we do as an international

28
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,680
Speaker 1: body to help them. And they had various suggestions, for instance,

29
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,600
Speaker 1: together statistics on whether the death penalty is actually a

30
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,240
Speaker 1: deterrent and secondly on whether it's true that just poor

31
00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,920
Speaker 1: people all over the world are the ones who are

32
00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:08,120
Speaker 1: most likely to be sentenced to death and why is

33
00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,840
Speaker 1: that so? I think they wanted information on this. We

34
00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,040
Speaker 1: are here to urge those particular states to support the

35
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:22,600
Speaker 1: United Nations Declaration. It's a resolution urging states to call

36
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:28,120
Speaker 1: a moratorium. And since the i c DP started doing

37
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: this works really supportive work. We're not an Engino, were

38
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,919
Speaker 1: not yet criticize, but to offer our assistance and more

39
00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:41,080
Speaker 1: and most states have either abolished UM or they have

40
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,760
Speaker 1: called a referendum. Some have a moratorium. Governor Richardson, are

41
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,480
Speaker 1: you meeting with any of the US States to talk

42
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 1: to them about capital punishment. Yes, we are, I think, Uh.

43
00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,720
Speaker 1: Commissioner Pola has talked about the international side. We just

44
00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,760
Speaker 1: met with the former governors and current Attorney generals from Connecticut,

45
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:14,440
Speaker 1: New Mexico, Maryland, North Carolina, and New Hampshire. And what

46
00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:20,280
Speaker 1: we're urging is increased states. It's a state by state

47
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,919
Speaker 1: issue abolishing the death penalty. It's inhumane, it doesn't work,

48
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:31,079
Speaker 1: it's expensive. Uh, there's a number of cases where uh

49
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:37,640
Speaker 1: there's been horrendous errors, DNA samples are inadequate, and so

50
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,960
Speaker 1: we're trying to say, does the United States want to

51
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,720
Speaker 1: be associated with countries like Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia,

52
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,040
Speaker 1: all who have the death penalty, and a lot of

53
00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,400
Speaker 1: countries look at the United States. So the answer is yes.

54
00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,680
Speaker 1: And Commissioner Poli was most articulate today in talking to

55
00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,200
Speaker 1: the American governors and attorney generals about at least used

56
00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:05,520
Speaker 1: to adopting a moratorium. Commissioner Polly, um, it sounds like

57
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,160
Speaker 1: most of your meetings are with state actors here. But

58
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,280
Speaker 1: one big factor in the death penalty in recent years

59
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 1: have been the pharmaceutical companies that have refused to allow

60
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,240
Speaker 1: their drugs to be used in lethal injections, and I'm

61
00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,640
Speaker 1: wondering whether that effort is something you support or whether

62
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,360
Speaker 1: it's something that might be backfiring to some degree, because

63
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,520
Speaker 1: what we're seeing here in the US and at least

64
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,600
Speaker 1: some places are states using drugs that they get however

65
00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,000
Speaker 1: they can. And some of those drugs like medeazza LAMB

66
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:40,080
Speaker 1: have been very controversial and there's uh an argument that

67
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,760
Speaker 1: they are actually causing people to suffer uh an immense

68
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,919
Speaker 1: amount of pain when they undergo an execution. Yeah, you know,

69
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,800
Speaker 1: that's such an important issue that there is. And the

70
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,480
Speaker 1: i CDP is following this closely, beginning with the first

71
00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,280
Speaker 1: information that reached the whole world about the oven the

72
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:03,880
Speaker 1: suffering caused by the ineffectiveness of these drugs. So I

73
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,920
Speaker 1: find it very interesting that the drug companies are intervening

74
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,120
Speaker 1: because business is very concerned with human rights as well.

75
00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,720
Speaker 1: They want to take social responsibility for their actions then

76
00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,599
Speaker 1: for their products. It's it's such a good initiative. I'm

77
00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,520
Speaker 1: going to take this around the world as good examples

78
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,400
Speaker 1: for involvement by business to take a stand on values

79
00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,720
Speaker 1: and so on. But most effectively, they do have an

80
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:38,360
Speaker 1: immediate concern. Uh, if they do not want their products

81
00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,200
Speaker 1: to be used to execute people, to kill people, that

82
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,680
Speaker 1: they are saying so. And by the way, let me

83
00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,200
Speaker 1: say that we're not just meeting of governments and ambassadors.

84
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,640
Speaker 1: That's what we did this morning. We are meeting a

85
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:59,000
Speaker 1: sizeable room full of engels just now after this interview, UM,

86
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,720
Speaker 1: Governor Richardson. There are some states, for example, California, the

87
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,880
Speaker 1: last execution was in two thousand six, yet there are

88
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,039
Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty people on death row. Why is

89
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,839
Speaker 1: it so difficult in a state like that and in

90
00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,720
Speaker 1: some of the other states where twelve having carried out

91
00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,640
Speaker 1: in execution for a decade or more, to get the

92
00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:25,200
Speaker 1: death penalty off the books. Well, because it's a very

93
00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,039
Speaker 1: tough political decision. I mean, we've met with a lot

94
00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:34,080
Speaker 1: of governor's attorney general's. Uh. Although public opinion is moving

95
00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 1: in the direction of abolishing the death penalty, it's still

96
00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,520
Speaker 1: a very contentious issue. So the good thing is in California,

97
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,920
Speaker 1: we've got Governor Jerry Brown who opposes the death penalty,

98
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,880
Speaker 1: and he would ultimately have to make decisions on this.

99
00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,200
Speaker 1: But what you also have in California is a lot

100
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: of cases there that there's been a mistaken verdict on

101
00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,599
Speaker 1: a lot of individuals. So public opinion is moving in

102
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,960
Speaker 1: the direction of abolishing the death penalty. But it's a

103
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 1: very tough political issue because even though movement is towards

104
00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,280
Speaker 1: abolishing the death penalty is still fifty fifty. So if

105
00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,680
Speaker 1: you're a politician, you're worried about getting reelected, worried about votes.

106
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,880
Speaker 1: When I abolished the death penalty, how I used to

107
00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,080
Speaker 1: before it, but I read all this evidence, but in

108
00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,840
Speaker 1: the end, a majority of the public still was against

109
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,600
Speaker 1: terminating the death penalty want they wanted to keep it

110
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,880
Speaker 1: for the most famous of crimes. So for a politician,

111
00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,280
Speaker 1: it's a very very tough political issue, one that affects

112
00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:47,400
Speaker 1: law enforcement, voters, police victims, families. It's not easy. It's

113
00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,200
Speaker 1: a very tough issue. I want to thank our guests

114
00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,840
Speaker 1: Bill Richardson, former you and US Ambassador to the u

115
00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,040
Speaker 1: N and Navi Polyi, former UN High Commissioner and Human

116
00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,160
Speaker 1: Rights talking about the International Committee Against the Death Penalty,