{"id":1787325,"date":"2007-05-23T05:13:30","date_gmt":"2007-05-22T22:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/?p=1787325"},"modified":"2023-04-13T05:42:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T05:42:17","slug":"child-executions-views-of-medical-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/2007\/05\/23\/child-executions-views-of-medical-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Child Executions : VIEWS OF MEDICAL EXPERTS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nThe following is from a 2004 letter<\/a> by medical professionals to the countries that executed children about why children should be penalized different than adults:<\/p>\n

“….The restriction on the application of adult penalties to juveniles is a widely accepted principle in law around the world. The reason for this was set out, for example, in an opinion of the US Supreme Court in the capital appeal case of Johnson v Texas in 1993, an appeal based, among other things, on the failure of a Texas court to adequately take into account Johnson’s age at the time of the crime.<\/p>\n

The court observed that: “A lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility are found in youth more often than in adults and are more understandable among the young. These qualities often result in impetuous and ill considered actions and decisions.” (2)<\/p>\n

Our work with adolescents makes clear to us that this period of life is marked by the kind of “underdeveloped sense of responsibility” cited by the US Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

We would argue that although adolescents generally know the difference between right and wrong, they can suffer from diminished capacities to reason logically, to control their impulses, to think through the future consequences of their actions, and to resist the negative influences and persuasion of others. They should face punishment for criminal actions, but the sanctions which can be imposed on mentally competent adolescent offenders should not be the same as those faced by adults found guilty of the same offences.(3)<\/p>\n

For these reasons, we believe that executing offenders aged less than 18 at the time of their offence is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

As you no doubt know, evolving international standards prohibit the execution of child offenders. These standards include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the American Convention on Human Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. We attach the text of the relevant provisions for your information. This prohibition is now so widely accepted as to constitute a principle of customary international law. The relevant standards are respected by the overwhelming majority of the 80 countries which still retain and use the death penalty.<\/p>\n

We are aware that although almost all countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty have now established a minimum age of 18 in national law or have ratified international treaties binding them to respect the prohibition, some death sentences have still been imposed and some executions have been carried out.<\/p>\n

We urge you to modify the current policy, practice or safeguards of your country so that no one who was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime for which they have been convicted is sentenced to death or executed… “<\/em><\/p>\n

To view the signatures click here:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[List of signatories follows]
\nSignatories of open letter against executions of juvenile offenders(4)
\nRobert Wm. Blum<\/b> MD MPH PhD
\nWilliam H. Gates Sr. Professor and Chair
\nDepartment of Population and Family Health Sciences
\nJohns Hopkins University
\nBloomberg School of Public Health
\nBaltimore, Maryland
\nUnited States of America<\/p>\n

Dr Jens Buchhave [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Association in Denmark
\nSpecialist in Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nChief Consultant at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital,
\nUniversity Hospital of Aarhus
\nAarhus
\nDenmark<\/p>\n

Prof. J\u00f8rgen Cohn<\/b>
\nSpecialist in Paediatrics
\nEmeritus Professor at the Paediatric-Health and Human Rights Department,
\nUniversity Hospital of Troms\u00f8, Norway
\n\u00c6r\u00f8sk\u00f8bing
\nDenmark<\/p>\n

Boel Andersson G\u00e4re<\/b> MD PhD [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Swedish Pediatric Society
\nHead, Child Public Health, J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping County
\n55185 J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping
\nSweden<\/p>\n

Dr Robert Hillard<\/b>
\nProfessor of Pediatrics, University of Toronto
\nDirector of Education, Pediatric Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children
\n555 University Avenue
\nToronto, Ontario M5G 1X8
\nCanada<\/p>\n

Dr Arne H\u00f8st [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Danish Paediatric Society
\nSpecialist in Paediatrics
\nChief Consultant at the Paediatric Department H,
\nUniversity Hospital of Odense
\nOdense
\nDenmark<\/p>\n

Dr Patrice Huerre<\/b>
\nPsychiatre Expert pr\u00e8s la Cour d\u2019Appel de Paris
\nClinique M\u00e9dico Universitaire Heuyer
\n6 rue du Conventionnel Chiappe
\n75013 Paris
\nFrance<\/p>\n

Dr J\u00f8rgen Hurum [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Norwegian Paediatric Association
\nSpecialist in Paediatrics
\nConsultant at the Hospital of Lillehammer
\nLillehammer
\nNorway<\/p>\n

Professeur Axel Kahn<\/b>
\nDirecteur de l\u2019Institut Cochin
\nDirecteur de l\u2019IFR Alfred Jost
\n22 rue M\u00e9chain
\n75014 Paris
\nFrance<\/p>\n

Dr Bj\u00f6rn Lundin [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Swedish Society for Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nSpecialist in Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nConsultant at the University Hospital in Link\u00f6ping
\nSweden<\/p>\n

Dr Klaus Minde<\/b>
\nProfessor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, McGill University
\nDirector Anxiety Clinic, Montreal Children’s Hospital
\nMcGill University Health Centre
\n2300 Tupper Street
\nMontreal, Quebec H3H 1P3
\nCanada<\/p>\n

Charles A. Nelson<\/b> PhD
\nDistinguished McKnight University
\nProfessor of Child Psychology, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics
\nNancy M. and John E. Lindahl Professor for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Institute of Child Development
\nUniversity of Minnesota
\n51 East River Road
\nMinneapolis, MN 55455
\nUnited States of America<\/p>\n

Julius B Richmond<\/b> MD
\nSurgeon General of the United States of America, 1977-1981
\nJohn D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy Emeritus, Department of
\nSocial Medicine, Harvard Medical School
\nRecipient, C. Anderson Aldrich Award in Child Development, American Academy of Pediatrics
\nCambridge, MA
\nUnited States of America<\/p>\n

Allan Rosenfield<\/b> MD
\nDean, Mailman School of Public Health
\nColumbia University
\n722 West 168th Street, Suite 1408
\nNew York, NY 10032
\nUSA<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Susan M Sawyer<\/b> MBBS MD FRACP
\nDirector, Centre for Adolescent Health
\nRoyal Children’s Hospital
\nParkville, Vic 3052
\nAustralia<\/p>\n

Dr Jan Skandsen [*]<\/b>
\nChairman of the Norwegian Association in Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nSpecialist in Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nConsultant at the Psychiatry Clinic, Child – and adolescent psychiatry dep.
\nStavanger
\nNorway<\/p>\n

Laurence Steinberg<\/b> PhD
\nDistinguished University Professor
\nLaura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology
\nDepartment of Psychology
\nTemple University
\nPhiladelphia, PA 19122
\nUnited States of America<\/p>\n

Dr Serge Tisseron<\/b>
\nPsychiatrist and Psychoanalyst
\nProfessor, University Paris 7 Denis Diderot,
\n75251 Paris Cedex 05
\nFrance<\/p>\n

Professor Eric Taylor<\/b> FRCP FRCPsych FMedSci
\nHead of Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
\nInstitute of Psychiatry – Kings College London
\nDe Crespigny Park
\nLondon SE5 8AF
\nUnited Kingdom<\/p>\n

Professor William Yule<\/b>
\nProfessor of Applied Child Psychology
\nInstitute of Psychiatry – King’s College London
\nDe Crespigny Park,
\nLondon SE5 8AF
\nUnited Kingdom<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nThe following is from a 2004 letter<\/a> by medical professionals to the countries that executed children about why children should be penalized different than adults:<\/p>\n

“….The restriction on the application of adult penalties to juveniles is a widely accepted principle in law around the world. The reason for this was set out, for example, in an opinion of the US Supreme Court in the capital appeal case of Johnson v Texas in 1993, an appeal based, among other things, on the failure of a Texas court to adequately take into account Johnson’s age at the time of the crime.<\/p>\n

The court observed that: “A lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility are found in youth more often than in adults and are more understandable among the young. These qualities often result in impetuous and ill considered actions and decisions.” (2)<\/p>\n

Our work with adolescents makes clear to us that this period of life is marked by the kind of “underdeveloped sense of responsibility” cited by the US Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

We would argue that although adolescents generally know the difference between right and wrong, they can suffer from diminished capacities to reason logically, to control their impulses, to think through the future consequences of their actions, and to resist the negative influences and persuasion of others. They should face punishment for criminal actions, but the sanctions which can be imposed on mentally competent adolescent offenders should not be the same as those faced by adults found guilty of the same offences.(3)<\/p>\n

For these reasons, we believe that executing offenders aged less than 18 at the time of their offence is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

As you no doubt know, evolving international standards prohibit the execution of child offenders. These standards include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the American Convention on Human Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. We attach the text of the relevant provisions for your information. This prohibition is now so widely accepted as to constitute a principle of customary international law. The relevant standards are respected by the overwhelming majority of the 80 countries which still retain and use the death penalty.<\/p>\n

We are aware that although almost all countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty have now established a minimum age of 18 in national law or have ratified international treaties binding them to respect the prohibition, some death sentences have still been imposed and some executions have been carried out.<\/p>\n

We urge you to modify the current policy, practice or safeguards of your country so that no one who was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime for which they have been convicted is sentenced to death or executed… “<\/em><\/p>\n

To view the signatures click here:<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[9,20],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5196428,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787325\/revisions\/5196428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stopchildexecutions.com\/scenewsarchive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}