Statement on Tennessee’s botched execution of Christa Pike

“On Wednesday night, Tennessee tried and failed to execute Christa Pike. She is now in critical condition and may suffer permanent brain damage.

The state was warned. Medical experts cautioned that a botched execution was possible. Advocates for human rights, mental health, and survivors of sexual violence urged Tennessee not to proceed, citing the severe trauma, abuse, and mental illness that marked Ms. Pike's childhood. Tennessee did not listen. It failed to protect her as a child, and it failed her again now.

To call what Ms. Pike experienced in the execution chamber “torture” would not be hyperbole. Earlier this year, a United Nations expert concluded that the entire death penalty trajectory amounts to torture and is therefore a violation of international human rights law. A global consensus on this point continues to grow.

As business leaders around the world, we hold ourselves to standards of accountability, transparency, prudence, and integrity, and we expect our governments to deliver the same. This week, Tennessee failed to do so and sent a reminder that no state can reliably carry out executions safely or humanely. We call on Tennessee, and on every government that still uses the death penalty, to abolish it.”

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Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty is a global campaign representing nearly 600 executives worldwide who have united in a shared commitment to end the death penalty worldwide.