ODIHR Director Link welcomes U.S. Supreme Court decision throwing out conviction, death sentence of African-American man from all-white jury

WARSAW, 24 May 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), welcomed the decision on 23 May by the United States Supreme Court upending the conviction and death sentence of an African American man, Timothy Tyrone Foster, on the basis that prosecutors had excluded African-Americans from the jury at his trial.

“I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision, given its finding that the ‘prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race,” the ODIHR Director said. “Every person must be guaranteed the right to a fair trial, free of any fear of discrimination based on their colour, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or other characteristic. This decision is particularly important in a context where serious concerns have been raised about racial bias in trials and sentencing.”

The 7-1 Supreme Court ruling overturned a lower-court ruling, despite the presentation by defense attorneys there of prosecutor’s notes detailing their efforts to keep African-Americans off the jury in the 1987 trial. The decision was partly based on an earlier, 1986 Supreme Court decision that laid out rules to prevent racial discrimination in jury selection.

“All OSCE participating States have committed to keep the abolition of the death penalty under consideration, and the overwhelming majority have already abolished capital punishment or introduced moratoriums,” Director Link said. “In line with the growing international trend to end this inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, it is high time that individual states and the federal government in the United States will either impose immediate moratoriums as a step towards complete abolition or to abolish capital punishment outright.”