21/03/2024 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 21 March, the European Union briefed that it “deeply” regretted the execution of Willie James Pye the previous day in the US state of Georgia. He was convicted in 1996 of murdering his ex-girlfriend after kidnapping and raping her. “We deplore the fact that this execution took place despite evidence indicating that the convict had an intellectual disability”. The use of the death penalty for people with such disabilities is explicitly prohibited by international standards on the human rights of those facing the death penalty, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service pointed out in a press release. He added that in 2005, the US Supreme Court outlawed executions of people with intellectual disabilities. He also regretted that the State of Georgia had resumed its use of the death penalty. (CG)