Is the juvenile death penalty a common practice internationally?
No. Only five other nations are known to have executed juveniles this decade: Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. With those few exceptions, the United States is virtually alone in the world in executing people for crimes committed while they were juveniles. Has the United States made any international commitments regarding the juvenile death penalty? The United States has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which specifically prohibits executing juveniles. However, the U.S. has made a reservation to that prohibition. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, consider our reservation to be void under the principals of international law. What is the racial make-up of juveniles on death row? Two-thirds of juveniles on death row are people of color. The race of the victim is a also a significant factor in the use of the juvenile death penalty.
