WORLD PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION POSITION STATEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND THE DEATH PENALTY
WORLD PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION POSITION STATEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND THE DEATH PENALTY
International law and laws of various countries prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on persons with mental illness or developmental and intellectual disabilities due to the special barriers faced by them in defending themselves; their limited moral culpability; and their diminished ability to understand the nature and reason for their execution. However, due to lack of accommodations in criminal proceedings and legal safeguards, persons with mental illness, developmental and intellectual disabilities are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and having their fair trial rights denied.
Further, as has been shown through research, often there is an onset of mental illness after a person has been sentenced to death and while living on death row. The death penalty has disproportionately impacted persons with mental or developmental and intellectual disabilities. (WPA, Approved at the General Assembly in Vienna on 30 September 2023)
https://www.wpanet.org/_files/ugd/842ec8_954aafaa000b4ce38c282309ef68b6f9.pdf