U.S. States resort to black markets to obtain drugs used for lethal injection

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

ATLANTA, United States – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has opted to confiscate several State’s supplies of sodium thiopental (ST) amid concerns about how the lethal injection drug had been obtained.  With the supply of the widely recognized lethal injection drug growing even tighter, states have resorted to illegal means and black markets in order to continue its use in carrying out the death penalty on inmates. 

States are using black markets to obtain lethal injection drugs for exercutions
States are using black markets to obtain lethal injection drugs for exercutions

Human rights groups have pointed out the ethical issues drug companies face once the drug is sold and control over its use is lost.

On January 28, 2011, the only U.S. company to manufacture sodium thiopental, Hospira Incorporated, stopped production of the lethal injection drug leaving states floundering for a substitute. Swiss drug company Novartis followed suit on February 10, forbidding distributors from allowing the drug to be exported to the United States.

On March 15, The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) confiscated the entire supply of sodium thiopental held by Georgia after concern and questions arose amid the origin of the drugs.  Shortly thereafter, Kentucky and Tennessee voluntarily turned over their supply of the drug to the DEA on April 1.

On April 14, the United Kingdom placed a ban on all exports of the sodium thiopental.  Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed in a statement that “We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections. That is why we introduced a control on sodium thiopental last year – the first of its kind in the world. And it is also why we are now controlling the export of the other drugs used in lethal injection in the US.”

Secretary Cable further announced that the UK would encourage the European Union to follow suit and apply the control “on an EU-wide basis.”

In the frenzy to continue capital punishment amid pressure from prisons and victims rights groups, many States resorted to the use of pentobarbital.  Pentobarbital is commonly used to euthanize animals and for medical treatment.  Ohio and Oklahoma are the only states currently using the new substitute.  Georgia officials have confirmed traveling to both states to learn more about its use.

An April 13 article by the New York Times revealed that some states have conspired to continue to obtain sodium thiopental, going so far as to traffick the drug from other sources, including black markets.

One deposition in a lawsuit brought by a death row inmate indicated that an Arkansas Department of Corrections official drove to Tennessee and Texas in order to bring the drug to Arkansas for an eminent execution.

Over 1,000 inmates have been executed in the United States since the first execution on December 7, 1982.

Photo Courtesy of CNN.  For More Information Please Visit:

IPS News – Lethal Injection Treads Murky Ethical Waters – 29 April 2011

Amnesty International – Lethal Injection – January 2011

Full Text Reports – Government Bans Export of Lethal Injection Drugs to the U.S. – 20 April 2011

Syrian Military Forces Seize Control of City Mosque


By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DARAA, Syria – Syrian military forces stormed a mosque in the southern town of Daraa on Saturday, killing at least four.  Opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime had turned the mosque into a temporary hospital for those who were injured in the military’s assault on the town.

In the early morning hours, soldiers, backed by tanks and helicopters, attacked Daraa and seized control of the mosque.  According to witnesses, snipers took positions in the mosque’s minaret.  In addition, this incident was the first time helicopters were used against the opposition.  Three helicopters were used in the attack.

Witnesses indicated that Daraa is running out of food and medicine.  Water, electricity and telephones have been cut off for almost a week.  Residents of Daraa have remained in their homes. Men were forbidden from leaving their homes, but women were allowed to leave to search for bread. News about the crackdown is transmitted from one house to the next through windows.

It is difficult to determine precisely how many people have been killed at this time as the government has limited the number of foreign journalists to only a few foreign journalists and has restricted them.  Families have been unable to retrieve bodies from the streets and have put the bodies in a temporary morgue, according to human rights groups.   Since the conflict began in mid-March, it is estimated that 535 people have died.

To address the worsening situation in Syria, the United Nations Human Rights Council met and approved a resolution, requesting that the UN high commissioner for human rights investigate the human rights abuses in Syria on April 29. This special session was requested by sixteen members of the Human Rights Council, including the United States, Mexico, South Korea, Zambia and Senegal.  Seven members abstained from the vote, which passed twenty-six to nine.  Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Angola did not attend the session.

This incident came only a day after nearly sixty-five people were killed, most of them in Daraa, where several teenagers put anti-government graffiti on a wall, inciting a violence uprising.  The efforts of military forces to end the uprising have become increasingly brutal.  The government’s actions have been condemned by the international community.  Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has described the crackdown as “completely disgraceful and unacceptable”.

For more information please see:
Sydney Morning Herald – Syrian Soldiers Storm City Mosque – 02 May 2011

The Guardian – Syrian Regime’s Shells Pound Deraa’s Roman Quarter – 01 May 2011

Human Rights Watch – UN: Syria Should Heed Call to End Violence – April 30, 2011

Washington Post – Syrian Troops Overwhelm Protest Town – 30 April 2011

US Imposes Sanctions Against Syrian Officials For Human Rights Violations

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrians protested in cities and towns across Syria to stage a “Day of Rage” in opposition to the government’s crackdown on the opposition.  The United States imposed sanctions on officials responsible for human rights violations in Syria.  The new sanctions in the executive order signed by President Obama on Friday builds on the sanctions that were imposed on Syria beginning in 2004 and calls on the United Nations human rights officials to investigate Syria for violations of international law.

The order named Maher al-Assad, brother of President Bashar al-Assad and an army commander, as one of the parties responsible for the incidents in Daraa.  It also named Assad’s cousin, Atif Najib, who was the head of the Political Security Directorate for Daraa in March, when a large number of protesters were killed by security forces.

Another party named in the sanctions order is the Iranian Quds Force, as being involved in providing “material support to the Syrian government related to cracking down on unrest in Syria”.

According to human rights groups, at least twelve people were killed as security forces fired on protesters in two cities – Latakia, and Homs.  In Daraa, a southern town, shots fired on protesters allegedly caused some casualties.  The protesters gathered in the streets after leaving noontime prayer at the mosques.

In Homs, the protesters were shouting “leave, leave” to President Assad.  The protests began in March as a democratic movement but have recently turned into more of a rebellion.

In response to demonstrations that occurred a week ago, Syria sent tanks into Daraa.  Water, electricity and communications have been cut off there.  According to human rights groups, at least thirty-eight individuals have died, although that number may in fact be much higher.  On the other hand, state television reported that four army soldiers have been killed.  The government has depicted the demonstrations as a rebellion by armed Islamist extremists.

The UN Human Rights Council approved the United States’ statement condemning the violence in Syria.  China, Russia, and several African countries voted against this statement primarily because these nations oppose taking action similar to that which was done in Libya with Muammar Qaddafi.

For more information please see:
Christian Science Monitor – UN Council Issues Tepid Rebuke of Syria – 29 April 2011

Reuters – White House Calls on Syria Leader to Change Course – 29 April 2011

Washington Post – Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters; U.S. Imposes Sanctions – 29 April 29, 2011

U.S. Ambassador alleges that Qaddafi soldiers given Viagra and ordered to rape

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

TRIPOLI, Libya – In a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice raised the issue of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi issuing Viagra to troops, a claim that was first reported by British tabloids.

One diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that when Rice raised the issue in the meeting, no one responded.

The reports underscore Qaddafi’s campaign of sexual violence used to silence and terrorize communities that have supported rebels.

One diplomat said that Rice “spoke of reports of soldiers getting Viagra and raping [and] of Qaddafi’s soldiers targeting children, and other atrocities.” Some diplomats questioned Rice’s allegations, saying that she did not offer any proof of the allegations.

An April 24 article in the New York Times spoke of an electrician who fled Libya for Tunisia and who had heard rumors that “loyalist forces had orders to kill everyone in the city, and that soldiers had been given Viagra and explicit orders to rape.”

The British tabloids that broke the Viagra stories also spoke of children as young as eight who have been raped in front of their families.

Michael Mahrt, of Save the Children, said, “Children told us they have witnessed horrendous scenes. They described things happening to other children but they may have actually happened to them and they are just too upset to talk about it – it’s a coping mechanism.”

On the same day of the Security Council meeting, CBS News Correspondent Lara Logan, who suffered a brutal sexual assault in Cairo in February that lasted nearly forty minutes, returned to work and spoke for the first time of her attack, noting that when it comes to sexual violence in areas of armed conflict, victims have only their word.

In countries such as Libya and Egypt, rape is heavily stigmatized, and those who have been assaulted or raped often do not come forward.

Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. special representative on sexual violence during armed conflict, who was appointed last year by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, issued a statement last week highlighting that reports of rape in Libya have been “brutally silenced.”

It would constitute a war crime if it is true that Qaddafi’s troops are being encouraged by their commanders to engage in rape.

Libya is already under investigation by the International Criminal Court for Qaddafi and his regime’s suppression and crackdown of anti-government protesters.

For more information, please see:

New York Magazine – U.S. Ambassador Alleges Qaddafi Issuing Troops Viagra – 29 April 2011

AFP – Viagra allegations raised amid Libya divisions at UN – 28 April 2011

New York Times – CBS Reporter Recounts a ‘Merciless’ Assault – 28 April 2011

Reuters – U.S. says Gaddafi troops raping, issued Viagra: envoys – 28 April 2011

Daily Mail – Fuelled ‘by Viagra’, Gaddafi’s troops use rape as a weapon of war with children as young as EIGHT among the victims – 25 April 2011

New York Times – Berber Rebels in Libya’s West Face Long Odds Against Qaddafi – 24 April 2011

Impunity Watch Symposium Keynote Senator Romeo Dallaire (1/4)

On Friday April 8, 2011, the Impunity Watch Law Journal of Syracuse University College of Law hosted its annual symposium entitled, Humans as Commodities: Child Soldiers. The symposium addressed the use of child soldiers in armed conflict. It looked at the chilling realities facing child soldiers, the root causes of the phenomena, and explored the persistent human rights dilemma facing the international community.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to ensure that States do not use individuals under eighteen years of age in combat, and to explicitly forbid non-state and guerrilla forces from recruiting anyone under eighteen for any purpose. Other provisions of international law have banned the use of soldiers under age fifteen since the 1970s. In spite of these and other international efforts, there are an estimated 250,000-300,000 child soldiers across the globe, actively fighting in at least thirty countries. Almost half of all armed organizations in the world use child soldiers and almost all of those soldiers see combat.