Reprieve was in the High Court today contesting the UK government’s decision not to ban the export of drugs used in US executions.
Together with UK lawyers Leigh Day & Co, we are attempting to prevent further exports of sodium thiopental, the drug used for lethal injections. Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business Innovation & Skills, could use his powers under the Export Control Act to place an immediate ban on the export of the drug to the US, but earlier this month rejected our calls to do so. It is this decision that we have challenged in court today.
The Secretary of State’s position that a ban would place a disproportionate burden on UK businesses wishing to export the drug to the US sits very uncomfortably with the British government’s policy of actively seeking the abolition of the death penalty worldwide. His argument that a ban is not justified because the US states could always source the drug from elsewhere in the world also seems to fly in the face of the UK’s international law and human rights obligations.
The action today is crucial for Tennessee death row prisoners Edmund Zagorski and Ralph Baze, whose executions will go ahead with the complicity of the UK government should the drugs reach the US. We hope that this court case will prevent this from happening and will continue to update you as the case unfolds.
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