Human Rights Watch commended President Clinton for staying the execution of Juan Raul Garza. The group urged the president to impose a moratorium on federal executions.
Citing a recent Department of Justice investigation that found significant geographic and racial disparities in the federal government's administration of capital punishment, Human Rights Watch said that a moratorium should be implemented until basic fairness in the application of the death penalty can be assured.
"Particularly at a moment when there are serious questions about how the federal death penalty is applied, we believe it would be unconscionable for the federal government to carry out executions," said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, in a letter to the president.
