DEATH PENALTY

The Convicted as Victims?
during interrogations by the police. This implies that in a substantial
number of cases, prisoners sentenced to death have been tortured in
order to confess the crime that they are now sentenced for.
Torture victims typically suffer severe physical and mental health
consequences in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression
and anxiety, sleep disorders, poor concentration, and chronic
pain. 6 The psychological symptoms of torture are likely to worsen
considerably when a victim is confined in death row due to the
conditions that apply. In particular, victims of torture showing
classical symptoms will suffer from poor access to medical and psychological
treatment or even symptom relief; they also will suffer
from abnormal conditions for human interaction, including severe
overcrowding or solitary confinement. Such cases are likely to
amount to ill-treatment or, if access to treatment is intentionally
denied, even to torture.
WAITING FOR THE EXECUTION
Mentally ill prisoners on death row
A mental illness is a condition that impacts a person’s thinking, feeling
or mood and may affect his or her ability to relate to others and
function on a daily basis. 7 This includes conditions such as attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, autism, bipolar disorder,
borderline personality disorder, depression, dissociative disorders,
eating disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress
disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia.
People with severe mental illness may be defined as adults who currently
or during the past year have a diagnosable mental, behavioral,
or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet criteria specified
within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that
6 Zachary Steel; Tien Chey; Derrick Silove; et al. 2009. “Association of Torture and Other Potentially
Traumatic Events With Mental Health Outcomes Among Populations Exposed to Mass
Conflict and Displacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” JAMA 302(5):537-549.
Available from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=184348. (accessed on 10
June 2016).
7 National Alliance on Mental Illness. Mental health conditions. Available from https://www.nami.
org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions. (accessed on 11 June 2016).
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