London - At 7 p.m. next Thursday the American state of Georgia is likely to set another grisly record in the history of capital punishment in the US when Alexander Williams, now 32, will become the fifth child offender to be executed in the US this year - more than in any year since six minors were put to death in 1954.
Amnesty International, which issued an "urgent action" appeal for clemency yesterday, said Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Congo were the only other countries to execute juvenile offenders in the past 10 years. But the US topped the list with 14 executions.