Frederick Atkins (died 2005) was a convicted

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

er who received a mandatory death sentence from a court in Barbados. He died in prison while the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...

was considering his appeal. Atkins was a bus driver who was convicted in 1999 for the murder of 20-year-old Sharmaine Hurley in the previous October. In 2000 he received a mandatory death sentence. He received an

execution warrant An execution warrant (also called death warrant or black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the execution of a condemned person. An execution warrant is not to be confused with a " license to kill", which operates like an arrest warrant but ...

in June 2002 but it was stayed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of Barbados. On 3 September 2004, Atkins and three other

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

inmates in Barbados appealed their sentences to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. On 9 February 2005, Barbados issued another death warrant for Atkins, informing him that he was scheduled to be executed by hanging on 14 February. After appeals to the government by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the

Barbados High Court The Supreme Court of Judicature of Barbados is the highest judicial body in the country of Barbados. It is made up of the High Court and the Court of Appeals.

agreed to stay the execution. Later in 2005, Atkins died in prison of an illness. In December 2007, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ruled that Atkins's mandatory sentence and the mandatory sentence provisions of the Barbados murder statute violate the

right to life The right to life is the belief that a being has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including capital punishment, with some people seeing it as ...

guarantees of the American Convention on Human Rights.

References

* United Nations
"United Nations Expert on Arbitrary Killings Appeals to Barbados to Stop Execution"
12 February 2005, press release, accessed 8 August 2008 *

Barbados: "Imminent Execution"
11 February 2005, press release, accessed 8 August 2008 *

"Barbados: Further information on: Imminent execution, Fredrick Atkins"
14 February 2005, press release, accessed 8 August 2008 * Doughty Street Chambers
"Inter-American Court Ruling on Death Penalty in Barbados"
20 December 2007, press release, accessed 8 August 2008 2005 deaths Barbadian people who died in prison custody Prisoners sentenced to death by Barbados Prisoners who died in Barbadian detention Barbadian prisoners sentenced to death Barbadian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Barbados Year of birth missing {{Barbados-bio-stub