The Death Penalty and Torture

Morris Tidball-Binz was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions, on 1 April 2021. He is a medical doctor specialized in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action. He contributed to the development and worldwide use of forensic science to investigate and document extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, torture and detention conditions, as well as to humanitarian action in armed conflicts and natural catastrophes. Over the past 35 years, he has conducted fact-finding, technical assessments and capacity building missions to over 70 counties in all regions. He is currently drafting a thematic report on the death penalty and torture.

Herman Lindsey is the Executive Director of Witness to Innocence. He was wrongfully convicted and sent to Florida’s death row in 2006. He endured 3 years on Florida's death row for the robbery and murder of Ft. Lauderdale pawnshop owner, Joanne Mazzola, back in 1994. In a unanimous verdict, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in July 2009 that there wasn’t enough evidence to find Lindsey guilty of anything, much less sentence him to death, and that he did not receive a fair trial.

Yasmine Ashraf is a Human Rights Officer with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights since May 2020. She has supported UN mandates on torture, counter-terrorism and human rights, and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; contributed to international standards such as the revision of the Istanbul Protocol; led thematic and country-specific work, and investigations of grave violations of international law, notably as an investigator with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. She is currently the lead drafter of the Special Rapporteur’s report on the death penalty and torture. With 21 years’ experience in politics and human rights, including 12 years focused on torture prevention and accountability, she has delivered capacity-building and technical assistance for governmental and non-governmental stakeholders across the Middle East and North Africa, including on implementation of the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, detention safeguards and effective interviewing standards.

Paris Powell is CEO/AMBVR for two companies, Purpose Over Profit Consults LLC & Teach Assist Guide (TAG) Consultants. Powell founded both companies in 2022 while living in Port Charlotte, Florida, as a single father raising his daughter. He was granted full custody of his daughter in 2017 — the same year that Paris achieved success in reaching a settlement agreement with the state of Oklahoma and the former district attorney for their negligence in his wrongful conviction that led Paris to lose 16-1/2 years of his life. Powell is listed as the #137 Exoneree on the Innocence website. Powell also volunteers his time by returning to prisons in Oklahoma, where he mentors men on a curriculum that focuses on trauma and rehabilitation, which he developed during the COVID lockdown. Powell also advocates and networks with several death penalty organizations to stop the death penalty — consulting on a part of several key judicial committees and reform initiatives. Currently, Powell is back in his hometown of Muncie, Indiana.