BOISE, Idaho — Faith leaders, community advocates and relatives of a person executed by firing squad are joining national advocacy groups to protest firms involved in constructing Idaho’s execution chamber, as states increasingly turn to alternative methods amid lethal injection drug shortages.
Due to the refusal of pharmaceutical companies, especially in the past decade, many states have had to find alternative methods because of extensive shortages of lethal injection drugs.
Further, this has led the state of Idaho to pass legislation authorizing execution by firing squad, which is one of the most aggressive among alternative methods.
Various faith leaders, community advocates and Randy Gardner, who is the brother of the last man executed by firing squad in Utah, will be joined by Worth Rises and Death Penalty Action. This coalition will protest firms involved in the building of Idaho’s execution chamber project.
These actions will specifically take place at the offices of Oakland Construction and Cator Ruma & Associates, protesting these firms’ agreement to build and design Idaho’s firing execution chamber. The actions will take place on two days, March 30 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and March 31 in Boise, Idaho.
The actions will consist of demands for the firms to “immediately withdraw from all execution-related contracts” and further to publicly commit to not participate in similar work in the future, led by 2,000 petition signatures and a letter from various interfaith leaders.
According to publicly available legal findings, both Oakland Construction and Cator Ruma & Associates are involved in the redesign of F Block, which is the Idaho Department of Corrections’ execution unit. Specifically, there are changes for firing squad executions.
Another firm that has been involved with the project, Elevatus Architecture, may also be in violation of the Code of Ethics of the American Institute of Architects, which “prohibits member firms from designing spaces intended for execution,” as stated by a Worth Rises article.
Additionally, United Nations special rapporteurs have further concluded that firing squad executions “constitute cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment in violation of international human rights law.”
Moreover, the brother of Randy Gardner, who was executed by firing squad in Utah in 2010, Ronnie Lee Gardner, emphasizes, “I am here to say that there is no good way to kill someone, and more importantly, an execution like that is going to haunt everyone involved — and that includes the people who are building Idaho’s new firing squad facility.”
Further, Ronnie Lee Gardner calls for both Oakland Construction and Cator Ruma to “withdraw from their contract and stop working on that project.”
He highlights that these firms are profiting from the executions of people and that the coalition is reaffirming the full moral weight of their choice to be a part of the project.
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