The Governor of Oklahoma issued a last-minute stay today in the planned execution of Hung Thanh Le. The stay was granted after the Governor received an official request from the Vietnamese government.

Amnesty International issued a press release about the execution earlier today:

Twenty-four hours after Secretary of State Colin Powell proclaimed that "President Bush regards the defence and advancement of human rights as America's special calling," the USA is due to carry out its 900th execution since resuming judicial killing in 1977. The events set to unfold in the Oklahoma death chamber tonight will once again give the lie to US claims to be global human rights champion.

....Hung Le's trial was marked by prosecutorial misconduct and inadequate legal representation. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences as a teenager in refugee camps. The state clemency board unanimously voted that his death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment, but Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry rejected their recommendation.

Mr. Le would have been the 900th person executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.