Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland today issued the following statement: "Use of the death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances, particularly when applied to children, the elderly or people with mental illness. Such was the case of Marvin Wilson, executed by the Texas authorities this past Tuesday, in spite of a psychological examination that measured his intelligence quotient at just 61 - well within the threshhold of mental retardation. I condemn this execution, and am disappointed that the United States' Supreme Court did not intervene to stop it, despite its own 2002 decision that prohibited execution of the mentally retarded as “cruel and unusual punishment”. I urge the United States, as an observer State of the Council of Europe, to cease executions and to join the growing number of countries that oppose the death penalty," Jagland said.