In this paper, the authors examine the relevance of international law and human rights for capital punishment practice throughout the world. The paper focuses particularly on the death penalty in the United States, and the authors explore whether actual capital punishment practice in the US is consistent with international law and deferential to human rights. That is, the paper does not limit itself to the death penalty in theory (e.g., is it right to kill a human being?), but also considers whether the death penalty as it is actually carried out in the US (i.e., rarely and selectively) meets the standards of international law and respects human rights.