Amnesty International said today's execution of Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh was a triumph of vengeance over justice.
The London-based human rights group said immediately after the execution it deeply regretted what it called a failure of human rights leadership in the highest levels of government in the United States.
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An Amnesty statement said: "By executing the first federal death row prisoner in nearly four decades the USA has allowed vengeance to triumph over justice and distanced itself yet further from the aspirations ofthe international community."
Amnesty said many of the 152 state executions that took place during President Bush's governorship of Texas were in breach of international standards.
"By refusing to step in and impose a moratorium on federal executions, he has further damagedhis country's reputation," the Amnesty statement said.
It said the case of McVeighhad given the US government the opportunity to announce that it would no longer support a policy that allows the murderer to set society's moral tone by imitating what it seeks to condemn.
"Instead, the US government has put its official stamp of approval on this policy; killing, it says, is an appropriate response to killing.
"The international community must redouble its efforts to persuade the US government to impose a moratorium on federal executions as a first step towards leading its country to abolition."