The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area through post-conviction review”.91 The response further stated that the Federal Government provides counsel for defendants in state capital trials when their convictions are reviewed in federal court and that all death penalty states have adopted procedures to provide experienced, competent counsel to represent indigent capital defendants in state courts. Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2009, federally appointed counsel may represent indigent clients in state clemency procedures.92 Only the President has the power to grant clemency to federal death row inmates. State law provides for clemency, the process of which varies from state to state, involving the governor, a board of advisers, or both. In all cases, a formal petition for clemency must be filed. To be sentenced to death by a military commission, the Convening Authority of the U.S. Department of Defense must make an independent decision to refer capital charges to a military commission and jurors must vote unanimously in favor of the death sentence.93 Under the Military Commissions Act of 2009, all death sentences must be explicitly approved by the President, who may also “commute, remit, or suspend the sentence, or any part thereof ”.94 For members of the uniformed services, the President has the power to commute a death sentence, and no such individual can be executed unless the President personally confirms the death penalty.95 Method of Execution The vast majority of states use lethal injection as the primary method of execution. Some states use a three-drug protocol, others use a single drug. The three-drug protocol consists of an anesthetic, pancuronium bromide to paralyze the inmate, and potassium chloride to stop the inmate’s heart.96 Other methods of execution include electrocution, lethal gas, hanging and firing squad. A number of states provide for alternatives in the event that the primary method of execution is declared unconstitutional or if the individual was sentenced before a certain, specified date. 91  U.S. Response, op. cit., note 88. 92  Harbison v. Bell, 556 U.S. 180 (2009), as cited by, Supreme Observer <http://www.supremeobserver.com/casereport/?id=30936>. 93  U.S. Response, op. cit., note 88. 94  Military Commissions Act of 2009, § 950i(b) Execution of sentence; suspension of sentence 95  The Uniform Military Justice Code applies to all members of the uniformed services of the United States: the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. 96  “Lethal injection”, Death Penalty Information Center, <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/lethal-injection-moratorium-executions-ends-after-supreme-court-decision> 19