Death penalty

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File:Death Penalty World isnot fight and is completley wrong according to 95% of the worldMap.png
Distribution of the death penalty. Blue: No death penalty, Green: No death penalty, except in wartime, Orange: death penalty, but no people executed in the last 10 years, Red:Death penalty for certain crimes

Death penalty, also called capital punishment is when a government or state executes (kills) someone, usually because he or she has done a serious crime.

The death penalty is a disputed and controversial topic.

  • Supporters of the death penalty: Some people think it is right for governments to kill criminals. They say that this punishes the criminal for their crime, or that it will stop other people from committing serious crimes.
  • Opponents of the death penalty:Other people think that it is wrong for governments to kill people. There is the danger that an innocent person will be killed. As well, poor people, minorities, and Aboriginal people are more likely to be killed in countries with the death penalty. Opponents of the death penalty protest outside prisons where criminals are being killed. There is an example of an innocent person named Anthony Porter. Anthony was made to wait for sixteen years in prison waiting for his death. After sixteen years people found out that Anthony Porter was innocent. This is why a lot of people protest against the death penalty.

About half the countries in the world have a death penalty, the other half do not. The United States, The People's Republic of China and Japan and Iran are examples of countries that have a death penalty. Canada, Australia and most European countries are examples of countries without a death penalty.

Over half the countries in the world have gotten rid of the death penalty in law and practice: 75 countries have gotten rid of the capital punishment for all crimes and another 20 can be considered abolitionist in practice. The latter retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more.

Most of the countries that have a death penalty use it on murderers, and for other serious crimes such as rape or terrorism. Other countries especially ones with Authoritarian or Totalitarian governments, however, also use it for smaller crimes like theft, or for saying bad things about the government.

Contents

[change] Which countries execute the most people?

A study done in 2005 found that the following countries did the most executions:

  1. China (At least 1,770 Executions)
  2. Iran (At least 94)
  3. Saudi Arabia (At least 86)
  4. United States (60)
  5. Pakistan (31)
  6. Yemen (24)
  7. Vietnam (21)
  8. Jordan (11)

[change] What people get executed for

It is common to have people executed for crimes like murder, but there are also other crimes that carry the death penalty. Some of these are:

During war time, the following crimes are often punished by death:

  • Treason
  • Espionage
  • Sabotage
  • Desertion

[change] Who may not be executed

According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that became valid in 1976, people that were not at least eighteen years old at the time they committed the crime may not be executed. According to the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically its 13th amendment (2002), no one must be executed.

[change] Forms of execution

Whenever the word "death penalty" comes up, extremists from both sides start yelling out their arguments. One side says the death penalty is good because it scares people away from doing things that could get them killed, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says that execution is murder. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action that should be used to deal with it. Throughout human history, governments and rulers have used many death penalty methods to execute people, such as crucifixion, flaying, and hanging. Some methods like crucifixion and flaying are no longer used by governments, because people think that these methods of killing are too cruel. The gas chamber was found unconstitutional in the United States (that is: against the US constitution not allowing "cruel and unusual punishments") and is no longer used.

The following forms of execution are in use today.

  • Electric chair: The prisoner is killed by a strong source of electricity attached to their head and leg.
  • Lethal injection: The prisoner is poisoned with a mix of chemicals that are put into their body. Some countries use chemicals that cause controversy.
  • Firing squad: Several people shoot the prisoner with rifles. Firing squads are often used as the death penalty for soldiers during wars. One or more of those firing may have false ammunition that does not kill to ensure that nobody can brag with a decisive shot. Firing squad is traditional military execution, and often deserters, traitors and spies are shot.
  • Hanging: The prisoner has a rope tied around their neck. They are then dropped from a height. They die because their neck is broken or through choking (asphyxiation), if the drop is too small or knot was poorly made. If the drop is too long or the prisoner too fat, the result may be their head getting torn off. Japan, India and former British colonies use hanging.
  • Stoning: Stones are thrown at the prisoner until they die. Stoning is used in some Middle Eastern countries.
  • Decapitation: The victim has his or her head cut off with a sharp blade, such as sword, axe or guillotine. This was the traditional means of execution in Central Europe. Decapitation is also called beheading. Decapitation is today used in some Middle Eastern countries.

[change] Other websites

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