The ethical use of the death
penalty worldwide has been increasingly controversial since it was reinstated
in the US in 1976. The debates over the use of the death penalty
in the US parallel the worldwide debate. This page has been created
to gather information about the subject.
Some groups like Amnesty International have been trying to abolish the death penalty by distributing information and propaganda on the evils of capital punishment. Below is an example of one such informative poster. It is impossible to determine the effects of their campaign since it is still legal in many countries.
The countries world wide have varied opinions on the use of the death penalty. Some have abolished it while others want to abolish it. Some countries have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Other countries have abolished the death penalty in practice, meaning that it's not against the law, but they haven't used it in a certain amount of time. The number of countries that have taken away or abolished capital punishment since 1976 has risen tremendously.
To see a list of the abolitionist countries since 1976 click here
Since January 2001, there have
been 1,290 executions around the world, according to the following
chart shows the number of executions in each country.
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This chart shows that the US is one of the top 3 countries in lead of the number of execution worldwide being right behind Congo and China. According to Amnesty International, in 1998, there were 1,067 executions in China, over 100 in Congo (DR), and 68 in the US, and 66 in Iran which made up 80% of the total executions worldwide.
"I have great difficulty understanding
how, in a great democracy like the US, this barbaric punishment continues
while having been eliminated in all the old, traditional, and democratic
countries including France admittedly late in 1981"
-Quote from Raymond Forni, President
of the National Assembly
source: eurunion.org
A lethal injection table Execution holding cells at San Quentin State Prison A gas chamber
Source:
www.cdc.state.ca.us
to see a chart of the different types of executions used worldwide
click
here
The US, being one of the few wealthy industrialized countries that still uses capital punishment is often criticized. The US has been known to disregard the United Nation policy regarding the use the death penalty. For example, since 1994, most countries have been following the de facto moratorium on the execution of women, but the US didn't. Also despite the international human rights treaties prohibiting sentencing juveniles to death, the US is still one of 6 countries who do, and since 1990, executed 10 juveniles.
Source:
www.amnesty-usa.org
One good example of US condemnation was the case of Timothy McVeigh. He is responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing back in 1995. His death sentence brought a lot of criticism from other nations around the world. The Swedish president of the European Union strongly spoke out against the US decision for the first time in 38 years. Outside the US embassy in Madrid, Spain, 1 protester held a sign calling Bush a "compassionate killer".
For more info about Timothy McVeigh click
here
Source:
www.courttv.com
"Europeans are appalled at the unabated pursuit of the application of the death penalty in the U.S." says Bianca Jagger, official of Amnesty International USA. "They cannot understand how the US can claim to be the leading champion of democracy and continue to apply the death penalty."
Source:
www.time.com
According to the above chart, the United States has the third highest homicide rate out of the countries included. Despite the fact that the United States is one of the countries with the highest number of executions, it still has a high homicide rate when compared to other countries worldwide.
The US' murder rate is in direct relation with it's governmental issues, and constitutional framework. The way the laws are imposed often push criminals to commit crimes of the sort. The US' murder rate is very high compared to other countries like Poland, and Canada.
The way
the criminals are handled doesn't seem to have any connections with the
rates. The US is one of the top 3 leading countries in the use of
the death penalty. Anybody would've expected the crime rates to come
down dramatically, however, they are still very high. Therefore there
are no connections.
Source:
www.amnesty.org
In creating this web page we hoped to convey accurate information on the World's opinion on capital punishment, with particular emphasis on the U.S. policy. The U.S. is often condemned for it's controversial use of the death penalty. One good example is the case of Timothy McVeigh. Despite the fact that the use of capital punishment is widespread throughout the U.S., it still has a high homicide rate, showing that there isn't any correlation between the use of the death penalty and the homicide rate. The fact that the death penalty isn't a deterrent leads the world to believe that the U.S. should adopt a more ethical punishment.