Death Penalty

Death penalty Life in prison is a sufficient punishment; execution is excessive James Bernstein. "The Death of McVeigh: A Time to Reflect". Letter to the New York Times. June 13, 2001 - "The loss of freedom for the remainder of one's life is no mild punishment. We do not need the death penalty to express society's utter repudation of those who would take the lives of others.".

1. 60% of the worldwide population live in countries where executions take place in so far as the four most populous countries in the world (such as People's Republic of China, India, United States and Indonesia) apply the death penalty and are unlikely to abolish it soon.

2. As of February 1, 2009, 92 countries had abolished capital punishment, 10 had done so for all offences except under special circumstances, and 36 had not used it for at least 10 years or under a moratorium. Fifty-nine actively retained the death penalty.[27]

3. At least 3,000 people (and probably considerably more) were sentenced to death during 2007, and at the end of the year around 25,000 were on death row, with Pakistan and the USA accounting for about half this figure. China carries out by far the greatest number of executions: Amnesty International has confirmed at least 470 during 2007, but the true figure has been estimated at up to 6,000. Outside China, at least 800 people were put to death in 23 countries during 2007, with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and the USA the main contributors. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen executed people for crimes committed when they were juveniles, in contravention of international law.[28]

4. If anyone kills person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people" (Qur'an 5:32).