The Question Of Capital Punishment

Saddam Hussein, along with seven of his co-conspirators, have been sentenced to death by hanging for the war crimes they committed in 1982 when over 140 Iraqis were tortured and killed in Dujail, Iraq. It was Saddam's response to his attempted assassination when he was visiting Dujail.

While I realize the severity and extent of the brutality that occurred due to their orders and actions, I am still ABSOLUTELY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY for Saddam Hussein and his men. In fact, I'm absolutely against the death penalty for anyone.

I am not condoning the actions and orders of Saddam, but I am a supporter of human rights, and I strongly believe that the death penalty is anti-evolutionary. If we claim that Saddam's violent actions were wrong on ethical or moral grounds, then how can killing Saddam Hussein as punishment for these actions be seen as the correct moral or ethical response? While Saddam's crimes were atrocious and horrible, I don't believe that revenge Old Testament style ("an eye for an eye") is humankind's most evolved option. How can we rationally say that killing is wrong, and then kill someone for it? Should everyone (including Saddam) not have the right to their own life?


WHY I DO NOT SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY

1. There is no method of execution that can be considered truly humane, and prisoners certainly do not always die immediatley when they are hanged. For example, in 1981 after the execution of a Thai construction worker in Kuwait, the Arab Times reported that "for a moment his face expressed all the incomprehension, anguish and desperation. He took more than nine minutes to die because, as the medical report revealed afterwards, his slight weight did not suffice to break his neck. He died of suffocation" (Amnesty 57).
2. The death penalty DOES NOT serve as a useful deterrent against violent crimes. A study done using information from the FBI found that in the U.S. "death penalty states' average homicide rates constantly exceed those of non-death penalty states." A study done in Texas, which has the highest rate of executions concluded that there was " no decrease in homicides as a result of executions." No one has been executed in Canada since 1962. The death penalty was removed from Canada's Criminal Code in 1976, was voted against by the Canadian people in 1987, and was stricken from the Canadian National Defence Act in 1998. The rate of homicide and violent crime in Canada DID NOT go up as a result of its moratorium on capital punishment.
   
3. In many countries it is not cheaper to put someone to death rather than feed them, shelter them and clothe them for the rest of their lives, especially in those countries claiming to use what are considered the most humane methods (such as lethal injection) of execution. For example, in Texas an execution costs an average of 2.3 MILLION dollars, which is 300% the cost of incarcerating the prisoner for 40 years. (Bessler 81)
4. The death penalty also inflicts unimaginable suffering on the innocent families and friends of those who are executed.
   
5. The International community seems to agree
with me. Article 3 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person." The International Covenant on Civil and Poliitcal Rights states that "every human being has the inherent right to life. " Many countries, including Canada, have completely abolished the death penalty for ALL crimes and others have abolished it for some crimes. Only the following countries still currently retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes : AFGHANISTAN, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, BAHAMAS, BANGLADESH, BARBADOS, BELARUS, BELIZE, BOTSWANA, BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CHAD, CHINA, COMOROS, CONGO (Democratic Republic), CUBA, DOMINICA, EGYPT, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GUATEMALA, GUINEA, GUYANA, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, JAMAICA, JAPAN, JORDAN, KAZAKSTAN, KOREA (North), KOREA (South), KUWAIT, LAOS, LEBANON, LESOTHO, LIBYA, MALAYSIA, MONGOLIA, NIGERIA, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, QATAR, RWANDA, SAINT CHRISTOPHER & NEVIS, SAINT LUCIA, SAINT VINCENT & GRENADINES, SAUDI ARABIA, SIERRA LEONE, SINGAPORE, SOMALIA, SUDAN, SYRIA, TAIWAN, TAJIKISTAN, TANZANIA, THAILAND, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, UGANDA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UZBEKISTAN, VIET NAM, YEMEN, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE (information from Amnesty International)

For more information visit Amnesty International's Home Page

Sources:

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Amnesty International. When The State Kills...The Death Penalty v. Human Rights. U.K. Amnesty International Publications. 1989
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Bessler, John P. Kiss of Death: America's Love Affair With The Death Penalty. Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2003