The United States' Company In The Death Penalty

 

     The United States is the only nation in the Western world that executes people. In North and South America, all nations have fully abolished the death penalty, have not used it in decades and do not hand out capital sentences, or reserve it only for times of war. In Europe, only the former Soviet nation of Belarus conducts executions, and these are mostly by silenced gunshot to the back of the head in secret, cold, damp cells in the middle of the night. In Oceania, no nation executes people.

     This leaves Africa and Asia. In Africa, the vast majority of nations have bans, moratoriums, or de facto moratoriums on the death penalty. Only Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, The Gambia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia have the death penalty intact. Nigeria  and Somalia maintain death by shooting, hanging, and sometimes stoning for "crimes" like being gay and renouncing religious customs.

     Asia is where the death penalty is alive and well. Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan still execute people. In the Middle East, the criminal justice situation is even worse than it is in Africa. China executes thousands of political dissidents every year and keeps the records as a political secret, as does North Korea. Both nations also run concentration camps and impose restrictions on free expression and education.

     The United States is one of only 31 nations that executes people, and, for the most part, we are not in good company. This message is clear: the death penalty has no place in a justice system that truly cares about being just.