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MCVEIGH AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Timothy McVeigh was executed June 11, 2001 by the same country
that taught him how to kill. At 20 he joined the army where
he indulged his passion for guns. In 1992 he was sent to the
Gulf to kill Iraqis for which he was given two medals. In 1995
he killed 168 Americans for which he was given a lethal injection.
In other words the consequences of murder depend on whose idea
it is. If you kill with the approval of your country you're a
hero, but if you kill without it you're a criminal. The army,
he said, taught him how to switch off his emotions.
Neither McVeigh nor the US government have learned that killing
fellow human beings is murder no matter who does the killing
and no matter who the victims are. McVeigh's bombing of the federal
building in Oklahoma City was cold-blooded premeditated murder
and so was his execution. It is interesting to note that more
Americans were killed in Oklahoma City (168) than in the Gulf
War (148).
Capital punishment does not reduce
violence: it's part of it. Here are some relevant facts:
1. Capital punishment is not a deterrent. In fact the murder
rate in the 14 states that don't have the death penalty in the
US the murder rate is lower than in the 36 states that do have
capital punishment.
2. Capital punishment is racist: while blacks constitute about
ten per cent of the population in the US, they represent 40 per
cent of those that are executed.
3. Capital punishment is directed at the poor: in the entire
history of the US no wealthy person has ever been executed.
4. Capital punishment in the US of the young and feeble violates
international human rights law: the US has executed mentally
disabled people and young people who were under the age of 17
at the time they committed their crime.
5. Capital punishment is irreversible: in the last 25 years 96
death row inmates--after having languished in prison for many
years--have been set free after DNA tests or other evidence proved
their innocence. How many innocent people have been put to death?
6. Studies have shown that juries are often reluctant to hand
down a guilty verdict when that would mean execution instead
of a long prison sentence.
7. Court, legal and procedural costs are higher for a death sentence
than a prison sentence.
8. Nearly every European country has abolished capital punishment
in law or in practice. In fact, more than half the world's nations
have discontinued it. In the industrialized world only Japan
and the US still have it.
9. Worldwide about 1,500 people were executed last year in 29
countries. Nearly ninety per cent of those executed were put
to death in only four countries: China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and
the US.
10. The US is the only country in the world that has five methods
of execution: electric chair, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad
and lethal injection. The US also has the highest murder rate
by far among the developed nations of the world
Capital punishment is not justice: it's an extreme form of revenge.
If capital punishment were a deterrent to crime, a crimeless
society would have evolved centuries ago when there were literally
hundreds of "offences" punishable by execution. One
could be put to death not only for what one did, but for what
one said (or was reported to have said!). For example, saying
the pope might not be infallible or the world might be round
instead of flat was more than enough to be put to death.
Executions were commonly carried out in the town square as a
warning to others to behave according to the dictates of those
in power. Yet, when a pickpocket was executed the pockets of
those watching were often emptied by other pickpockets. As recently
as 1800 there were still 160 capital crimes in England (In 1801
a 13-year-old boy was hanged for the theft of a spoon!)
Capital punishment is an antiquated response to crime just as
the dungeon used to be society's response to mental illness.
The most effective way to combat crime is to change the conditions
that generate it: social discrimination, poverty, lack of effective
education, inadequate health care, dull and meaningless work
and so on
According to Amnesty International...
Seventy-five countries and territories have abolished the
death penalty for all crimes. Fourteen countries have abolished
the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime
crimes. Twenty countries can be considered abolitionist in practice:
they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out
any executions for the past ten years or more making a total
of 109 countries which have abolished the death penalty in law
or practice. Eighty-six other countries retain and use the death
penalty, but the number of countries which actually execute prisoners
in any one year is much smaller.
Progress Towards Worldwide Abolition
More than three countries a year on average have abolished
the death penalty in the past decade for all crimes. Over thirty
countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for
all crimes since 1990. They include countries in Africa (examples
include Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritius, Mozambique, South
Africa), the Americas (Canada, Paraguay), Asia (Hong Kong, Nepal),
Europe (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine).
Moves to Reintroduce the Death Penalty
Once abolished, the death penalty is seldom reintroduced.
Since 1985, over forty countries have abolished the death penalty
in law or, having previously abolished it for ordinary crimes,
have gone on to abolish it for all crimes. During the same period
only four abolitionist countries reintroduced the death penalty.
One of them, Nepal, which reintroduced the death penalty for
murder, has since abolished it for all crimes; one, the Philippines,
has resumed executions, but there have been no executions in
the other two (Gambia, Papua New Guinea).
Death Sentences and Executions
During the year 2000 at least 1,457 prisoners were executed
in twenty-seven countries and 3,058 people were sentenced to
death in sixty-five countries. These figures include only cases
known to Amnesty International; the true figures are certainly
higher. In 2000, eighty-eight per cent of all known executions
took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US. In China,
the limited and incomplete records available to Amnesty International
at the end of the year indicated that at least 1,000 people were
executed, but the true figure was believed to be much higher.
In Saudi Arabia, 123 executions were reported, but the total
may have been much higher. Eighty-five people were executed in
the USA. At least seventy-five executions were carried out in
Iran. In addition, hundreds of executions were reported in Iraq
but many of them may have been extrajudicial.
Use of the Death Penalty Against Young Offenders
Seven countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners
who were under 18 years at the time of the crime - Congo (Democratic
Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen.
The country which carried out the greatest number of known executions
of child offenders was the US (Fourteen since 1990).
Execution of the Innocent
As long as the death penalty is maintained, the risk of executing
the innocent can never be eliminated. Since 1973 more than ninety
US prisoners have been released from death row after evidence
emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were
sentenced to death. Some had come close to execution after spending
many years under sentence of death. Recurring features in their
cases include prosecutorial or police misconduct; the use of
unreliable witness testimony, physical evidence, or confessions;
and inadequate defence representation. Other US prisoners have
gone to their deaths despite serious doubts over their guilt.
For more information about Amnesty International's
campaign against the death penalty see:
http://www.web.amnesty.org/rmp/dplibrary.nsf/index?openview
Copyright notice: The copyright for this document rests
with Amnesty International. You may download and read it. You
may not alter this information, repost or sell it without permission.
If you use this document, you are encouraged to make a donation
to Amnesty International to support future research. You can
find the address of your nearest AI office at: http://www.amnesty.org/aisect/index.html
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