What do China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA have in common?

[prolesunited]

In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA.


Abolitionist and retentionist countries
Over half the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Amnesty International's latest information shows that:

* 86 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes;
* 11 countries have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes;
* 25 countries can be considered abolitionist in practice: they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions,

making a total of 122 countries which have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

* 74 other countries and territories retain and use the death penalty, but the number of countries which actually execute prisoners in any one year is much smaller.
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng



I wonder when we will join the rest of the civilized world.

[dutchdemocrat]

1. What does China, The Congo (DRC), Iran, Pakistan, and US have in Common?

http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/juveniles/factsheet.html

Since 2000, only five countries in the world are known to have executed juvenile offenders: China, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iran, Pakistan, and the United States. Pakistan and China have abolished the juvenile death penalty, but there have been problems in nationwide compliance with the law.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

, 1995, states: “Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below 18 years of age.” The United States and Somalia are the only countries in the world that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

[prolesunited]

2. That says a lot about our society, doesn't it?

At least we stopped executing those with low IQs. Too bad people who are mentally ill, like that fundie Texas mom who drowned her children, still face the death penalty, with so many advocating in favor of it.