Global Demographics and the Death Penalty - Essay Example

However, global patterns can be examined which can help uncover the underlying indicators that are common to countries that have the death penalty. The fair institution of the death penalty can be evaluated in the United States. Research can show the motivations, targets, and eventual victims of capital punishment in the world and in the United States. Two thirds of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice and membership in the European Union requires its abolishment.

There are still 69 countries that maintain and practice capital punishment. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA were responsible for 94% of the known executions that took place in 2005. China had the greatest numbers of executions and though accurate data is difficult to obtain, at least 1,170 people were confirmed executed in 2005. Other estimates for China range as high as 8.000 ("Facts and Figures"). Though China had the greatest number, on a per capita basis Saudi Arabia had the largest percentage of its population executed.

A Saudi was almost five times as likely to be executed than a Chinese and eighteen times as likely as an American. Saudi Arabia's unusually high rate is due to the wide range of crimes that are punishable by death. Renouncing of Islam, witchcraft, sexual offenses, drug dealing, and corruption can all carry a death sentence. China uses the death penalty for criminal activities that range from murder to economic crimes. It should be noted that both China and Saudi Arabia are highly guarded societies.

Their legal system is extremely secretive and people charged are afforded almost no legal rights as we perceive them in the United States. There may be no right to an appeal and execution may take place on the same day as sentencing. The denial of rights and the broad range of crimes account for the high rates of executions in both China and Saudi Arabia. While methods of execution have evolved in some countries, others such as Afghanistan and Iran still use the barbaric means of stoning. In nearby Saudi Arabia, beheading is the method of choice.

China still uses the firing squad but is slowly moving towards lethal injection. Hanging, which the United States has only recently moved away from, is still found in Japan and Egypt. Electrocution is used only in the United States though most executions are carried out through the more humane method of lethal injection ("Facts and Figures").Support for the death penalty usually comes from extreme religious positions or totalitarian regimes. The high rate in China is perpetuated by the tyranny of ideology and reflects the mass executions of political foes that have occasionally cropped up around the globe.

Castro executed an estimated 1,000 members of the opposition in his first 3 months of power. Still, the mainstay of support for capital punishment is religion. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, the ruling theocracy condemns prisoners for crimes against Islam. In the United States the support comes from biblical justification. In the Scandinavian countries, which are less religious, capital punishment is banned and has little support.Though the Catholic Church officially denounces capital punishment, American Catholics favor the death penalty in greater numbers than the general population (Davis and Smith).

Davis and Smith also report