Non profit
Islamic countries embrace the death penalty
A world trend towards abolishing capital punishment highlighted by the 2007 UN resolution to abolish the death penalty, is not shared by Islamic countries. A report demonstrates that executions have increased in recent years.
The number of countries that apply the death penalty have decreased but the number of people being condemmed to death is on the rise. This is the main finding of international anti-death penalty group Hands off Cain’s annual report on the death penalty worldwide. The NGO, based in Italy, presented the report on July 24 in Rome during the Abolitionist of the Year award ceremony.
The report, that includes all the facts and figures regarding the application of the death penalty worldwide in 2007 and during the first six months of 2008, highlights that the largest number of executions took place in China (an estimated 5 thousand) followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Today there are 148 countries worldwide that have agreed to abolish, by law or in practice, the death penalty. Of these, 95 have abolished it completely, while 8 have abolished executions for ordinary crimes. Russia, a member of the council of Europe, is currently in the process of abolishing capital punishment and for the meantime has placed a moratorium on execution. There are, however, still 49 countries in the world that sentence people to death; in 2006 there were 51 and in 2005 there were 54.
In 2007 fewer countries applied the death penalty (26 vs 28 in 2006), however the overall number of executions increased compared to the past: worldwide, 2007 saw 5, 851 people executed. In 2006 executions had amounted to 5, 635 and in 2005 to 5, 494.
Elisa Zampurri, who edited the report, explains that the increase is mainly caused by the increase in executions in Islamic countries: “In Iran there was a 30 per cent increase in executions in 2007 and in Saudi Arabia the number quadrupled from 39 in 2006 to 166 in 2007”. Is there connection between the Koran and the death penalty? According to Zampurri the Koran isn’t the problem: not all of the Islamic countries that draw on its teachings apply the death penalty. “The problem”, says Zampurri, “is the literal translation of a millenary text that deals with penal norms and punishments being applied to today’s world by fundamentalist or authoritarian regimes who are committed to preventing all democratic processes”.
In 2007, highlights the report, at least 754 executions have been carried out in 15 Muslim countries, compared to the 546 executions of the previous year. Many of the executions had been ordered by Islamic tribunals following a strict interpretation of the Sharia. The methods used to apply the Sharia in the first six months of 2008 include lapidation (stoning), hanging, decapitation and execution by firing squad.
China
Asia is the region where the vast majority of executions are carried out. China, where at least 5,000 executions were carried out, is responsible for approximately 85.4% of all the world’s executions.But, after years of secrecy, in 2007 the Chinese Supreme court revealed the first official mention of a 15% decrease in the application of capital punishment. According to Zampurri this is an important step despite the lack of official information – one of Hands off Cain’s aims is to bring an end to the Chinese government’s secrecy in the matter.
Following the September 11 attacks in New York, China has repeatedly violated human rights in the name of the fight against terrorism. Such as the crackdown on Tibetans and on the Uyghur.
When asked for an overall balance of the global situation, Elisa Zampurri doesn’t hesitate to point her finger at totalitarian and unliberal states, which is where 99% of executions take place.
