THE DEATH PENALTY

Death by hanging was the penalty for murder in Canada between 1892 and 1961. In 1966, the government passed a bill that limited capital punishment to the killing of on-duty police officers and prison guards. In 1976, the House of Commons abolished capital punishment and replaced it with a mandatory life sentence of 25 years for those convicted of first-degree murder. Here is how the rest of the planet punishes capital crimes.
THE BIG KILLERS: TOTAL NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS BY STATE ACTOR 2007 to 2011
China* Iran Saudi Arabia Iraq United States Pakistan Yemen North Korea Vietnam Libya Afghanistan Japan Syria Sudan Bangladesh Somalia Egypt Indonesia Belarus Taiwan oPt** Equatorial Guinea South Sudan Botswana Oman Singapore Bahrain Malaysia Thailand U.A.E. Ethiopia Kuwait Mongolia Saint Kitts 58 39 34 33 33 30 28 23 12 11 9 9 8 7
SYRIA

2,000+ 1,663 423 256 220 171 152 105

THE DEATH PENALTY . . .

LEGAL FORM OF PUNISHMENT FOR CERTAIN OFFENCES LEGAL BUT NOT USED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS ABOLISHED FOR ALL CRIMES EXCEPT UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES ABOLISHED FOR ALL CRIMES Iran: Capital punishment is used for convictions of murder, rape, adultery, pedophilia, sodomy, drug trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism and treason. About 360 people were executed in Iran in 2011. The overwhelming majority were drug traffickers. Virtually all executions are carried out for murder, aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, and largescale drug trafficking.

. . . AROUND THE PLANET

United States: Capital punishment in the United States is administered only for homicide-related crimes including aggravated murder, felony murder and contract killing. The methods of execution have varied widely throughout time, though the most common method in recent decades has been lethal injection. In 2011, 13 states executed 43 inmates, all by lethal injection. A 2011 Gallup poll showed 61% of Americans favoured it in cases of murder while 35% opposed it.

UNITED STATES

BAHAMAS

CUBA

Belarus: Belarus is currently the only country in Europe where the death penalty is enforced. In 2011 two people were executed.

SAINT KITTS

1,862 *

BELARUS

MONGOLIA

NORTH KOREA

JAPAN CHINA IRAN

KUWAIT

5 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

GUINEA

LIBYA IRAQ EGYPT CHAD SAUDI ARABIA SUDAN

QATAR

AFGHANISTAN Taiwan PAKISTAN INDIA

BAHRAIN

CAMEROON
EQUATORIAL GUINEA

U.A.E.

SOUTH SUDAN DEMOCRATIC ETHIOPIA REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

YEMEN SOMALIA

OMAN
BANGLADESH

THAILAND LAOS VIETNAM

North Korea: North Koreas Criminal Code stipulates that the death penalty can be applied only for a small set of crimes, but these include vaguely defined offenses such as crimes against the state and crimes against the people. A December 2007 amendment to the penal code extended the death penalty to many more crimes, including non-violent offences such as fraud and smuggling. China: Chinas rate of executions is higher than the United States and Pakistan, though Iran executes more prisoners per capita. The actual numbers killed in China are classified as a state secret with estimates as high as 6,000 in 2007 alone. Crimes punishable by the death penalty include tax fraud, drug offenses, corruption and property theft.

MALAYSIA SINGAPORE

UGANDA BOTSWANA ZIMBABWE

INDONESIA

KEY EXECUTING NATIONS PER ANNUM

NUMBER EXECUTED 388 317 346 252 360

Iraq: Early in 2012, Iraq executed 34 people in a single day. The death penalty can be imposed in Iraq for about 48 crimes, including a number of non-fatal crimes such as under certain circumstances damage to public property. The total number of individuals sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004 is believed to stand at more than 1,200. Saudi Arabia: The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery, and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. 345 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 were all carried out by public beheading. The last reported execution for sorcery took place in 2011.

Vietnam: Vietnam applies the death penalty for 29 different crimes including murder, armed robbery, treason, drug trafficking, sexual abuse of children and a string of economic crimes. Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Convictions for smuggling 100 grams or more of heroin or 5 kilograms or more of opium are punishable by death. Yemen: Yemen applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences including murder, drug trafficking, rape, sexual offences and speech or action against Islam. Adultery is punished by death by stoning. Amnesty International has longstanding concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings, which fall short of international standards for fair trial. 41 people were executed in 2011.

470

Pakistan: In Pakistan 313 people, were sentenced to death in 2011. More than half of them were convicted of murder. Others faced charges such as drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and rape. Three persons were given capital punishment for blasphemy.

*Estimates for the number of people executed in China in 2009, 2010 and 2011 range from 2,000 to 5,000 per year. **Occupied Palestinian territories

143 102 69 27 2007 2009 IRAN 2011 2007 2009 CHINA 2011 2007 2009 2011 82 33 34

120 68 1 2007 2009 IRAQ 2011 2007 2009 2011 42 37 52 46 43

135 60 0 2007 2009 PAKISTAN UNITED STATES 0 0 2011 25 2007 19 9 2009 VIETNAM 0 5 2011 0 2007 15 30 0 2009 2011 15 13 2007 30 2009 YEMEN 53 41 2011

36

SAUDI ARABIA

NORTH KOREA

COUNTRIES ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY

NUMBER STILL EXECUTING NUMBER ABOLISHED 100 80 60 40 20 0 1991 2000 2010

THE STATE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

With the decision this week by the Governor to repeal the death penalty, Connecticut became the fifth state in recent years to abandon capital punishment. It constitutes a trend of sorts, given that a ballot motion in California passed this week that would ask voters to consider condemning the death penalty there as well. If that passes, in the November vote, 700 Californians on death row would see their sentences commuted to life in prison. The majority of the death row inmates would be integrated with the general prison population, given jobs, and their earnings earmarked for the victims. Thirteen prisoners have been executed by the State of California over the past 23 years. A recent study concluded that the cumulative cost to the public purse of these executions was $4-billion. The same study found that shifting to a life sentence model, without possibility of parole, would save taxpayers $183-million a year. The repeal in Connecticut applies only to future sentences, and the 11 men on its death row still face execution. In the meantime, Albertan Ronald Smith, on death row in Montana for murdered two young men in 1982, has exhausted his legal appeals to avoid execution but is seeking executive clemency and a new sentence of life imprisonment at a Montana parole board hearing to be held on Wednesday.
National Post and news services

UNITED STATES EXECUTIONS 1991-2011

EXECUTIONS PER YEAR 100 80 60 40 20 0 1991 2000 2010
RICHARD JOHNSON / NATIONAL POST

SOURCE: DUI HUA FOUNDATION, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL