Plea for end to death penalty

The World Day Against The Death Penalty is being marked today by 38 organisations grouped in the World Coalition against the Death Penalty.

The Malta group of Amnesty International said the death penalty was the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violated the right to life, it was irrevocable and it could be inflicted on the innocent. Furthermore, it had never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments.

During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries.

The methods included beheading (in Saudi Arabia and Iraq), electrocution (in the USA), hanging (in Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and other countries), lethal injection (in China, Guatemala, Philippines, Thailand and the USA), shooting (in Belarus, China, Somalia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and other countries) and stoning (in Afghanistan and Iran).

Eight countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime - China, Congo (Democratic Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen. China, Pakistan and Yemen have raised the minimum age to 18 in law, and Iran is reportedly in the process of doing so.

The USA executed more child offenders than any other country (19 between 1990 and 2003). This year's events are focused on the death penalty in Africa.

Amnesty International Malta Group urged everyone to support an immediate end to the death penalty, by signing the WCADP appeal addressed to African heads of state and government. The appeal can be found from a link on the Amnesty International website www.amnesty.org/deathpenalty