Nguyen Tuong Van is not alone

While the media focus is currently on Singapore and the impending execution of Van Nguyen, it should be remembered that there are about 75 countries around the world which have legislation allowing for, and which practice, capital punishment.

Presently we are experiencing a classic case of what we don't see doesn't interest us. While a young Australian awaits death by hanging in Singapore, there are many others in jails around the world awaiting execution. In fact, Amnesty International reports during 2004 there were 3,797 people executed and 7,395 sentenced to death. According to Amnesty in that year, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Vietnam and the US.

Although I object to the likely execution in Singapore, I am also mindful of other countries' attitudes and practices on this issue. While the media, to sell advertising, focus only on the Australian interest, I think it behoves our politicians to focus not just on the Van Nguyen case but also on the subject of the death penalty in all countries. Decency demands pressure be brought to bear on countries which use this unjustifiable penalty: and especially on those which use public and the more barbaric forms of execution.

Again from what appears to be the authoritative source of Amnesty International, here is a list of some of the methods:

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

One of the most despicable of practices is the execution of minors. Again Amnesty tell us:

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.

While China, Pakistan and Yemen have abolished the death penalty for those under 18, the US has executed approximately one a year since 1990. In 2004 there were three in Iran and one in China; and in Iran, six in 2005. All figures are taken from the referenced Amnesty website.

The Amnesty focus is mostly on the US, and information on some other regions, notably Africa, is sparse. It appears Amnesty has an anti-US bias and it is amply demonstrated later. However as at 2005, again from Amnesty, the following countries in Africa still retain and use the death penalty:

Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Lesotho, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

No statistics are supplied. However, and for the anti-US brigade, on this site there is a comment and a link to a site critical of the US for the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

A report on an African news site, Afrol News, predictably states the obvious: “Numbers for Africa were very (sic) unsure ...”

However it seems probable there were at least 204 official death sentences handed down in 17 African countries during 2004, with 100 in the Sudan. Verification of actual numbers executed is difficult and most sources clearly state a belief that actual numbers are far greater than governments report. But of biggest concern, in Africa, is the number of extra-judicial executions that takes place annually. Of course no figures are kept and rather surprisingly none of the human rights organisations make much or any mention of these extra-judicial executions. The number of children executed is also unknown.

Finally we arrive at the nub of the disgrace: the 97 per cent of known executions which take place annually are in China, Vietnam, Iran and the US. Since the figures for Africa are inaccurate and appear grossly understated any claim of 97 per cent is somewhat debatable. However for an ideological perspective, a report from Hands Off Cain contained in a site claiming to be an Iranian news site, which is probably at the very least US-sponsored, asserts the following:

Of the 63 countries worldwide retaining the death penalty, 48 are dictatorial, authoritarian or illiberal states. These countries accounted for at least 5,525 executions, or 98.7 per cent of the world total reported executions in 2003. One country alone, China, carried out at least 5,000, or 89.3 per cent of the executions that took place during 2003.

It is unclear whether Singapore is included in the 48. It also held Iran responsible for at least 154 and the report continues:

Vietnam carried out 69 executions; Saudi Arabia 52; Kazakhstan at least 19; Pakistan at least 18; Singapore at least 14; and Sudan at least 13.

Many sources claim the Chinese figure to be in excess of 10,000. This effect on the cited percentages should be obvious to even the worst mathematician. The reason for the great discrepancy in the figures cited for China by the various sources is a mystery that is beyond my limited capabilities, but I’d hazard a guess at government obsfuscation, reporting bias or a combination of both. Nevertheless the numbers of Chinese executions are substantial and my point is not obscured whether they are 3,700 or 5,000 annually. It should also be noted the above Iranian site report is limited as it has no reference to the US figures and only carries the official statistics for Africa.

With the various claims one wonders at the extent of the numbers of executions in the US. So for a little realism, and I hope a lack of a biased ideological input, the figures worldwide in 2003 from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia are:

China 3,400+; Iran 159+; Vietnam 64+; USA 59; Saudi Arabia 33+.

And the only other country to reach double figures in 2003 was Pakistan with 15+. Again these figures take no account of the extra-judicial executions throughout Africa.

As a geographical aside, there are roughly four countries in the Americas which employ the death penalty. US and Cuba are two, I don't know the others. There is one in Europe, Belarus. The other 60 or so are in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and two Pacific islands.

Finally returning to Singapore and one final fact from Wikipedia:

According to the United Nations Secretary-General's quinquennial report on capital punishment, the highest per capita use of the death penalty is Singapore, with a rate of 13.57 executions per one million population for the period 1994 to 1999.

Most executions were for drug-related crime. Those two facts should destroy any claim capital punishment acts as a deterrent. It clearly doesn't work in Singapore.

Although the statistics have great variations, this article might present a clearer picture of the use of the death penalty around the world. While one unjustifiable death in Singapore is highlighted in the media, we should all be shamed at the lack of attention to the thousands of other equally tragic executions that take place annually and at the lack of concerted criticism of the governments that carry them out. One execution is too many and dreadfully wrong, for the myriad of oft argued reasons, but the forgotten thousands are an abomination and should be a blot on the consciences of all thinking people.