The world has been divided about the worth of death penalty. While some call it an effective method for getting even with a heinous criminal, some others believe the method is ineffective in making society a better place.

Death Penalty Methods

There are a number of methods for execution including lethal injection, hanging and firing squad. The use of lethal injection seems to be a favourite in the United States as there are 34 U.S. states that have used it more than 1,200 times since 1976. Countries like Indonesia, which is in the news for its decision to execute Bali Nine convicts including two Australians, take the offenders to the firing squad.

Egypt, which has last executed in March 2015, uses hanging as one of its methods. Egypt hanged Mahmoud Ramadan who had allegedly been involved in throwing young people from a building in the city of Alexandria. He is a supporter of overthrown former President Mohammed Morsi.

Countries With Death Penalty

According to Amnesty International, China leads in the number of executions every year. The next countries in the list are Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the United States has executed 35 people in 2014.

The most number of countries with death penalty are in Asia. Asia has 37 countries, including Middle Eastern counties like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, which use death penalty. Africa has 35 such countries while there are 19 countries in the Americas. Only Belarus in Europe still uses the capital punishment.

(Sources: Amnesty International, Wikipedia)

Abolition Of Death Penalty

There are 103 countries that have abolished death penalty. Venezuela was the first country to abolish it in 1863. In 1990, there were 45 countries that got rid of capital punishment. By 2000, 75 countries had abolished it. There have been 28 countries that officially discontinued it since 2000. Fiji and Suriname abolished the practice in 2015.

Views Against Death Penalty

Amnesty International, which campaigns within countries to abolish death penalty, tracks global death penalty usage to provide accurate data on the number of death sentence and executions around the world. James Clark, AI's senior death penalty campaigner, has said in an exclusive email interview with International Business Times that his organisation believes the nature of the crime or the character of the accused can never alter the fundamental problems inherent in death penalty, including the possibility of executing an innocent person.

"The death penalty violates an individual's most fundamental human right, the right to life," Clark said. "The death penalty has also been shown to be a broken system that risks innocent lives, costs more than alternative punishments, and is infected with racial bias."

Views In Favour Of Death Penalty

Northeastern University Professor Max Abrahms believes in death penalty when it comes to terrorists. He thinks death penalty is required "when the offender's culpability is beyond any doubt for a horrific crime."

"Frankly, this is not uncommonly the case for convicted terrorists," the terrorism theorist told IBT exclusively. He also says that even though terrorists can sometimes be reformed, the true terrorism recidivism rate is quite high.

According to a YouGov poll in 2014, only 39 percent people in the UK oppose the re-introduction of the death penalty for murder. When asked if executing murderers deters others from committing murder, 45 percent said yes while 13 percent said they did not know.

Death Penalty In Australia

Australia abolished capital punishment entirely in 1985. The last execution was in 1967. Convicted criminal Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria. But there was widespread protest within Australia. Ryan's execution eventually motivated discontinuation of the practice in the country.

Politics Of Death Penalty

Australia has strongly condemned Indonesia's decision to execute Australian drug convicts Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. But some people question Australia's criticism against death penalty.

Suppiah Makesvaran, a 52-year-old Malaysian who lives in Thailand, wonders why the Tony Abbott government is so silent about its strongest ally, the United States, which still practises death penalty. Makesvaran told IBT that he doubts if Australia's diplomatic relation will be threatened in case U.S. authorities decide to execute one of its people. Australia earlier said its diplomatic relation with Indonesia might be affected if the Asian country executed the Australian Bali Nine convicts.

On the other hand, Sydney Producer Ian Nicholson defends Australia's stance. He told IBT that Australia has been so vocal about Indonesia's execution because it involves Australians. He says he is confident Australia will react the same way if the United States decides to execute its people.

IBT has reached out to the Prime Minister's Office for a statement on the matter. But as of press time, the PMO has yet to provide a response.

Famous People & Execution

There have been several renowned people who were executed. The list includes well-known personalities like Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and American serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Meanwhile, several notable people have campaigned against death penalty. The list includes actor Martin Sheen, late musician Pete Seeger and political activist Angela Davis.

For comments or feedback on the article, please contact the writer at: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au.

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