beholders.org

The death penalty is a complicated issue that deals with how we view punishment and crimes.
On the one hand, there is deep sympathy for families who have experienced horrendous loss and who will never be able to share time with their loved ones after they have been violently taken from them. On the other, there are some questions that must be asked when dealing with such a sensitive problem:

- How do we respond to that violence, and what does that say about our legal system?

- Is using the old "an eye for an eye" concept the appropriate way to deal with crime?

- Should those who have coldly murdered others be murdered in return? In doing so, are we simply carrying out a just punishment or becoming accomplices to murder ourselves? Is killing another human being, legally, how we should resolve issues in our society?

- On the other hand, is it fair to ask for the law abiding citizens of an area to pay for the living and incarceration expenses of those murderers? Many times, the taxes that support those prisoners are being paid by the family of the victims themselves. How would you feel about it if the crime had been committed against your child or spouse?

- How can the Death Penalty be viewed in relation to our values, religions and human rights?

- Should an attempt at making peace with the circumstances fall on the shoulders of the family or should simple revenge justify the elimination of those member of society that have been proven to have committed horrible crimes against their fellow human beings?

- How sure is sure enough that someone has committed those crimes?

- There are many studies on the inaccuracies of eye witnesses. Should that be enough evidence for a death penalty conviction? Can we ever be completely sure of one's guilt without a confession or more substantial evidence?

- Should the criminal's background, opportunities and environment be taken into consideration? Should we convict those who had no chance at improving their circumstances and who were desensitized by their environment the same way we convict those with many opportunities?

- Is keeping someone in jail for life a worse punishment than the Death Penalty? 

- What is the point of keeping someone in jail for life? Do we just want them to suffer in jail for their crimes?  Is there a chance at rehabilitation? Are we taking a chance that they might escape and hurt others?

- How broken is a human being until we consider that he can never be mended?

With those thoughts in mind, below is a list of all countries that still carry the Death Penalty: