by Muneerah B.

Created on: November 15, 2008

Executing Unity

The Coliseum in Rome lights up in gold for one of these two reasons; when a country or state abolishes the death penalty or when a death sentence is commuted anywhere in the world. The death penalty is becoming a global rather than domestic issue because when it comes to capital punishment, government policies are now not confined within the country or state but are often extended to an international platform.

An example would be when someone is faced with the death penalty in country which is not of his or her origins. People today are constantly moving across borders for many different reasons and when they experience a brush with the law in the country they are in, it may lead to the death penalty. There are countries (such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia) which impose capital punishment on people who are not their citizens and even tourists even if they were incidents of unintentional criminal activity. Administering a harsh punishment that is the death penalty to non-citizens especially if they are uninformed of the situation will eventually hurt ties between the countries.

Even if the people in a particular country are contented with their practices for capital punishment, communities across the globe who do not will still voice out against it. A particular offender who faces capital punishment may have specific issues which resonate with them as global citizens. In 2004, Amina Lawal's death sentence in Nigeria brought a lot of attention from women's rights activists from all over the world. In one demonstration, hundreds of women in South Africa protested against her fate outside the Nigerian High Commission and marched towards the parliament. The international effect of a single death penalty clearly transcends borders.

Needless to say, the most fervent disagreement about capital punishment anywhere in the world, is its legitimacy as a form of punishment from an ethical or moral point of view. There are many who see the death penalty as a violation of human rights. Religion, ethnicity, mental health, age of the offender and execution methods are also issues which are hotly debated when it comes to capital punishment. With all the issues that surround the death penalty, it seems ideal to turn to complete abolishment as a unilateral policy towards capital punishment although it would be naively utopian not to consider the complications involved to achieve worldwide abolishment.

The world is currently in need of a solution to the disagreements over capital punishment, and there are two paths to consider. We either abolish it altogether, or make unified decisions and standardized the process and technicalities of implementing the death penalty. Between the two, not only does abolishment shows our value for human life, it is also practical for the world. Perhaps someday the gold gleam from the Coliseum will be a permanent feature for the world to see.

Learn more about this author, Muneerah B..
Click here to send this author comments or questions.