|
|
        
|
|
The death sentence
by Thanos Kalamidas
2009-07-29 10:57:30 |
| Print - Comment - Send to a Friend - More from this Author |
   
 |
I recently read the announcement of the Chinese officials that they are going to punish the ones responsible for the Uighur riots, threatening them with the death sentence. A couple of days later, I watched a documentary about the Sharia law. The documentary followed the case of a woman who in the end was sentenced to death and executed, stoned in the middle of a football stadium. The whole thing was nightmarish and it haunted me for days.
Of course a death sentence has nothing to do with culture or local beliefs, because Texas is in USA and Sharia law has definitely nothing to do with the American state. Still, the state of Texas holds one of the saddest records internationally, due to the number of executions made there every year, followed by a number of other American states.
In one of the first thematic issues of Ovi magazine, we had a series of articles about the death sentence, and I stated my opposition and my objections for this inhuman act. Thinking about the article, I realized that there was something I had missed. I wrote about the excuses and I wrote about the stats, but what I forgot to write about was the reasoning behind that leads to this punishment. Unbelievably, as I have found out over the last few years, most people don’t really know anything about this, including the people who practice the law and carry out the death sentence. Then again, perhaps they do know but they prefer to forget.
The reasoning behind the death sentence is that they believe that the accused, the criminal or whatever you like call them, are going to repeat the same crime when they have the chance. Apparently, the sentence is not a punishment but it is prevention! I know that this is hard to believe, and that’s exactly why we prefer to forget about it, but this is the truth. The state of Texas actually holds the record of death sentences in the western world. It must be the habitat of the worst kind of citizens if they think that all of them are going to continue murdering at first chance, since murder is the most common crime for the death sentence.
Despite my sarcasm, things get even worse when it comes to Iran and the Sharia law, or to China – this country literally holds the record of death sentences. The unbelievable thing about China is that ideas can cause a death sentence. I’m afraid this is one of those articles I have no idea what more to say, since the excuse for a crime like that overwhelms me and on the same time it makes me feel very disappointed in the human race. Believing that a death sentence is punishment for a horrific crime – that’s something nobody denies – this is one thing, but knowing that the death sentence is an act to prevent future crimes that the person is supposed to be committing soon… this is beyond my logic. And even worse when the ideas a person hold is the crime.
This is an evil punishment. Punishment is the wrong word, it is revenge, and it is cannibalism. Even if these people have committed the worst crimes, why not lock them inside a prison for the rest of their lives? Why not let them live with their crime and understand it. You see I use excuses myself trying to avoid the reality behind the excuse. They sentence them to death to prevent a future crime based on a non-scientific based hypothesis.
The idea that we aren’t born criminals but that we are the creation of circumstances and surroundings is fundamental to our society. This has been established for centuries and it is a fact respected in all cultures. And then on the same time, some states go beyond cultural issues and execute people because they believe that they have an evil gene! It is like accepting that people are born bankers, workers …killers! And by the way, what about soldiers? I suppose there were some Texans in Iraq; were they …natural born killers? They did kill, didn’t they?
If what the state of Texas is doing is a crime, then what Iran is doing - and far more what China is doing - is beyond any sense of crime. It is an inhuman act that makes you feel embarrassed to be called human. The people responsible for those courts should be sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity, as a measure to …prevent!
Sharia+law Thanos+Kalamidas death+penalty Ovi USA Iran China |
|
| Print - Comment - Send to a Friend - More from this Author |
|
|
|
Newsletter
Subscribe
Contact
Search
