By: Ayaman Ahmed Ayad
e-mail: ayman_ayad@yahoo.com

     According to Amnesty International, 3,000 people were executed in 31 countries in the year 2001. Iran alone executed 139 people, Saudi Arabia executed 79, and the U.S.A executed 66. In 2002, at least 1,526 people were executed in 31 countries, and at least 3,247 people were sentenced to death in 66 countries. Since 1985, 40 countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes (4 reapplied it later) and 111 countries abolished it in law and practice. 15 abolished it for all but exceptional crimes. 22 countries became abolitionist in practice: they pass death sentences but do not carry out the execution.

      Between 1999 and 2001, on average, three countries a year have abolished the death penalty. During 2000, of the world's 195 countries 108 countries abolished the death penalty in law and in practice: 73 countries abolished it for all crimes, 13 countries abolished it for ordinary crimes, and 22 countries became abolitionist in practice. As for the year 2002, 74 countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes, 15 countries abolished it for all crimes but exceptional crimes such as those committed in wartime, at least 22 countries became abolitionist in practice, meaning that they do not carry out executions though they pass death sentences, and 84 countries still retain the penalty. Bahrain is the only Arab country that has abolished the death penalty.

      The call for the abolition of the death penalty started in the mid-19th century in the United States and reached its peak in the 20s and the 30s of the 20th century to embrace those countries currently the European Union as well as other countries in the world. The movement calling for death penalty abolition has gained in strength due to the growing impact and the influence of the human rights and world peace movements. International and national human rights organizations contributed in raising awareness and drawing attention to human rights issues, which in turn helped the appearance of organizations that resist the death penalty and call for its abolition, as it is considered to be a barbaric act inconsistent with the progress of the humanitarian civilization.

      Amnesty International is considered to be one of the most important organizations in the global field of the death penalty resistance. The increase in the number of countries that have stopped applying the death penalty, along with the growing attention given to human rights issues in the Arab region (ignoring for the moment the political and international motives) makes us think that we must join in the current debate about the death penalty as it concerns our countries. This is especially important given that though the death penalty is in violation to one of the most principal human rights, the Right to Life, the act is justified jurisprudentially, philosophically and religiously.

     A court can decide upon a death sentence in a trial that does not respect international standards of fairness. In other cases, the death penalty could be applied to serve political, ethnic, racial, or religious interests. The possibility that the innocent people will be executed is a real one: execution is an irreversible action.

      Ending the life of a person, even if done in the name of law, is reminiscent of the barbaric beginning of the mankind-the legend of killing one's brother, which tells us that we are all the grandchildren of a murderer-and transgresses the first Christian commandment "Do not kill." Executions and death sentences are like practices of the past, like slavery and socially justified and legally permitted torture.

      History gives the lie to those claims that the death penalty, also known as "legal killing," is capable of creating a society without crimes or homicide. In fact, it seems that the continued existence of a culture of fraud and revenge-a phenomenon without any objective measurement-plays a substantial role in creating those criminals who commit murders or threaten the security of society. There are several factors that help in promoting the call to see the human parts in those criminals and also help in promoting the call to abolish the death penalty, of these factors are the education level, the evolution of the cultural awareness of the society, the prevail of the tolerance sphere and the many attempts of building bridges to know the other.

      The 10 of October of every year has been declared the world day for death penalty resistance; this was the day on which the death penalty was suspended for the first time in the United States. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (http://www.worldcoalition.org/) is considered the most active international coalition against the death penalty. The coalition gathers NGOs, Bar associations, unions, local governments, and all organizations related to the struggle against death penalty and that want to coordinate their lobbying and activist efforts on an international level.

      There are some people believe that the death penalty is even more horrible than murder, because those who are sentenced to death are completely unable to save their lives at n the moment of execution. Others admit that executing people guilty of murder does set an example for others but ask whether there is no other better and more humane method of making humanity recognize the grossness of killing? Is the death penalty even able to stop these crimes that threaten the safety of society?

      Statistics show that the crime rate is higher in those countries that enforce the death penalty rather than those countries that have abolished it in laws and in practice. We think that the only means to preserve lives is the spread of the concepts and the culture of human rights and the eradication of sources of crime like poverty, ignorance and unemployment.

      The elimination of all forms of exploitation of human beings by human beings-exploitation which results in social and psychological illnesses and a more fertile ground in which crime can flourish-and the provision of the opportunity for all human beings to release their creative talents without discrimination can help to creating a free and responsible society.

     Homicide has no relation to the existence or the non existence of the death penalty. However, the social and economic situation of the society has a great impact on the spread of such crimes. Therefore, the elimination of the sources of deprivation, the marginalization, the exclusion, the isolation, the suppression and the social injustice faced by the Arab citizens in everyday life will help reduce crime. As long as the use of the death penalty in the history of the mankind, and in its different civilizations, in different forms and for different motives, did not prove efficiency in preventing the homicides and the horrible crimes, neither the retardation of the democratic structure of the Arab societies, nor the conservative or the thought could justify the existence of such penalty.

      Likewise, religious logic cannot justify the retention of the death penalty in Arab countries. For example, Islam does not require the death penalty, it entails (Al-Qasas) (_______________) in the case of the premeditated murder and Dyaa (paying compensation) which is lighter than the punishment of life imprisonment!! If the victim's family tolerated with the murderer. As for the accidental homicide, the punishment in Islam is only the (Dyaa), therefore, some Islamic jurists called for abolishing the death penalty.

      One of the many reasons for the call to abolish the death penalty is the fact that one of the basic aims of the state of law is to reform and repair not the fraud nor the revenge. Studies have proved the shown as false assumption that the death penalty reduces homicide and decreases the crime rate in society or even constitutes a deterrent to criminals. Statistics show that the crime rate in a country like the U.S.A., which carries out executions in brutal and cruel ways, is higher that the crime rate in a country like France that do not carry out executions.

      The call for the abolition of the death penalty can by no means be considered a naïve defense of those who commit dangerous crimes nor as a call for the tolerance of them. Rather it should be considered a call for the promotion of the defense of the right to life, which stands at the very heart of the entirety of human rights. Human life is the most precious value that should be preserved and defended. The media has the greatest impact in changing the tight minded vision adopted in dealing with the criminal phenomenon in the society.

      We believe that governments' unconditional respect for international human rights helps reduce crime in society, especially since some crimes are expressions of social rejection.

it is necessary to addressing and prevent the spread of corruption, particularly in governmental institutions, to insure the people's rights, and to and the prevailing of the spirit of the law also help in judging rationally and enlivening the humanitarian conscience which became threatened by the different forms of violence.

      The states of Europe and the Americas have made great progress in their struggle against the death penalty. Several documents and treaties have been drafted that attempt to insure the abolition of the death penalty. These documents include: The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (Paragraph2, article 6), the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Protocol No 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, Paragraphs 2 and 3, article 4 of the Protocol of the American Convention of Human Rights, the two resolutions of the Human Rights Committee No 8/1998 and 61/1999 (which state that abolition of the death penalty enhances human dignity and the gradual evolution of human rights), paragraph 5 in article 6 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, paragraph (a) of article 37 of the convention of the rights of the Child, paragraph 3, article 5 of the African Chart of the rights and welfare of the child, paragraph 4, article 6 in the Second Optional Protocol of the Geneva Conventions, paragraph 5, article 77 of the first optional protocol to the Geneva conventions, the UN resolution No 50/1984 Protocol No 13 in the European Convention of Human Rights and Basic freedoms, which came to ____the hole created by Protocol No 6 which prohibits execution unless in wartime crimes).

      Due to the wide ranging debate about the death penalty, and in spite of the fact that there are several countries, include the U.S., that retain it, the death penalty does not constitute a deterrent to crime. It is considered to be one of the most terrible penalties and one that should be abolished because it a violation of the most sacred human right, the right to life. On the other hand, it is possible that the death penalty is not the cruelest possible punishment, as life imprisonment can often be far crueler. Execution is carried out in a moment, but life imprisonment is continuous punishment for those who commit gross crimes, without doing unjust to anyone, taking into consideration that the aim of the punishment is not to take revenge from the criminal or to harm him to death.

      The time to open up the issue of the death penalty for debate amongst the different political and social groups is now, during the wave of projects that hitting the Arab region that call for democracy and human rights.

, to open the file of the death penalty to emerge positive debate and intellectual diverse discussion among the different political and social trends to adopt humane situation visa a vis this inhuman punishment.

P.S
     Due to the short length of this article, we could not provide specific information about the death penalty in the Arab region such as the number of the people sentenced to death, the number of the people executed annually, and the political use of this penalty. We also did not mention the unfair forms of trial which execute dozens of people annually for political or religious reasons or reasons related to the freedom of expression. We hope to dedicate a series of articles to these topics.