Monday’s forum on the death penalty was eclipsed by a series of cross-strait forums and meetings, an unexpected memorandum of understanding and the continued warnings of mad-cow fearmongers. Unlike cross-strait relations, the economy and even US beef, the debate over capital punishment offers scant political currency for either political camp.
That is both a curse and a blessing for the anti-death penalty movement.
Twenty years ago, at the end of 1988, 52 countries had abolished the death penalty — 35 of them for all crimes in all circumstances, and the rest of them for murder and other “ordinary” crimes, but not for treason or crimes in time of war. Today, 103 countries have abolished the death penalty, 95 of which have abolished it in all circumstances. Very few countries carry out executions: Only 48 have done so in the last 10 years, and the number has decreased during that time.
