Executions last year. Short list of countries, huh?

China 1718+ Iran 346+ Saudi Arabia 102+ USA 37 Pakistan 36+ Iraq 34+ Vietnam 19+ Afghanistan 17+ North Korea 15+ Japan 15 Yemen 13+ Indonesia 10+ Libya 8+ Bangladesh 5 Belarus 4 Egypt 2+ Malaysia 1+ Mongolia 1+ Singapore 1+ Sudan 1+ Syria 1+ United Arab Emirates 1+ Bahrain 1 Botswana 1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1

From the National Catholic Reporter :

Quote:

On Dec. 30, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson, issued the following statement on Hussein's execution:
"Capital punishment is always tragic news, a motive of sadness, even when it's a case of a person guilty of grave crimes. The position of the Catholic church against the death penalty has been confirmed many times. The execution of the guilty party is not a path to reconstruct justice and to reconcile society. Indeed, there is the risk that, on the contrary, it may augment the spirit of revenge and sow seeds of new violence. In this dark time in the life of the Iraqi people, it can only be hoped that all the responsible parties truly will make every effort so that, in this dramatic situation, possibilities of reconciliation and peace may finally be opened."
Other reactions from senior church officials confirmed this judgment.
I spoke to a senior Vatican diplomat on Jan. 2, who told me that there had not been a private appeal to save Hussein's life from the pope prior to the execution, largely because there was no time. As late as Thursday and Friday of last week, this official said, the Vatican still hoped that a 30-day waiting period prior to any use of the death penalty prescribed in Iraqi law would be observed. In the end, this official said, the execution happened with "barbaric rapidity."
L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, editorialized that "making a spectacle" of the execution turned capital punishment into "an expression of political hubris." Hussein's death, the paper claimed, "represented, for the ways in which it happened and for the media attention it received, another example of the violation of the most basic rights of man."
Church officials offered several motives for opposing the execution.



Contrast this small number of countries killing their own, and the largest Judeo-Christian religion in the world opposing it, to your statements.

-Chuck, Vegetarian fanboy
_________________________
Fuck 'em all but nine.