We Put the Cute in Execute!

Firstly, for the record, I'm anti-death penalty. Moreso because of procedural issues than moral ones. It's easier to reverse a mistake if the mistakee is alive. Would I rather have murderers in prison for life or killed by the state? It's sort of a wash for me. I don't get all worked up about it. Life in prison seems like a just punishment that protects the law-abiding. Anyway.

Per BBCNews.com today: “Nearly 4,000 people were executed worldwide in 2004 - the highest number in nearly ten years, say Amnesty International.
The human rights group found that China carried out more executions than all other countries combined - at least 3,400.
Iran came second, with at least 159, followed by Vietnam. The US were fourth in the table with 59 executions in 2004.
The 3,797 executions in 2004 are said to be the second-largest annual total in the last 25 years. Amnesty's UK director Kate Allen described the figures as "alarming".”

Hmmm… as a point of order, I find it hard to believe that North Korea didn’t kill more of it’s citizens then the other four countries mentioned. Per a USNews.com article (6/23/03): “In the past three decades, some 400,000 North Koreans are believed to have perished in the gulag.” See, now to me, those numbers are alarming. Perhaps they are not alarming to Ms Allen because North Korea has stated it’s most recent public execution was in 1992. Per Amnesty International’s website: ‘Amnesty International received a letter from the North Korean authorities in 1993 which acknowledged the public execution of one person in 1992.’ HARHARHAR. Well, that’s that then. I mean, the North Koreans would never lie. That must be why they’re not included in the new study; because they haven’t executed any of their own citizens since 1992!

Still, I wonder what the deal is with that.