Description
While the number of executions worldwide is decreasing, some countries are continuing to execute hundreds of prisoners every year – more than 19,000 people are currently estimated to be on death row worldwide. In less than 40 years, 124 countries have abolished the death penalty. Although no one has been executed in Australia since 1967, Australians’ attitudes regarding the death penalty are still mixed. The recent execution of Australians in Indonesia has brought home the human impacts of state-sanctioned killing. What are the arguments for and against capital punishment? Are there ever exceptions for the worst offenders? Does the death penalty prevent or deter crime? What is Australia doing diplomatically to encourage other states towards abolition? This book looks at the death penalty and its legal abolition worldwide, and explores a range of arguments and attitudes towards capital punishment in Australia and abroad. Can the death penalty ever be applied fairly? Whose right is it, if anyone’s, to decide death over life? Chapter 1: Global abolition of capital punishment Chapter 2: Attitudes towards the death penalty Worksheets and activities; Fast facts; Glossary; Web links; Index
