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Capital punishment


Over 100 were executed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 68 were executed in the United States, and 66 were executed in Iran. These four nations accounted for 86 percent of all executions recorded by Amnesty International that year.
             Death penalty supporters argue that justice demands a death sentence in certain cases, and that the concept of an "eye for an eye" is based on the nation's shared religious values. They further argue that the death penalty can deter capital crimes and possibly save lives in the process. In addition to any deterrent effects, supporters argue that there is an additional incapacitation effect -- executed offenders will never commit another capital offense. Opponents counter that there is no valid statistical evidence supporting the assertion that crimes are deterred by the death penalty, and that capital offenders can just as easily be prevented from committing further crimes by a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
             Opponents argue that that high rates of error in the criminal justice system make it quite possible to execute someone who is innocent, making the state itself guilty of murder. Since 1973 at least 88 people on death row were released after evidence emerged indicating their innocence. Supporters counter that there is no evidence that any innocent individual has ever been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, and that releases of innocent individuals on death row since then were either due to legal technicalities or demonstrated that the system's checks and balances work.
             Opponents argue that only a small percentage of those convicted of capital crimes actually receive the death penalty, and those who are executed are most notable for their lack of resources or poor legal representation. Race is often posited as a potential factor. For instance, while African Americans only make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, they made up 43% of the inmates on death row in 1999, and a little more than a third of those actually executed that year.


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