Worsening of a volatile region

THE execution of 47 people by the Saudi authorities on Jan 2 reinforces my deeply held conviction that the death penalty should be abolished. No state should have the power to impose the death penalty on anyone. It is a right that can be abused and misused so easily.

As of now, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. In Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, the number of people put to death by the state has seen a big increase, from 90 in 2014 to 157 in 2015. Another country in West Asia which had also executed a huge number of people in 2015 is Iran: 694 between Jan 1 Jan and July 15. The death penalty has not been able to deter Iranians from committing many of the crimes for which the law has been enacted.