Death Penalty Musings

It's been some time since the world has reacted to the execution of Saddam Hussein - so why am I writing about it now? Well it's taken some time for me to collect my thoughts, many of which were shattered and confused by the various news reports that I saw on TV or read about in the newspaper.

For the most part, I am a person that is against the death penalty - particularly its use in the U.S., whose justice system has been known to make many mistakes and whose procedure for killing the guilty are clean and sanitary, but are terribly inhumane. The thing about beheading someone, even though it is quite gory, is that it is quick and painless (not that I believe we should start doing that here in the U.S - but just to say that we shouldn't act morally superior to countries who use this form of the death penalty.) The reason I say for the most part is because I do believe that there are some who we know - absolutely know - that they are guilty of killing another human being. The Qur'an states that the correct punishment for taking another human's life is to take the guilty person's life - seems logical to me. Eye for an eye is not cruel per se - it just makes economical sense. What is the proper compensation if someone takes my eye - or my life? The only equivalent to me seems another person's eye - or their life. I know the famous quote, "The rule an eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind" - and that may be true - but it also may make people think twice before they do something wrong.

So what is the proper punishment for someone who has tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of people and has BRAGGED about it, showing absolutely no remorse? Death of course - which is what many people said was the proper punishment for the heinous crimes that Saddam Hussein committed. But one life, for the loss of so many - seems a little out of proportion to me. Alas, we cannot kill a man such as this more than once, at least not physically.

So off to gallows for him, but what do I expect his execution to look like? I certainly didn't expect the cell phone footage that swept across the web - crowds taping, executioners taunting - is that appropriate? Is that how his execution should have played out? I am still torn about this, because why does this man deserve any dignity in death (if there is such a thing)? But at the same time, when I should not feel sympathy for this man, I did - in my head I thought - no one should have to die like that - having to die by noose was bad enough. But wait - his death isn't enough - maybe taunting him before he dies is one way to make the punishment more appropriate or fitting. What is the responsiblity of the state to the dignity of the guilty when it is putting someone to death? In America, we ask someone what they would like for their last meal, see if they have any last request that can be granted - and we put them in sound-proof chambers so that they don't hear the audience outside. Is this the standard we should keep for mass murderers like Hussein? At what point does an eye for an eye just stop working and just become disgusting? It becomes that age old question, should we stoop as low as our enemies would? I wonder if the answer is really no as our parents always tell us it is...