I can’t describe the strange feeling I had when I saw Saddam being hung. I can’t explain the emotion when I saw him dangling lifeless in the second-hand video clip version of his punishment cum spectacle A death penalty, which according to the first reports made by the executioners to the media, was carried out professionally and with due consideration for the dignity of the person!

Now, let me lay the cards on the table; some, many or most, may have been quite happy with what was happening to this monster! “He deserved it,” they say’! I personally have no pity for this man if what was presented as evidence in his trial was genuine and legitimate. But this is 2007 civilisation we are talking about, aren’t we? Was the consequence of “his” ghastly deeds an act of: justice or vindication; righteousness or vendetta; even-handedness or vengeance?

To me this was nothing less than a grotesque and gruesome reaction of those who claim they have justice at heart! Others would say that this was only the hors d'oeuvre of what he made people go through. While I can rationalise these arguments, in particular those by people who were involved with this man, I still have my reservations about the verdict and the corollary.

Capital punishment has been argued as being a social deterrent, a cost-effective strategy to get rid of its “losers”. While disapproving of such language, how have these so called “losers” come about? Who has contributed to or endorsed this conduct? I believe that as a globalised society we need to carry the responsibility of having such a dictator. Getting rid of people is no solution. “Killing” for “murder” sounds awfully paradoxical, absurd and ridiculous to me.

Capital punishment and the act of Noosing we witnessed on the media recently are nothing but a form of human degradation. The continued existence of humanity depends on decorum and respect for social justice. Is capital punishment a form of fair dealing or is it a way of brushing responsibilities under the carpet? How will society deal with the reality of a malevolent mentality if this mode of reprimand persists?

Frightful statistics:

* 3,374 prisoners were under sentence of death in the year ending 2003.

* 60 inmates were executed in the USA in 2005.

1,004 people have been executed in the USA since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1977.

2,148 people were executed in 2005 in 22 countries according to Amnesty International; 94 per cent in China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the USA alone.

5,186 people were sentenced to death in 53 countries.

20,000 prisoners are on death row across the world.

1,770 people are estimated to have been executed in China in 2005 according to Amnesty International. The true figures are believed to be much higher. A Chinese legal expert was recently quoted as saying that the figure for executions is closer to 8,000 based on information from local officials and judges.

19,000 and 24,000 people have been condemned to death and are awaiting execution.

It is a fact that scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in 2002, concluded:

“...it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment.”

Bloodlust, that’s what this is all about! We slay each other and instead of deploring the tragedy we want the State to satisfy our bloodlust by killing the reprobate. We must learn to deal with these people who are in our midst – reprimand and condemn, not become them!