Is the U.S. really a free county?

I'd rather be here than anywhere else.

Receiving a death sentence in China -
Executions are carried out by hanging, shooting in the back of the head or lethal injection. In many years there are several times more reported executions in China than the rest of the world combined. Even then according to Amnesty International: "Only a fraction of death sentences and executions carried out in China are publicly reported."

The annual toll is not released and is treated as a state secret. These days many executions are carried out with a lethal injection as opposed to gunshots. Executions generally take place in specialized chambers or vans, away from public view. In 2009, the city of Beijing began using lethal injections in the execution of condemned prisoners instead of shooting them. In January 2008, the Chinese government announced it would expand the use of lethal execution and phase out executions by gunshot.Fewer organs damaged that way, I suppose.


Severe punishments have traditionally been regarded as a warning, summed by the old Chinese saying "killing a chicken to scare the monkeys." During the Cultural Revolution executions were often performed in public, and Chinese citizens were often forced to watch as "a form of solidarity with the people against the people's enemies."





From another source -
The People's Republic of China executes the highest number of people annually, though other countries (such as Iran or Singapore) have higher per capita execution rates.<sup id="cite_ref-wp_0-0" class="reference"></sup>
<sup id="cite_ref-wp_0-0" class="reference"></sup>Watchdog groups believe that actual execution numbers greatly exceed officially recorded executions; in 2009, the Dui Hua Foundation estimated that 5,000 people were executed in China—more than all other nations combined. Just a note, China;s population is about 1.4 Billion - ya, billion, like in hamburger billion.




We are not alone in not executing folks
In Russia, there exists both an implicit moratorium established by the President and an explicit one, established by the nation's highest court. Russia has not executed anyone since 1996, and the regulations of the Council of Europe prohibit it from doing so at any time in the future. However, the death penalty still remains codified.
Wow, bet you didn't know that.


The most bloodthirsty?
Capital punishment is a legal in Singapore - also a former Brit colony - just like US. Weird, huh?
The city-state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999, estimated by the UN to be 1.357 executions per hundred thousand of population during that period.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"> </sup>The next highest was Turkmenistan with 0.143 (which is now an abolitionist country). Each execution is carried out by hanging at Changi Prison at dawn on a Friday.
Nasty place, think I'll take a pass for vacation.


Don't know the - but until folks view life outside prison as better than inside, we will continue to have a problem.