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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Saudi executed for murder

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Saudi Arabia beheaded a man for murder on Thursday in the kingdom's southeastern region of Asir, the interior ministry said.

Zaher bin Ali al-Shihri was found guilty of stabbing fellow Saudi Mohammed bin Hadi al-Qahtani after a disagreement, according to a statement published on the official SPA news agency.

Shihri's beheading brings the total number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom to 21 so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79.

The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offenses including rape, apostasy, homosexuality armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic Sharia law.

Source: Agence France-Presse, April 26, 2012
Location: Arabie saoudite
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