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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 Arabia beheads Jordanian national for drug trafficking

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Public beheading in Saudi Arabia (file photo)
Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Jordanian on charges of drug trafficking, bringing to 32 the number of executions carried out in the kingdom in the first 2 months of 2015.

The convicted Jordanian drug smuggler, identified as Omar Mohammed Abdul Muti al-Rubai, was beheaded in the northwestern al-Jawf region, on Wednesday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.

The execution was carried out after the convict allegedly confessed to trying to smuggle a large amount of amphetamines across the northern Jordan-Saudi border.

This is while the increasing number of executions in Saudi Arabia has drawn growing concern on the international stage. Riyadh carried out the death penalty against 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013.

The country has come under particular criticism from rights groups for the executions carried out for non-fatal crimes.

According to the London-based rights group Amnesty International's annual report on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia imposes death sentences "after unfair trials."

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia, which has one of the highest execution rates in the world, has tortured or "otherwise coerced or misled [defendants] into making false confessions" before trial.

Muslim clerics have also slammed Riyadh for indicting and then executing suspects without giving them a chance to defend themselves.

Saudi authorities say the beheadings reveal the Saudi government's commitment to "maintaining security and realizing justice."

The execution "is committed to fighting drugs of all kinds due to the physical and social harm they cause," the Saudi government added.

Rape, murder, apostasy, homosexuality, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi rule.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Feb. 25, 2015

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Location: Saudi Arabia
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