A lot of media coverage at the moment is about COVID-19.

You may not know though last year, "A total of seventeen people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2020, sixteen by lethal injection and one by electrocution."

With....

"A number of states still allowing the condemned person to choose between electrocution and lethal injection, with the most recent US electrocution, of Nicholas Todd Sutton, taking place in February 2020 in Tennessee."

The top six executing Countries (in various means in 2020) included China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Amnesty International, said in a statement on the 2020 figures: “As the world focused on finding ways to protect lives from COVID-19, several governments showed a disturbing determination to resort to the death penalty and execute people no matter what.”

Some don't like the death penalty or people going to the electric chair (that's generally my view as), but others have no problem with it (which I don't understand) - what do you think?

Depends on the crime,I have no problem with men who rape children, for instance, being executed, it may or may not act as a deterrent but it sure stops second offences.

<<"but it sure stops second offences.">>

Well of course it does. A person is dead! It doesn't mean it will deter other people and some people may simply go underground, or try to.

For example in China, 2020, there are 42 criminal offences eligible for the death penalty and that of course doesn't include any prison time for any other breach of the law, which could equate to something like the death penalty - like life in prison (a full life time there).

In China, the conviction rate was 99.965% in 2019 and 99.969% in 2018.

There may be a valid reason or reasons for example in China to why someone may go against the laws set by the Chinese Government. China legally is hardly a place to live in peace and harmony with a government that is a dictatorship - and this video comes from Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuaTt0-Slr8

Finally, what happens if you are innocent?

Dear Nathan,

I used to be against capital punishment.

Now I'm not so sure. I think it does depend on
the crime. I watched 60 Minutes and the case of
Jamal Khashoggi - was discussed. The US based
journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia's government
who walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul
and never came out. They said he was murdered and
dismembered. In the months that followed narratives
emerged over how he died, what happened to his
remains and who was responsible.

How do we deal with people who commit such heinous
crimes? I'm not sure of the answer to that.
Or people who kill and abuse children?

Do we just lock them up for the rest of their lives?
How can we get the guarantee that they won't be released on
parole and re-offend?

Crimes that are so heinous with no signs of remorse
being shown - should have consequences shouldn't they?

Dear Nathan,

I forgot to add - what about war crimes?
Is it right to put people on trial for war crimes?
Should the Nuremberg trials have taken place?
Should there have been a death penalty for the
crimes committed?

Where do we draw the line for who faces the death penalty?

I am not interested in worrying if the death penalty is a deterrent or not. If a slime ball is dead, there is very little chance of them committing another crime.

I have been amazed at times to see that a child rape/murderer had raped a child before. With the death penalty for such crimes, you are going to save some innocents in this world, where we appear to be more interested in the welfare of the criminal than the victim.