The focus of the media is on the so-called closure that the execution of the perpetrator will bring to the family of the victim. This, however, is another of those many myths about the death penalty. Studies have shown that the families of victims almost never have a sense of closure or even any real satisfaction following the killing of the perpetrator.

As for the death penalty being a deterrent, it actually has been shown to increase the number of capital crimes committed (e.g. in New York many years ago). We've known about this phenomenon for several hundred years. When the King of England (a very long time ago) made picking pockets a capital crime, he ordered that the hangings of all pickpockets be done in the main square of the city every Sunday so the public could witness what a dreadful end pickpockets realize. Alas, pickpocketing skyrocketed as hundreds of pickpockets were drawn to the hangings to mingle among the densely packed crowds and pick pockets. I've always considered this a perfect example of how rulers of states and modern politicals have refused to learn anything from the lessons of history. The experience of New York came as a great shock to most people, yet it would not have surprised anybody who had done any in-depth reading of the history of kingdoms and states and the death penalty.
From Richard Franklin, a retired muckraker
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For those who think that there is nothing being done to Iraq at the present time~ There's an unrelenting U.S. blockade and war against the Iraqi people. U.S. warplanes continue bombing Iraq regularly while U.S.-led sanctions monthly kill thousands of children.
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I have repeatedly found the word Shenzi, or variations of it used in a derogatory way.

The word Shenzi means many things in central, east and southern Africa although most people know it as an insult that is in fact the equivalent of "Nigger" or "Kaffir."

The word "Shenzi" is the historic name of a an empire that once covered a huge chunk of the African continent, including all of the East African coast including most of Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Mozambique and parts of Sudan and what is now Ethiopia. The Shenzi also controlled huge parts of Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

The Shenzi are also known as Zenj, or Zanj, or Shanz, Sheng, Janj or Janz. Zanzibar is derived from the same. The Shenzi were great Africans, and their name came to mean "Black person" in the middle ages. It is unclear to me when the word turned into an insult...but I am sure someone out there has done the research.

The Zenj empire had collapsed by the 1200s and most definitely by the 1490s when the Portuguese set up forts on the East African coast, the Shenzi were no longer a power. Slavery seems to have been an important factor in the destruction of the Shenzi.

Many Shenzi people were enslaved and sold in Asia during the middle ages. Shenzis forced to work on plantations in the swampy lowlands of what is now Iraq revolted in what is now known as the Great Zenj Rebellion in the 1200s. The revolt lasted 20 years and had long term consequences for both Africa and Persia.
From Kashagama
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The Palestinians are the natives of Palestine. They have always lived in Palestine since ancient times. That is why they are called Palestinians. The Palestinians are Arabs. They have lived in Palestine even before the birth of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. Islam was born over 1400 years ago. The Palestinians lived in Palestine centuries before the Hebrews came to live in it. Although the Hebrews were the "cousins" of the Arabs, they have been extinct since the Romans slaughtered them some 2000 years ago.

The Palestinians have always been composed of Christians, Muslims, Jews (non-Zionist) and even nonbelievers. Being a Palestinian has nothing to do with religion. It is the Zionist propaganda in the West which claims that the Palestinians are only Muslims. From his book entitled The Arabs and the West by Abdullah Sindi, Ph.D.
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Prisoners did not think about the rights of the victims when they were committing the crimes; why should society care about them? You just don't realize that prison just becomes the street when these people are in there. In some cases prison life is better then those of us who are "free." The prisoner gets a meal every day. Most live with an air conditioner and have cable TV.

In Arizona, there is a prison made up of just tents; there's no Air Conditioning or cable; just Disney Channel for movies and the weather channel to see how hot it is going to be the next day. This prison cost a quarter of what other prisons cost in the same state. All prisons should be very hard with almost unlivable conditions. That way people would be more likely to not be there, but now because of all the rights for criminals they get to enjoy themselves.

Prison is not a bad place once you have been there for a while. So why should the criminal stop their behavior if the only punishment is prison? Yes, there needs to be human rights, but not for those who take those rights from others; they should lose all their rights.
From a poster on the StopFloridaTorture listserv