This was reported a couple of days ago in the Saudi press, eg ARAB NEWS. the committee referred to only found that death by firing squad was permissible. Neither this committee nor the Saudi government decide the matter: each regional government decides policy on this. As of a few days ago, at least one prisoner on "death row" had requested a firing squad.
The discussion on this in Saudi Arabia is quite similar to that in the US, ranging from the death penalty itself, to the method itself. Ironic, in my view, that the issue of cruelty is raised in the context capital punishment. In Saudi Arabia, unlike the US, the perpetrator and the victim (or the victim's family) can negotiate a voluntary settlement or restitution that then supersedes and voids governmental action and punishment. Many crimes, including murder, get resolved this way. Cheers, Lawry Sent from my iPhone On Mar 12, 2013, at 2:18 PM, Arthur Cordell <[email protected]> wrote: > RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi newspaper says a ministerial committee is > looking into formally dropping public beheadings as a method of execution in > the oil-rich kingdom because it can’t find enough swordsmen. > > Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where a death sentence results > in beheading in a public square. > > A government committee argues that a change to execution by firing squad > would be fine under the laws of Islam, the Saudi daily newspaper al-Youm > reports. > > “This solution seems practical, especially in light of shortages in official > swordsmen or their belated arrival to execution yards in some incidents,” the > committee said in a statement. > > > > http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/12/lack-of-swordsmen-leads-saudi-arabia-to-consider-dropping-public-beheadings-as-method-of-execution/ > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
