Wither the Death Penalty in Asia?

Is the death penalty booming in Asia, or is support for executions starting to die a slow and painful death?

On the surface, the facts look grim. In South Korea, following the recent rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, a new poll shows broad support for capital punishment. China, by far the world's worst offender, executed a Japanese citizen on Tuesday. Taiwan has a de facto moratorium on the death penalty, but that may be in danger, as the country's justice minister (a staunch opponent of the practice) stepped down in March.

As Robert Banyan points out in the Economist, Asia is the statistical epicenter of capital punishment — 95% of Asians live in countries that impose the death penalty, and 75% of executions in 2009 were carried out in Asia. (That number, of course, is largely thanks to China.)

But all this apparently bleak news overlooks serious cracks in the death penalty's facade in Asia. For example, executions are on hold in Japan and have fallen significantly in punishment-happy Singapore. China says it's cleaning up its act (on organ harvesting, on secret executions and secret prisons), though I'll believe that when I see it.

The Economist's Banyan goes on to write that South Korea and Taiwan are unlikely to revert and jump too fast on the death penalty bandwagon. For one, they're committed to differentiating themselves from their authoritarian neighbors (China and North Korea). South Korea's public opinion poll revealed that 83% of citizens say they support executions, but that might just show shock at the latest horrible crime, and not be an entirely accurate reflection of sentiment.

How such opinion surveys are conducted matters a great deal. For example, while public support for capital punishment in the U.S. may still seem strong on paper, there are fissures just beneath the surface. When asked to weigh executions against life without parole (a decision faced by the jury in every death penalty case), the support for executions drops from 65 to 47%.

So while the numbers and news might suggest that capital punishment is alive and well in Asia, the politics and history suggest otherwise. In the long term, the region seems to be on a winding path toward ending the death penalty. And as China’s neighbors gradually end the practice, more pressure will come on Beijing to close the world’s most crowded death row.

Hat tip: Chris Cassidy

Photo Credit: tawalker