No Mercy for Iranian Minors
The Straits Times Pg 26 - March 16 2006
Iran's Death Penalty for Juvenile Criminals
Aside from criticism for it's "nu-culear" (according to President Bush) program and suspected weapons, Iran has come under fire ONCE AGAIN (what's new) in the press, this time for executing minors. I don't know but is this ABSOLUTELY necessary? Maybe in their fight to rid the world of evil (everyone seems to be claiming they're doing that), they feel that executing a boy or girl under the age of 18 is imperative to make Iran a place that is safe and free of crime.
Some might argue that by doing so, people are deterred and discouraged from committing offences. However, I feel that execution is too extreme a deterrance for EVERY crime. A 15 year old boy was recently sentenced to hundreds of lashings and execution recently just because he had some alcohol! In Singapore, the number of under-aged drinkers are high and it is a major concern for many parents as well as the authorities, but we do not resort to extreme methods of punishment! In doing so, we're still able to keep the country safe and crime rates low!
A grand ayatollah who is known as the most liberal of all recently said that, "Why should someone get away with a crime just because they are below a certain age? People are reaching maturity at much younger ages these days. Maybe in a generation from now, we will be hanging five-year olds". And what for may I ask?! Stealing candies?!
There is no doubt we live in a fallen world. Temptation to commit offenses and sin is ALWAYS around us and us humans are imperfect, so naturally we are most likely to make mistakes. That is what life's all about, we make mistakes and learn from them! But how is one, especially a young kid with a long way to go, going to learn if his life is ended just because of 1 mistake?
Iran's Death Penalty for Juvenile Criminals
Aside from criticism for it's "nu-culear" (according to President Bush) program and suspected weapons, Iran has come under fire ONCE AGAIN (what's new) in the press, this time for executing minors. I don't know but is this ABSOLUTELY necessary? Maybe in their fight to rid the world of evil (everyone seems to be claiming they're doing that), they feel that executing a boy or girl under the age of 18 is imperative to make Iran a place that is safe and free of crime.
Some might argue that by doing so, people are deterred and discouraged from committing offences. However, I feel that execution is too extreme a deterrance for EVERY crime. A 15 year old boy was recently sentenced to hundreds of lashings and execution recently just because he had some alcohol! In Singapore, the number of under-aged drinkers are high and it is a major concern for many parents as well as the authorities, but we do not resort to extreme methods of punishment! In doing so, we're still able to keep the country safe and crime rates low!
A grand ayatollah who is known as the most liberal of all recently said that, "Why should someone get away with a crime just because they are below a certain age? People are reaching maturity at much younger ages these days. Maybe in a generation from now, we will be hanging five-year olds". And what for may I ask?! Stealing candies?!
There is no doubt we live in a fallen world. Temptation to commit offenses and sin is ALWAYS around us and us humans are imperfect, so naturally we are most likely to make mistakes. That is what life's all about, we make mistakes and learn from them! But how is one, especially a young kid with a long way to go, going to learn if his life is ended just because of 1 mistake?
posted by Clarence Tan @ 11:44 PM
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