Editing Capital punishment (section)

===Racial, ethnic, and social class bias===
Opponents of the death penalty argue that this punishment is being used more often against perpetrators from racial and ethnic minorities and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, than against those criminals who come from a privileged background; and that the background of the victim also influences the outcome.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-and-race |title=Death Penalty and Race &#124; Amnesty International USA |publisher=Amnestyusa.org |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209235831/http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-and-race |archive-date=9 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/racialbias |title=Racial Bias &#124; Equal Justice Initiative |publisher=Eji.org |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001080516/http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/racialbias |archive-date=1 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncadp.org/pages/racial-bias |title=Racial Bias &#124; National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty |publisher=Ncadp.org |date=18 March 1999 |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602161510/http://www.ncadp.org/pages/racial-bias |archive-date=2 June 2014}}</ref> Researchers have shown that white Americans are more likely to support the death penalty when told that it is mostly applied to black Americans,<ref name="peffley-2007">{{cite journal|last1=Peffley|first1=Mark|last2=Hurwitz|first2=Jon|title=Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in America|journal=American Journal of Political Science|year=2007|volume=51|issue=4|pages=996–1012|url=http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/teaching/articles/AJPS-20007-Peffley.pdf|access-date=3 May 2014|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00293.x|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503085353/http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/teaching/articles/AJPS-20007-Peffley.pdf|archive-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> and that more stereotypically black-looking or dark-skinned defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death if the case involves a white victim.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eberhardt|first1=J. L.|last2=Davies|first2=P. G.|last3=Purdie-Vaughns|first3=V. J.|last4=Johnson|first4=S. L.|title=Looking Deathworthy: Perceived Stereotypicality of Black Defendants Predicts Capital-Sentencing Outcomes|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 May 2006|volume=17|issue=5|pages=383–386|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01716.x|pmid=16683924|url=http://works.bepress.com/sheri_johnson/12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043144/https://works.bepress.com/sheri_johnson/12/|archive-date=31 August 2017|citeseerx=10.1.1.177.3897|s2cid=15737940}}</ref> However, a study published in 2018 failed to replicate the findings of earlier studies that had concluded that white Americans are more likely to support the death penalty if informed that it is largely applied to black Americans; according to the authors, their findings "may result from changes since 2001 in the effects of racial stimuli on white attitudes about the death penalty or their willingness to express those attitudes in a survey context."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Butler|first1=Ryden|last2=Nyhan|first2=Brendan|last3=Montgomery|first3=Jacob M.|last4=Torres|first4=Michelle|date=1 January 2018|title=Revisiting white backlash: Does race affect death penalty opinion?|journal=Research & Politics|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=2053168017751250|doi=10.1177/2053168017751250|issn=2053-1680|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In Alabama in 2019, a death row inmate named [[Dunn v. Ray|Domineque Ray]] was denied his imam in the room during his execution, instead only offered a Christian chaplain.<ref name="Schwartz-2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/692605056/supreme-court-lets-alabama-execute-muslim-murderer-without-imam-by-his-side|title=Justices Let Alabama Execute Death Row Inmate Who Wanted Imam By His Side|newspaper=NPR|date=8 February 2019|language=en|access-date=11 February 2019|last1=Schwartz|first1=Matthew S.}}</ref> After filing a complaint, a federal court of appeals ruled 5–4 against Ray's request. The majority cited the "last-minute" nature of the request, and the dissent stated that the treatment went against the core principle of denominational neutrality.<ref name="Schwartz-2019" />

In July 2019, two [[Shiite]] men, Ali Hakim al-Arab, 25, and Ahmad al-Malali, 24, were executed in Bahrain, despite the protests from the United Nations and rights group. Amnesty International stated that the executions were being carried out on confessions of "terrorism crimes" that were obtained through torture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dailysunpost.com/bahrain-executes-3-men/|title=Bahrain executes 3 men|access-date=28 July 2019|work=Daily Sun Post|date=28 July 2019|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729134201/https://dailysunpost.com/bahrain-executes-3-men/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 30 March 2022, despite the appeals by the United Nations and rights activists, 68-year-old [[Malay Singaporean]] [[Abdul Kahar Othman]] was hanged at [[Singapore]]'s [[Changi Prison]] for illegally trafficking [[diamorphine]], which marked the first execution in Singapore since 2019 as a result of an informal moratorium caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Earlier, there were appeals made to advocate for Abdul Kahar's death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds, as Abdul Kahar came from a poor family and has struggled with drug addiction. He was also revealed to have been spending most of his life going in and out of prison, including a ten-year sentence of [[preventive detention]] from 1995 to 2005, and has not been given much time for rehabilitation, which made the activists and groups arguing that Abdul Kahar should be given a chance for rehabilitation instead of subjecting him to execution.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://transformativejusticecollective.org/2022/03/28/when-will-we-stop-killing-small-people-who-need-care/|title=When will we stop killing "small people" who need care?|website=Transformative Justice Collective|date=28 March 2022|access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/singapore-hangs-drug-trafficker-resumption-045039209.html|title=Singapore hangs drug trafficker in resumption of executions|website=Yahoo News|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/man-hanged-in-singapore-amid-concern-over-surge-of-execution-notices|title=Man hanged in Singapore amid concern over surge of execution notices|website=The Guardian|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> Both the European Union (EU) and [[Amnesty International]] criticised Singapore for finalizing and carrying out Abdul Kahar's execution, and about 400 Singaporeans protested against the government's use of the death penalty merely days after Abdul Kahar's death sentence was authorised.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/singapore-new-execution-death-penalty/|title=Singapore: Shameful resumption of executions after more than two years won't end drug-related crime|website=Amnesty International|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/singapore-statement-spokesperson-execution-abdul-kahar-bin-othman_en|title=Singapore: Statement by the Spokesperson on the execution of Abdul Kahar bin Othman|website=European Union|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Will 2022 signal sea change in the death penalty for drugs?: Jakarta Post contributor|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/will-2022-signal-sea-change-in-the-death-penalty-for-drugs-jakarta-post-contributor|website=The Straits Times|date=6 April 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="straitstimes.com"/> Still, over 80% of the public supported the use of the death penalty in Singapore.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/death-penalty-majority-singapore-residents-support-shanmugam-2535331|title=Majority of Singapore residents still support death penalty in latest MHA survey: Shanmugam|website=CNA|date=3 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref>