There are more than 20 countries that still use the death penalty. should we boycott them all?

INDONESIA is being shunned after the Bali Nine duo’s executions, but shouldn’t we boycott all nations that have the death penalty, including the US?

Bali Nine Vigil

AS the #boycottbali hashtag grew over the course of the day, so did the calls that many were being hypocritical.

While there were thousands expressing their shock, sadness and anger over the executions of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran as well as six other death-row inmates during the early hours of this morning, there were also thousands calling for Aussies to stop visiting the holiday island. More than 5000 people urged Australians on Twitter to boycott Indonesia - something that Prime Minister Tony Abbott has cautioned against. But there were just as many who felt that is was hypocritical to boycott Bali in protest over its use of the death penalty when there are more than 20 countries who still execute prisoners including the US, Thailand, China, Singapore, India and Egypt. According to Amnesty International, there were at least 2466 people sentenced to death last year worldwide - up 28 per cent on 2013. Those on social media said anyone boycotting Bali should also be adding those countries to their lists of banned holiday destinations. Sam of Hobart posted on news.com.au today that he didn’t support the death penalty but he respected a country’s sovereign right to implement its own laws. “I do not support the death penalty. I think it is abhorrent,” he wrote. “However I do respect other cultures and governments. “If you plan to boycott Bali as a means of protesting the death penalty there are other popular holiday destinations you had better cross off your list, unless you don’t care if they kill their own citizens? Bahamas, Belize, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), United States of America and Vietnam all have areas where the death penalty is carried out. “You can argue about the technicalities and judicial process but we are judging from a position of privilege. We are guests in other countries and we should respect their cultures.” GlobalTrotter of Melbourne wrote: “Great let’s start boycotting all the countries with death penalties. Middle East countries, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Japan... have I missed any? “Yes…Great old USA!, China, Thailand, the list goes on. Let’s all IMPOSE a global eradication of the death penalty in the LAWS of these countries.... because Australia KNOWS best... (What a Joke). “Leave other countries and their laws alone! If anybody comes into my home and asks me to change the rules in my OWN home, their (sic) not welcomed. The author of this article clearly has no respect for other cultures and laws... this is plain ignorance!!!” JAM of PERTH wrote: “Remember there are two Australians in china at the moment waiting for a firing squad. Are we going to boycott China?? We won’t have anything…Everything in Australia is made in China.” There were also those who called for Australia to stop sending foreign aid to countries that use the death penalty, starting with Indonesia. Le blogeur gai wrote: “I don’t condone drug trafficking. Drug traffickers deserve to be jailed. “They don’t deserve to be put to death and especially in such a cruel, callous, barbarous inhumane way. “These deaths have destroyed two families. Do their families deserve to be punished for the crimes of their sons? “And if these men were members of your own family, would you so easily condemn them to death? “Mankind is a cancer on this world. If he’s not exploiting the environment, or destroying something, he’s killing his fellow man. “Australia should immediately stop all foreign aid to death penalty countries starting with Indonesia. We should not be funding the Widodo death cult.” Ex-pat Ben Claus who lives in Bali questioned where were the calls to boycott the US every time it executed one of its death row inmates. “I’m an Australian who lives in Bali and I have done for many years. I don’t support the death penalty for drug related crimes. However, this is Indonesia. It’s not Australia, despite a lot of Australians believing that because they holiday here once a year that it is. “People are forgetting that these guys are convicted and admitted drug smugglers. The 8kg of heroin they tried to get to Australia could have potentially killed many more. Reformed or not, they were not jailed to be reformed, they were jailed in order to exhaust the legal process of appeal. Like it or not, every country has the right to govern the way they see fit. Not once have I heard an Aussie call for the US to ban the death penalty. How about we see this as the sad and painful event that it is and move on? Oh wait, we can’t. The Australian media loves an Indonesian horror story too much...”