death row is the part of a prison that
houses inmates awaiting the sentence of
capital punishment for some seriously
heinous crimes
while capital punishment is an intensely
controversial issue it's still famously
legal across the united states but the
u.s isn't the only country in the world
with a death row
from the crimes that can land you there
to the last meal you're given it all
varies wildly depending on where you're
condemned
so let's take a look at some of the most
shocking differences in death rows
around the world
oh boy this one is gonna be an
eye-opener for sure
the countries
as of january 2021
109 countries have abolished capital
punishment entirely these include all
european union countries plus the uk
australia canada mongolia argentina
mexico the philippines and many more
now a further 28 countries are classed
as abolitionists in practice meaning
they uphold capital punishment in law
but haven't officially carried a
sentence out in more than 10 years
these include the russian federation
myanmar morocco algeria kenya and most
surprisingly south korea a country more
famous for its k-pop and k-drama than
its k-apital punishment
makes you wonder if squid game was more
of a documentary
just eight reserve the penalty for
serious offenses like war crimes in
countries that have had issues with
uprisings against leading regimes in the
recent past for that look to brazil
kazakhstan guatemala and several others
but then there's the shockingly high
55 retentionist countries the ones where
the penalty is fully upheld within the
law
if shocking news headlines are anything
to go by
you're probably thinking that alongside
the us
these are mainly countries known for
their harsh punishments like china saudi
arabia and north korea
but surprisingly japan is also on that
list the only fully democratic country
to do so
before the keyboard warriors butt in the
u.s technically classes as a democratic
republic
making japan's position on the penalty
all the more shocking
man despite appearances not every
european country is abolitionist here's
looking at you belarus led by an
authoritarian regime belarus's
government mainly uses its punishing
power to suppress political unrest
however the use of capital punishment is
also a major hurdle that's prevented the
country from becoming part of the
european union
now despite what many people think the
death sentence isn't legal in every
state in the u.s
currently 24 states allow it 23 don't
and three have moratoriums in place
meaning prisoners can still be given the
sentence but the death part is
temporarily pardoned
so if you're planning on doing anything
criminally dumb in the near future
be sure not to do it in any of these
places if you don't want to end up
paying with your life
but no matter where you are in the world
it's not a crime to hit those like and
subscribe buttons down below all done
great because you're not going to
believe some of the stuff we're about to
get into
the crimes
they say if you're prepared to do the
crime then be prepared to do the time
but some crimes have more time attached
to them depending on where you are in
the world and in some places your time
would be well and truly up
let's start in the us
here there are 42 capital offenses you
can commit that'll guarantee you a spot
on death row homicide is the big one
with other more specific crimes such as
willful wrecking of a train resulting in
death or mailing injurious articles with
fatal intent
others are less obvious though such as
espionage the practice of spying or
treason which is defined as levying war
against the government
because these acts pose a serious threat
to national security especially in times
of war they're considered crimes worthy
of the death penalty but not so in other
countries
over in japan capital punishment is only
doled out for crimes that meet a very
strict nine-point criteria called the
nagayama standard
here elements of the crime like the
degree of viciousness the motive
remorsefulness and sentiments of
bereaved family members are weighed
against each other
in particular the number of victims
involved tips the scale heavily
so the sentence is usually only reserved
for serial homicides
as such only 16 of the 130 death
sentences japanese courts have handed
out since 1993 have involved a single
victim that's just 12 percent
in nearby north korea it's a little bit
more uh
strict
the militaristic rule of the country
means crimes against the state are
considered the worst of all
so alongside homicide and treason
comparatively smaller crimes like
counterfeiting smuggling and the vaguely
titled offense of grave misdemeanor
can all warrant the death penalty
i mean what does a grave misdemeanor
even entail are we talking robbery or
swearing assault or putting raisins in
cookies
theft or farting in an enclosed space
when people are around you it could be
anything
as bad as north korea's vague laws sound
they're nothing compared to nigeria's
in 12 predominantly muslim states in the
north of the country a strict islamic
law called sharia law
operates in the criminal as well as the
super religious domain
because of the strict religious ruling
capital punishment is handed out for
things like adultery homosexuality and
even blasphemy
specifically speaking ill of islam's
holy figures will land you in hot water
so bad-mouthing god in the highly
conservative parts of this country can
book you an express ticket to meet the
big man himself
but even nigeria's laws look tame
compared to saudi arabia's
sharia law is absolute there so crimes
like blasphemy or waging war on god are
also punished in this country with the
death penalty
but they take this stance so seriously
that witchcraft can also land saudi
citizens with a capital sentence
practicing sorcery magic or anything
supernatural is considered a capital
offense
no that'd make for one really harrowing
harry potter book that's for sure
the conditions
once the death sentence has been passed
in the court of law the life of a
prisoner changes dramatically
having been condemned to the worst fate
imaginable their world is turned upside
down and placed behind bars
now usually in america
prisoners who are just serving time are
kept in general population
here most get their own tiny cells to
sleep in ranging from about 50 to 70
square feet in size complete with a
sanitary facility and a bed
while they sleep alone they can still
mingle with other prisoners during the
day take on jobs like canteen cooking
inside the facility and depending on the
state they're in can access the outside
yard every day
that's about all the liberties they get
though which sounds incredibly
restrictive
over on death row though inmates can
only dream of such freedoms
according to florida's department of
correctional facilities death row
inmates are kept in cells just 54 square
feet in size
these can include a toilet but don't
always include washing facilities to
clean themselves they're escorted in
handcuffs to showers and watched the
entire time by several wardens in case
they get any bright ideas
there's no canteen for these guys just
three square meals served in the cells
at 5am 10 30 am and 4 pm and the only
cutlery they're allowed is a spork
they can have snacks radios even small
13-inch tvs to keep the boredom at bay
but there's no ac no cable tv or
streaming services
and they're rarely allowed to mingle
with other prisoners
they're allowed out of their cell for up
to one hour a day for exercise and
visitation rights but the other 23 they
spend in solitary confinement
however once their death warrant is
signed meaning all their appeals have
failed
they get moved to a slightly larger 84
square foot cell
that's about the only upgrade there is
though as all radios and tvs are moved
outside the cells and they can only
watch or listen to them through the bars
over in texas though the restrictions
are even more severe
while each cell is guaranteed to have a
window there's no word on what the view
is like
on top of that tvs are out of the
question and depending on their custody
level only some inmates may have access
to a radio till past the time
but if we rewind to 2016 and head over
to delaware back when the death penalty
was still legal in the state
restrictions were a little laxer
single cells were roughly 91 square feet
in size but inmates could also be housed
with other prisoners in some maximum
security units depending on the
restriction level of the units they were
assigned to
these inmates could even eat in the
dining hall with everyone else
not only that but they could also enjoy
up to 21 hours a week of exercise shower
and visitation time
it's not exactly what i would call
comfortable but that's almost luxurious
compared to current conditions in
alabama
here cells can be as small as just 40
square feet all around
that's barely what you'd call closet
space there are no windows and no ac
and with alabama summers averaging a
scorching 90 degrees fahrenheit the heat
is often unbearable
some prisoners are issued with a fan but
it doesn't do much and many resort to
standing in their toilets to try and
cool down
but that's just the usa
so how do these conditions compare to
the rest of the world
well if we take a trip over to japan
it's actually not all that different
like america death row cells here are
solitary and tiny but at around 80
square feet they're bigger than most of
the others we've seen
although you might notice that they
don't contain a bed in traditional
japanese custom the beds fold out giving
inmates more room to
repent i suppose
it also includes a toilet bookshelf and
low sink but to prevent the inmates from
harming themselves each has been
designed with round corners
even the taps on the sink are operated
by a timeout button so they can't flood
the cells like america inmates are fed
three times a day on a diet that
consists pretty rigidly of just rice
soup and a small portion of meat or fish
they do not have access to a commissary
or prison shop so there's no additional
food on the menu
on top of that tvs are out of the
question and depending on their custody
level only some inmates may have access
to a radio to help pass the time
they're allowed to bathe just three
times a week during the hot summer
months and only two during the winter
the only reprieve they do get is a 30
minute stint of exercise in a fenced
yard every day
this doesn't sound good but it's
practically heaven compared to india's
death rows
india is incredibly secretive about its
death row practices and rarely releases
any official documents about the
conditions its inmates are kept under
but some stories told by prisoners who
had their convictions overturned
paint a pretty bleak story
they're held in solitary confinement for
most of the day and conversation with
any other inmates is strictly prohibited
there's no air conditioning despite
temperatures rising to 113 degrees
fahrenheit in the summer
but the cells do have windows
unfortunately many look out over a set
of gallows in the prison yard serving as
an unavoidable torturous reminder of the
fate that awaits them
in vietnam though it gets worse like
india very little is known about the
death row system here but the laws
require inmates to be held in solitary
confinement and monitored around the
clock
according to stories from former inmates
if a death row prisoner is deemed
particularly dangerous
they have one of their feet shackled to
the cell
in these cases the prisoners are only
released from the shackles for 15
minutes a day
in which time they can bathe eat and use
the toilet oh man that sounds so bad it
almost makes alabama look good
the
weight once the gavel comes down and the
death sentence is passed prisoners
aren't immediately shipped off to the
afterlife
in many countries the appeals and
potential exoneration process is a long
and arduous one that can see prisoners
pacing around their cells for years
but it's not the same the world over so
let's start in america with so many
legal hoops to jump through regarding
appeals scheduling petitions supreme
court decisions and trials that can last
decades prisoners can expect to wait an
average of 22 years between sentencing
and punishment
during this time around 25 percent of
inmates pass away from natural causes
back in the 1990s though this was an
average of just eight years but the
complexity and time-consuming nature of
the sentences plus the ever-growing
backlog of cases has seen this wait time
increase and that's just the average
inmate raymond riles spent more than 45
years on death row in texas before being
re-sentenced to life in prison in 2021
but once the death warrant has been
signed depending on the state prisoners
will be informed they have between just
10 and 90 days to make their peace
over in japan
trials can also last decades thanks to
the legal system
but prisoners here aren't often given
the luxury of a death date
so little warning is given some inmates
are only informed of their execution on
the day it happens
this makes the story of the world's
longest surviving death row inmate ewau
hakamata even more amazing as he
survived on death row for more than 48
years
fortunately he was acquitted after it
was discovered police and falsified
evidence against him
that's a long time not knowing if today
will be your last for a crime you didn't
commit
however when it comes to waiting few
countries are as scarily efficient as
china the country itself is very private
regarding its death row process even so
an in-depth study based on scraps of
information leaked from the country has
led experts to believe that the average
time between sentencing and punishment
is a harrowingly short 50 days that's
less than two months
it sounds impossibly quick but
considering china is the world's leading
executioner with thousands of citizens
estimated to meet this fate every year
it would certainly make sense in
comparison just 17 capital sentences
were carried out across the u.s in 2020
but in belarus the time an inmate has to
make peace with the final ruling
is even quicker it's reported that the
convict in question is informed that all
their appeals have either failed or been
denied just two minutes before the
sentence is carried out
i'm not sure which would be worse
waiting for days or given a few minutes
to come to terms with it all
what do you think let me know down in
the comments
last meals
if you knew the next meal you ate would
be your last what would you go for
i'd choose a big juicy steak with all
the trimmings
and a huge chocolate brownie for dessert
man that sounds good but for a lot of
prisoners on death row
the last meal they eat isn't always
something they have a choice in
in the u.s last meals are often served
to inmates a few days before their date
with destiny most can order anything
they want well almost anything
prisons can deny requests for alcohol or
tobacco products
and others can limit the requests to
items that can only be obtained within
the prison system
that can mean no fast food no local
gourmet restaurant delivery and even no
home-cooked meal from their family
many states also have a cost limit on
the last meals of their prisoners in
florida the meal can cost up to forty
dollars but in oklahoma it can only cost
up to fifteen dollars
sounds kinda stingy but it's better than
being in texas currently prisoners
aren't even allowed to pick their last
meal they used to be able to but back in
2011 death row inmate lawrence brewer
ordered a huge banquet of food for his
last meal and then refused to eat it
once it arrived so texas changed its
policy and now none of texas's death row
inmates get a say in what they're served
but many states have been pretty lenient
in the past allowing inmates to order
whatever they want
before illinois inmate john wayne gacy
received his capital punishment back in
1994 he was able to order a bucket of
kfc fries 12 fried shrimp a pound of
fresh strawberries and a coke
on the other end of the spectrum back in
1963 iowa inmate victor feger ordered a
single olive with the stone still in it
he hoped the stone would sprout into a
tree on his grave as a symbol of peace
but for all his good intentions that
never happened
one of the stranger requests a texas
prison received before the ban on last
meals came from james edward smith back
in 1990 who requested a plate of dirt
not just any old dirt
raykunda dirt earth taken from someone's
grave
it's often associated with voodoo
rituals and james believed that by
eating it he wouldn't become a ghost
suffice to say this was a little too
macabre for the wardens to fulfill
he got a yogurt instead
now last meals aren't guaranteed all
over the world in indonesia last meal
requests on death row generally aren't
taken however back in 2015
members of the bali nine smuggling gang
were allowed to order pizza and kfc in
the days leading up to their date with
fate
here food can also be provided by family
members and split between prisoners if
they feel like sharing over in malaysia
last meals are often made from a fixed
variety of food including steak fried
chicken plain rice vegetables salad milk
orange juice and water although some
inmates who declined last meals in the
past were sometimes given a simple kfc
dinner instead
hang on what's the deal with kfc being a
last meal of choice for so many people i
guess it's tasty cheap and easy to get a
hold of
well at least they're able to take that
meal off their kfc bucket list
in taiwan the rules around alcohol on
death row are a little laxer a final
meal of the prisoner's choice such as
traditional bento is served with a
bottle of cauliang liqueur it's a very
strong sogrum-based drink which is
popular across china and taiwan
i'm sure having the whole bottle to
yourself would take the edge off even
the most nervous inmate
what about somewhere a bit bigger like
india
while there's no last meal ritual
stipulated in the law prison authorities
reportedly do make exceptions for
inmates in their final hours in 2012
prisoner ajmal khazab
apparently requested a couple of
tomatoes the guards generously offered
him an entire basketful but he only took
two and of them he only munched on one
knowing all that where would you want
your last meal to be let me know down
below
the exceptions
while some crimes might lawfully warrant
capital punishment special circumstances
can see a criminal get away with a
slightly lighter sentence
in the u.s intellectual disability is a
pretty important factor
up until 2014
it was considered unconstitutional to
issue someone with an iq of 70 or under
with a capital punishment
but when inmate freddie lee hall was
found to have an iq score of 71 a mere
margin of error the state of florida
still slapped him with a death sentence
the unfairness was eventually overruled
but the strict 70-point cut-off is still
currently employed as part of a more
rigid framework by states like kentucky
and alabama in nigeria there's nothing
in the rules about excusing those with
intellectual disability but they do draw
the line at sentencing pregnant women at
least they don't fulfill the sentence
while they're pregnant though it can
still go ahead after the birth of the
child
it sounds grim but this rule applies to
almost all countries where the death
penalty is legal including japan and the
us
oh mama
but in vietnam
pregnant women are totally exempt from
the charge and instead can be sentenced
to life in prison what's more women
nursing a child under 3 years old are
also exempt along with people over the
age of 75.
there's also a workaround for officials
convicted of corruption who can spare
themselves the death penalty if they pay
back at least 75 percent of the profits
they illicitly obtained
that's certainly one way to get people
to cough up
and in the united arab emirates
compensation isn't just an escape route
for officials as a country that abides
by sharia law a convict on death row may
be fully pardoned by the family of the
victim
usually this involves an agreed form of
payment it sounds like a ruling out of
the past but as recently as june 2021
beck's creshon
an indian businessman on uae's death row
promised to pay the family of his victim
500 000 emirati dirham roughly 130 000
to pardon him for his crimes
and they say money can't buy you
everything
the methods
it might surprise you but not all modern
execution methods are the same from
country to country
how a prisoner is put to death varies
widely depending on where they are
and it's not even the same across the
u.s
the u.s has not one not two but five
authorized methods they use to carry out
death sentences though most meet their
end via lethal injection
prisoners are led to an isolated room
and restrained on a table
then they're injected with up to three
different pharmaceutical drugs the first
sedates the prisoner the second
paralyzes them and the final one stops
their heart however in eight states
including alabama florida and tennessee
electrocution is also currently used
that's right the good old electric chair
and disturbingly it's the primary method
used in south carolina
more antiquated methods like lethal gas
are allowed in three states hanging in
two states and firing squads in four
and incredibly in most states prisoners
can actually choose how they'd like to
go
that's a decision i hope none of us ever
have to make
over in japan and south korea though
there's only one option the primary
method used in both these countries is
hanging
in japan prisoners are led into a
sterile chamber with a large red box
marked on the floor
a blindfold and black hood are placed
over their head along with a noose their
hands and legs are bound to prevent them
from flailing and they stand in the box
then out of view up to five guards hit a
set of five buttons simultaneously which
activates the trap door
the red box
why five buttons when it only requires
one to open
well this makes it unclear which guard
is responsible allowing them to keep
their conscience clear
in china one of two methods are used
lethal injection or a single gunshot but
unlike the us and japan which have
dedicated chambers not all condemned
chinese prisoners are so lucky
disguised as a regular police van
china's mobile execution units can load
the condemned into the back and carry
out lethal injections on the road
apparently this is all for the sake of
efficiency
that is one police van you do not want
to get pulled over by
over in taiwan though it's a very
different affair
following the last meal the prisoner is
taken to a chamber anesthetized and laid
on the ground face down
the act is carried out with a single
gunshot and
that's when it starts to get weird
it's customary for the executioner to
burn votive money a type of fake
currency as an offering to the deceased
in the afterlife
it's also customary for the inmate to
tuck a little money into their leg irons
as
get this
a tip for their executioner for doing a
good job
i'd really hate to see what sort of
service a bad tip would get you
well now i've compared death row prisons
and schools around the world
and i don't know which was more
eye-opening
if you haven't checked out the other
videos in this series i'll leave the
links down below and if you've got a
suggestion for another comparison video
let me know down in the comments thanks
for watching