In Cold Blood

…is the title of a Novel by Truman Capote about a multiple murder and its consequences.

During a phone call with my fiancé last night, he received news of the murder of someone he knew.

The victim was a car and motorcycle mechanic who lived and worked in my fiancé’s neighborhood.  He had gotten into a quarrel with the neighbors about were and how to park the motorcycles.  The neighbors invited him over, claiming their intention to reach an agreement, and then shot him twice in the chest with a hand gun, killing him.  The murderers fled the scene.

I was shocked when I heard what had happened.  I never thought a man’s life would be worth a parking space.  Or another man would risk being sent to jail and possibly sentenced to life in prison or capital punishment for a parking space.

Murder is illegal all around the world, but dealing with such crimes differs depending on laws, customs, and corruption.  In developed countries, trials are subject to a jury where sentences are passed based on laws, evidence, and how good the lawyer is.  In Islamic countries, laws are adopted according to the Islamic Shariaa.  These could be brutal in most cases such as chopping off the hand of a thief, chopping of the head of a murderer, or hanging him in a public square, or stoning an adulterer (female in most cases).  And in other parts of the world, convictions are entirely subject to a person’s rank, social level, and connections.  Laws are set to fill books, because corruption prevails.  In Lebanon, in my opinion, laws are enforced, criminal are caught and tried, and victims are compensated haphazardly.

With all its problems, Lebanon ranks rather low in comparison to the international homicide rate at 0.57 per 100,000.  Its neighboring countries Syria, Jordan, and Palestine rate significantly higher at 3.0, 1.75, and 3.85 respectively.  Developed countries, even with their supposedly intact judicial systems, rate higher than Lebanon such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom at 5.0, 1.81, and 1.28 respectively.  El Salvador remains top on the list with a staggering rate of 71 per 100,000.

My numbers are from nationmaster.com.