Aug. 22
GREAT BRITAIN:
The Death Penalty for Capital Punishment
On Friday August 3, in the midst of Olympic fever, 12-year old school-girl Tia
Sharp went missing. A week later her body was found wrapped in a bedsheet and a
binliner in the attic of her 46 year-old grandmother's house. The grandmother's
partner, Stuart Hazell, 37, was soon arrested and charged with Tia's murder.
Despite the grim reality of this horrific crime and others like it, the code of
our modern justice system is theoretically 'innocent until proven guilty'.
However, in the eyes of a not insignificant section of the public, Hazell, who
at this point has not yet entered an official plea, is guilty. He has become
the target of a torrent of hatred, with the level of threats so severe that his
court appearances have had to been given via video link to avoid public
disorder.
And so the debate on capital punishment was re-ignited, a dividing issue in
stark contrast to the euphoric and uniting glow of the Olympics. After flaming
up last year following the introduction of Government e-petitions, the heat of
the debate had abated after a petition calling for the reintroduction of the
death penalty closed on 4 February 2012 with 26,349 signatures. This fell
considerably short of the required 100,000 to be considered for Parliamentary
debate.
Despite the fact that capital punishment cannot be brought back to the UK
without effectively splitting away from Europe, the Tia Sharp case has sparked
ferocious discussions on social networking sites, such as Facebook. One
campaign was launched with a poster featuring Hazell opposite a convicted child
murderer with a noose between them. Hate is a powerful mobilising force and a
veritable flood of vengeful comments ensued. The page in question has had
nearly 180,000 likes in just over 2 weeks and for many who are against the
death penalty this is precisely the time when a Facebook 'dislike' button would
be appropropriate.
According to Amnesty International, more than two thirds of countries in the
world have abolished capital punishment in law or practice as of 2010. Of the
58 countries that still allow it, only 21 were known to have carried out
executions in 2011. Amnesty International's view is clear: 'The death penalty
is the ultimate denial of human rights and constitutes the premeditated and
cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice.'
So what are some of the arguments put forward in favour of reinstating capital
punishment?
Cost is a big one, with calls for the "stringing up" of child murderers in
particular. Many on Facebook are saying: "How much can a length of rope cost?
Trees are free." It doesn't take a giant leap of the imagination to see how
statements like this would, to some, make sense. However, when looking at the
truth behind these arguments, a whole different picture emerges. In reality it
costs societies a lot more to carry out executions than to hold convicted
inmates in prison for the remainder of their lives. This is mostly due to legal
costs involved in the high number of appeals involved. Although difficult to
quantify in monetary terms, another facet to this is the potential value these
inmates could have to society through education of young offenders on a
possible road to serious crime and possible work with the families of their
victims in an attempt to to heal through reconciliation and forgiveness. This
is called restorative justice and US organisation Journey of Hope perform a lot
of work in this area.
On the other side of the argument, there is deep concern about the effect this
outpouring of animosity is having on society, and in particular, on young
people. Mahatma Gandhi's wise words that: "an eye for an eye makes the whole
world go blind" resonate. At what point does the hate have to stop before it
brutalises society, turning it into a vortex of violence? George Bernard Shaw
succinctly said: "It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder
and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars
that breed their kind."
Another pro-argument is that capital punishment is a deterrent of violent
crime. Yet there is insufficient evidence to prove this claim. In U.S. states
where there is no capital punishment, crime rates are lower than in states
where the death penalty still exists.
That execution of the offender is a healing factor for the families of victims
is another widespread belief. Whereas this is a complex and deeply personal
matter, in many cases it makes things worse for the victim's family with
conflicting emotions digging their grief up all over again, often many years
later by the time the execution takes place. Murder Victim's Families for Human
Rights , a non-profit US organisation, state on their homepage: 'The assumption
that all victims' families favor the death penalty is so entrenched that
families who oppose the death penalty sometimes experience discrimination
within the criminal justice system.' That the death penalty creates yet another
family of victims ??? that of the offender - is an additional adverse factor,
often overlooked.
It is prudent to remember some of the massive miscarriages of justice in
Britain that would have ended up with innocents losing their lives, had the
death penalty not been abolished by then: The Guildford 4 were convicted of
murder and other charges in 1975, sentenced to life-imprisonment. In 1989 new
evidence came to light rendering their convictions "unsafe and unsatisfactory"
and they were released. The case of the Birmingham 6 followed a similar path,
with their release in 1991.
Whereas public support for capital punishment has fallen over the last few
decades, polls such as MORI and Angus Reid still report a slight majority of
the UK public in favour of re-introducing the death penalty, especially for the
murder of infants and police officers. How much of this is due to beliefs based
on misunderstood facts and how much is genuine support for this cruel
punishment is unclear.
What is certain is that having the debate is crucial to raise public awareness
and hopefully put to rest some of the myths surrounding this issue. Reprieve
have a comprehensive information guide on their website for those who want to
learn more.
A fitting way to conclude is perhaps in the words of someone very close to the
issue. Britain's last hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, who hanged 435 men and women
said at the end of his career: "I have come to the conclusion that executions
solve nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for
revenge."
(source: Katrine Carstens, The Platform)
GAMBIA:
Gambia leader draws reproach for vow to execute all on death row
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's announcement that all death row prisoners will
be executed next month has drawn condemnation from human rights groups and
foreign governments.
Jammeh made his vow to break a 27-year hiatus on carrying out capital sentences
in an official speech Sunday to mark the Eid-al-Fitr holiday ending the holy
Muslim month of Ramadan.
"All those guilty of serious crimes and are condemned will face the full force
of the law. All punishments prescribed by law will be maintained in the country
to ensure that criminals get what they deserve," Jammeh said in the speech
rebroadcast Monday on national television.
Amnesty International condemned Jammeh's announced plans in a statement issued
Tuesday, saying that the execution order "must not be acted on, and must be
retracted."
"President Jammeh's comments are deeply troubling and will undoubtedly cause
severe anguish to those on death row and their families," said Audrey Gaughran,
Amnesty International's Africa director. "Any attempt to carry out this threat
would be both deeply shocking and a major setback for human rights in Gambia."
Gaughran said trials are notoriously unfair in Gambia and that "death sentences
are known to be used as a tool against the political opposition." Rival
political parties were outlawed after Jammeh took power in a military coup in
1994. Nominal civilian rule was restored 2 years later with a new constitution,
but political opposition remained suppressed and Jammeh has won all elections
since then.
A tiny English-speaking West African nation of 1.8 million surrounded by
Senegal, Gambia last executed a prisoner in 1985. It has been "abolitionist in
practice," Gaughran said, describing Jammeh's statement as "in stark contrast
to the trend, both in West Africa and globally, towards ending the use of the
death penalty."
Neither Jammeh nor the African news agencies that reported his vow to execute
prisoners in a campaign to fight crime said how many people are on death row in
the country that was a British colony until 1965.
Agence France-Presse, which first reported Jammeh's announcement this week,
said it had tallied the number of known death row inmates at 47. Justice
authorities in the country, however, put the figure much higher, the news
agency said.
Jammeh made a similar threat to resume executions in 2009 that wasn't acted on,
Amnesty observed, adding that this week's vow was nonetheless cause for alarm.
British human rights advocates Reprieve denounced Jammeh's plan Wednesday and
reissued an analysis by founder and legal director Clive Stafford Smith
debunking the "myth" that the death penalty deters crime.
In an official statement issued Tuesday, the French government said it "utterly
condemns" the reported execution plans and urged Gambia to maintain its de
facto moratorium "with a view toward the definitive abolition of the death
penalty."
(source: Los Angeles Times)
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