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Open Forum
Death Penalty
NATIONAL DEBATE MUST
By VS Dharmakumar
New Delhi, July 21, 2010
Debates on death penalty have rarely taken a front seat in
India. Perhaps, the reason why former President Dr Abdul Kalam
called for a national debate on the issue recently.
Capital punishment has been in regular use in the West for
thousands of years. But there too, no serious and systematic
debate took place until Italian philosopher and politician
Cesare Beccaria published an essay, "On Crimes and Punishment"
in 1764. He theorized “there was no justification for the
State to take a life and the death penalty was a war of a
entire nation against a citizen, whose destruction they
consider as necessary, or useful to the general good."
Since the publication of Beccaria’s treatise, mass killers and
murderers have been attracting a motley crowd of people to
stand beside them in support, pretending they are more humane
than the rest of the society. In India, however, a recent
newspaper survey shows that an overwhelming 91% favour the
hanging of 26/11 Mumbai perpetrator Ajmal Kasab and only 24%
favoured abolition of death penalty.
Let's take a peep into the history of crime, disobedience and
punishment. They are as old as mankind. No society in the
world is devoid of them as crime and disobedience are inherent
in human nature. Recall, the first murder victim was Abel,
first son of Adam and Eve. The first murderer was their second
son Cain. He murdered his elder brother simply out of
jealousy.
Said Aristotle, "Man, when perfected, is the best of animals,
but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of
all." Plainly, throughout history and across different
societies, criminals have been punished/ executed for a
variety of offences. The purpose of punishment is for social
good and for reducing social evil. Punishment is the solution
to steering people away from committing crimes. Fear is the
pillar of the foundation of punishment.
Hence punishment must remain for safeguarding society from law
breakers. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity
of the crime committed. God created the fear of supernatural
punishment in the minds of people. Most of the dreadful
customs and rituals of mankind originated from the loathing of
crime and the resolve to enforce the notion of right living.
Besides, “An eye for eye,” symbolized Babylonian King
Hammurabi's code of laws in 1700 BC. Under his code, if a
house collapsed killing its owner, the builder was put to
death; if the owner's son died in the collapse, the builder's
son was put to death. This expression found a place in the
legal system of almost all countries.
True, punishing a person for a crime he did not commit is
miscarriage of justice. But all criminal justice systems carry
that risk. Remember, the most infamous travesty of justice in
history was the execution of Jesus Christ by Pontius Pilate on
3 April 33AD. Jesus was tried in a kangaroo court and
convicted on charge of blasphemy that carried the death
penalty.
Also undeniable is the possibility of innocents getting
punished or even executed. To prevent this happening greater
precautions are available and mistaken executions are indeed
rare these days. An innocent accused of crime has extensive
opportunities to be vindicated during lengthy trial. In any
case death penalty is awarded only in the rarest of rare
cases.
Sadly, today the problem is not of innocents getting punished
but of guilty persons who actually murdered people going
scot-free. Thanks to legal technicalities, lack of evidence
and the influence of Sir William Blackstone’s often invoked
maxim: “Better that 10 guilty escape than one innocent
suffer”.
The Draconian Athens code of 7th Century BC prescribed death
for almost all criminal offenses. As did ancient Rome, which
ordered death penalty for a wide range of crimes: murder,
treason, arson and rape. In Britain, by 1700, there were 222
crimes punishable by death. Stealing 40 shillings from a
house, five shillings from a shop, robbing a rabbit warren,
cutting down a tree, and counterfeiting tax stamps were crimes
inviting death sentences.
The earliest known legal decision on capital punishment dates
back to 1850 BC. A clay tablet reveals the case, of the murder
of a temple employee by three men. The men were executed in
front of the victim's house. In USA the first recorded
execution took place in 1608.
Arguably, the cry against capital punishment was perhaps
justified in the olden days, because death penalty was common,
errors were too many and crimes warranting death were
numerous. Today it is not so. Death is awarded only in the
rarest of rare cases.
Even Beccaria conceded that the only time death was necessary
was when that death could insure the security of a nation.
This would be rare, only in cases of absolute anarchy or when
a nation was on the verge of losing its liberty. Were not
Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab’s crimes capable of creating
anarchy and igniting a war of catastrophic possibilities with
our neighbour?
Paradoxically, the fear of death is a universal phenomenon and
whatever we fear most, we will deter most. All creatures have
a natural fear of death. Murderers fear only their own death.
Thus, executing convicted death-row murderers swiftly will
send a message to potential murderers that the same fate can
visit them if they kill people.
Importantly, hardened convicted death-row criminals hardly get
reformed and the sooner they are given their punishment, the
better. This is the lesson we must learn from releasing
dreaded militant Maulana Masood Azhar. If the Government had
sent Masood to the gallows for the ’rarest of the rare’ crimes
he perpetrated in Kashmir, IC-814 would not have been hijacked
to Kandahar and the revival of jihadi activities could have
been avoided.
In fact, long term imprisonment of a criminal makes him more
and more hardened and less and less morally refined.
Rehabilitating an offender in society and making him a
law-abiding citizen is difficult, if not impossible. Legend
has it that even God decided to destroy all people on earth
because they all became too wicked. Cruel measures are
necessary for repression of brutal acts and promotion of
morality.
Ironically, abolitionists worry more about the convicted
murderers’ lives and ignore the lives they snuffed out. Their
argument that death penalty does not deter criminals falls
before Isaac Ehrlich study in 1973. He pointed out that for
every inmate executed, 7 lives were spared because others were
deterred from committing murder. Saudi Arabia is the best
example to substantiate that death sentence is a proven
deterrent. If it is not a deterrent anywhere else, it is
because executing convicted persons is not swift and also not
sure.
Clearly, it is an ignominious anomaly to spend public money on
housing, feeding and clothing people who are a danger to
society and its peace. If the Supreme Court's orders
execution, such orders need to be promptly carried out. Saving
the lives of prospective victims by deterring murderers is
much better than preserving the lives of some convicted
murderers. ----- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
E-Mail :
newseditor@sarkaritel.com
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