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Home News Cases and articles Death is never justice Death is never justice
Tuesday, 31 October 2006
It is 42 years since the last execution took place in Britain and 37
years since capital punishment for murder was permanently abolished. Some of
us may have slipped complacently into thinking of the death penalty as an
antiquated relic of the past like witch burning, slavery and the
stocks.
In fact, 22 countries use capital punishment regularly, employing a
variety of methods including lethal injection, firing squads, mobile
execution chambers, beheading and hanging. In addition, an estimated
half dozen British people are currently on death row around the world
including Mirza Tahir Hussain in Pakistan.
Amnesty International published a global report on the death penalty
earlier this year that revealed that at least 2,148 people were
executed last year - the majority of these in China (1,770), Iran (94), Saudi
Arabia (86), the USA (60) and Pakistan (31). More than 20,000 people
are estimated to be on death row around the world, waiting for their
state-appointed day of death. There are vigorous abolition campaigns in
most of these countries, but the state continues to systematically
murder on a regular basis.
Mr Hussain has been on death row in Pakistan since 1989 when he was
convicted of murdering a taxi driver. He has already endured four
execution dates and 4 temporary stays of execution, the most recent of
these after the Prince of Wales appealed for clemency.
Mr Hussain is living a nightmare, as it seems he most likely did not
commit the crime he has been convicted of. In 1988, he visited Pakistan
and took a taxi to his familys village of Bhubar. He says that when the
taxi driver tried to assault him, a scuffle ensued and a gun that was
already in the car went off, fatally injuring the taxi driver. There
are serious concerns about the lack of witnesses, about the standard of
police evidence and about the charge Mr Hussain has been convicted on, but
nevertheless Pakistans Supreme Court has upheld the sentence.
The only hope for Mr Hussain now is that President Musharraf commutes
the sentence, something you would think any head of state would do when
there was a clear possibility of executing an innocent man and threatening
the very credibility of the criminal justice system.
The possibility of executing an innocent person must surely be the
strongest argument against the death penalty. It was the execution of
Derek Bentley in 1953 that turned the tide of the abolition campaign in
Britain. Ted Heath, arguing in the Commons for abolition, said that the
true test of a commitment to capital punishment was not a willingness
to act as the executioner, but a preparedness to be executed by mistake.
Since the death penalty was reintroduced in the USA in 1973, 122 people
have been released from death row when evidence exonerating them came
to light. Justice is always fallible; this is why an irrevocable penalty
is unacceptable.
Supporters of the death penalty commonly argue that it is a strong
deterrent to crime. The US, as a country where 38 states have
reintroduced the death penalty after a period of abolition, provides an interesting
case study. There, executions and high murder rates go hand in hand.
Texas, which uses lethal injection about once a fortnight, has some of
Americas highest murder rates.
Criminologists who have looked at the effect of executions on the
public consciousness have concluded that, in fact, violence may breed more
violence the example of state-sanctioned killing appears to lead to a
lowering of the threshold of general respect for life.
When you add to these concerns the fact that, again and again, around
the world, the death penalty is found to be used hugely disproportionately
against racial minorities, the poor and the mentally ill, we must agree
that it is a penalty that no credible criminal justice system can
afford.
Abolitionists around the world are making these arguments and making
change as we speak. The number of countries carrying out executions in
the last 20 years has halved. Mexico, Liberia and the Philippines have
recently abolished the death penalty. International support for these
campaigns is essential, which is why Im a member of Amnesty, and why I
participated recently in the Secret Policemans Ball (to be broadcast on
Channel 4 tonight)
The international campaign to abolish the slave trade will have its
bicentenary next year. If more of us get involved in campaigns like the
one to save Mirza Tahir Hussain we can maybe save some innocent lives
and bring another great abolition closer.
(source: Comment, Jeremy Irons, The Times)