Skip to main content

Execution is a terrorist's tool, stop cycle of violence: World Coalition Against Death Penalty


By Fr Cedric Prakash sj*
‘Execution is a terrorist's tool: Stop the cycle of violence’, screams a powerful poster brought out by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (www.worldcoalition.org) for the World Day against the Death Penalty , October 10, 2016! The focus this year is on ‘terrorism’ and whether the death penalty is actually a deterrent to an act of terrorism.
A handout by the Coalition states that, “Since the 1980’s, there has been a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty which continues to this day. Today two-thirds of countries (140) are now abolitionist in law or in practice. However, despite this global trend towards abolition, many governments have in recent years resorted to use of the death penalty following terrorist attacks on their countries, in the name of protecting their countries and peoples.”
India has the dubious distinction of being among those countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria that have adopted laws that expanded the scope of the death penalty, adding certain terrorist acts to the list of crimes punishable by death.
The Coalition says this of India:
“The death penalty for terrorism can be imposed under authority of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act passed in 1987 (amended in 1993), and in the Prevention of Terrorism Act passed in 2002. India has executed people for crimes related to terrorism on several occasions: the only survivor among those responsible for the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 was executed in 2012 and the man sentenced for planning the attack in December 2001 against the Indian Parliament, causing nine deaths, was executed in 2013.
“In July 2015, India carried out the execution of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, who was sentenced for participating in implementing several bomb attacks which caused 257 casualties in Mumbai in March 1993. This man had been sentenced to death in 2007 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act which does not conform to the principles of international law relating to fair trials, particularly in terms of arbitrary detention, torture and obtaining evidence, and all legal avenues have been rejected since then. In August 2015, the Law Commission of India, the executive body charged with reforming the law, recommended abolition of the death penalty, except for offences related to terrorism and any offences which attack the State.” The Coalition has been very vigorous in its campaign against the death penalty. It cites ten major reasons to end the use of the death penalty, the first one being that ‘No State should have the power to take a person’s life’.
The World Congress against the Death Penalty held at Oslo, Norway in June this year underlined the necessity to take further significant steps towards the complete and universal abolition of the death penalty. In a message to the Congress Pope Francis also called for a world “free of the death penalty”. He said “the practice brings no justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance. Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person. It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice.”

When Yakub Memon was executed in July 2015, several Indians were very vocal in their protest, highlighting that the cause of justice was not served. Of course, the flag- bearers of the death penalty (and these are very selective on ‘who’ should be given capital punishment), were quick at branding those who felt that Memon’s execution was not justified, as “anti-national” and “anti-patriotic”.
The proponents of the death penalty, seem oblivious of the fact that ‘execution is a terrorist’s tool’. One only legitimatizes the heinous act of a terrorist with the death penalty. The cycle of violence has to stop! Capital punishment is a barbaric act. No civilized country should even think of having it!
On this day, we need to recommit ourselves to do all we can for the abolition of the death penalty!
---
*Indian Jesuit priest and human rights activist, currently based in Lebanon and engaged with the Jesuit Refugee Service(JRS) in the Middle East on advocacy and communications

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.