The Death Penalty: Why It Is Not the

Panacea For All Crime

What would serve as true deterrent would be an effective criminal justice system, a system where perpetrators are
caught and effective sentences are imposed based on the severity of the crime to all equally regardless of external
factors such as race, religion, political connections and so on.

( September 26, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The debate on the death
penalty is back in the fore-front in Sri Lanka and the Law and Society Trust (LST) is
dismayed by President Sirisenas stance in bringing back the death penalty which
albeit remains effective in law has not been implemented in practice since 19761.
LST completely opposes the death penalty which at most is the premeditated and cold
blooded killing of a human being carried out by the State under the guise of justice.
Whilst two-thirds of the world (as at 2014 140 countries in law or practice2) have
moved away from this barbaric act, it is questionable as to why the Present
Government would wish to give life to it given that it has not been proven to have a
deterrent effect on crime any more than long prison sentences would. In fact a 2009
survey of criminologists revealed that over 88% did not believe in the deterrent effect
of the death penalty3.
The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights inconsistent with many
international standards Sri Lanka has an obligation to protect. It is a violation of the
right to life as proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights4 (Article 3)
and the right to be free from torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment (Article 5). Moreover it is applied discriminately violating the principle of
non-discrimination. Human rights are inalienable and is applicable to everyone even

criminals and regardless of the crimes they have or may have committed. The second
optional protocol to the ICCPR calls for the abolition of the death penalty save in
situations of war5.
Currently there are 1115 prisoners on death row in our prisons6. In the year 2014, 61
persons including two women and juvenile offenders were sentenced to death in Sri
Lanka (mostly for murder)7. At least 10 sentences were imposed for drug trafficking8.
Indeed it is true that the crime rate in Sri Lanka is sky rocketing with incidents of grave
sexual crimes and murders reported on a frequent basis in the media. However reintroducing the death penalty is not the solution to curb the crime rate in the country as
studies have failed to show a connection between the death penalty and its effects on
crime. If at all in the Europe where the maximum penalty imposed is life sentence
remains a relatively crime free zone.
What would serve as true deterrent would be an effective criminal justice system, a
system where perpetrators are caught and effective sentences are imposed based on
the severity of the crime to all equally regardless of external factors such as race,
religion, political connections and so on.
Executions negates the principle of rehabilitation of offenders and removes the
possibility of compensation for judicial error as the executed cannot be resurrected nor
reformed. We must in this light work towards improving the criminal justice system,
look at compensation schemes, rehabilitation for victims, victim protection programs
and policy reforms to raise the quality of investigations. It cannot be argued that the
legal system of Sri Lanka is ill-equipped to carry out the death penalty to the letter. We
have in numerous occasions seen even in countries with much advanced legal
systems the death penalty being used disproportionately against the poor and the
marginalized. Executions will not necessarily be of those who committed the worst
crimes but also those who lacked the financial capacity to hire skilled lawyers or those
who faced tougher judges/prosecutors. There is also the risk of the death penalty
being used by regimes as a tool of repression against dissenting parties and as long
as it remains as a legitimate form of punishment the risk will continue to remain.
In the year 2014 many of those States that retain the death penalty continued to use it
in contravention of international law and standards. Unfair trials, confessions
extracted through torture or other ill-treatment, the use of the death penalty against
juveniles and people with mental or intellectual disabilities, and for crimes other than
intentional killing continued to be concerning features of the use of the death penalty
in 2014.Recent crime figures from abolitionist countries fail to show that abolition has
harmful effects. In Canada, for example, the homicide rate per 100,000 population fell
from a peak of 3.09 in 1975, the year before the abolition of the death penalty for
murder, to 2.41 in 1980, and since then it has declined further9. In 2003, 27 years after
abolition, the homicide rate was 1.73 per 100,000 population, 44 per cent lower than in
1975 and the lowest rate in three decades10. Although this increased to 2.0 in 2005, it
remains over one-third lower than when the death penalty was abolished (Amnesty
International)11.

Moreover the risk of executing an innocent can never be eliminated. In 2014 Amnesty
International recorded 112 exonerations of death row prisoners in nine countries:
Bangladesh (4), China (2), Jordan (1), Nigeria (32), Sudan (4), Tanzania (59), USA (7),
Viet Nam (2) and Zimbabwe (1)12. The release of prisoners from death row on the
grounds of innocence exposes the fallibility of human justice and in this light the only
measure that has to be taken is in the direction of complete abolition.
During the recent weeks we have seen mounting favour especially from the public
towards re- introduction of the death penalty. However the actual reasons for the hype
may not always be factually correct for instance the public may be guided by the
perception that death penalty works as a form of deterrent. The ultimate reason
however is the publics frustration at the appalling crime rates and the need for an
effective mechanism to curb crime. The media too plays a huge role in shaping the
minds of the general public. However it is the task of the government to lead public
opinion in matters of human rights and criminal policy.
In light of this LST calls upon the government to take steps to abolish the death
penalty from its law books and to commute to life sentence the death sentences of all
inmates on death row as well as improve the prison conditions of the inmates.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe has also stated that the Sri Lanka is
considering ratifying the second optional protocol to the ICCPR13 which aims at the
abolition of the death penalty save in situations of war. In this context, the discourse
emerging now from the government, of implementing the death penalty, is
perturbing14.
We also urge the need to focus on reforming the effectiveness and independence of
the Justice System. A multitude of issues such as social, economic and cultural factors
determine crime rate in any given society and the government has to take concrete
steps to identify the real problem instead of providing simple solutions to a very grave
problem on no scientific basis. Much more has to be done to educate the public on the
true objectives behind sentencing, not just retribution but deterrence, rehabilitation,
reformation, and protection.
References;
1 Thushan Fernando, Ready to impose the death penalty, News First, September 18,
2015, http://newsfirst.lk/english/2015/09/ready-to-impose-the-death-penalty-presidentsirisena/111123
2 Amnesty International,death Penalty, https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-wedo/death-penalty/
3 M. Radelet & T. Lacock, Do executions lower homicide Rates? The views of
Leading Criminologists, 99
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 489, Northwestern University (2009)
4 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person
5 Article 1 & 2, Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty

6 Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa, Prison dept. ready to carry out death sentence, Daily
Mirror, September 19,
2015, http://www.dailymirror.lk/88035/prison-dept-ready-to-carry-out-death-sentence
7 Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions2014, March 31, 2015,
Index number: ACT
50/0001/2015
8 ibid
9 id
10 id
11 id
12 id
13Umesh Moramudali, Hang or not to hang!, Ceylon Today, September 9,2014,
http://ceylontoday.lk/5184312-news-detail-hang-or-not-to-hang.html
14 Id.
Posted by Thavam