CAPITAL PUNISHMENT BRIEFING PAPER - University of Westminster

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The survey used by the CCHR to identify victims’ needs can be readilyadapted to evaluate the experiences and needs of the families of thecondemned as well. Though meeting the needs of the families of thecondemned is much more politically contentious, it is nonetheless importantand the success of a victims’ initiative is enhanced by addressing both groupsin parallel. The CCHR focuses on these ‘secondary’ victims with the aim ofestablishing a protocol with its roots in restorative justice principles andpractice.37
Religion and capital punishment[sections extracted from an unpublished paper, Capital Punishment –Issues of victims, religion and politics, Nicola Browne, Seema Kandelia,Rupa Reddy and Peter Hodgkinson ©]‘Justice’ is a common justification in support of the death penalty, andessential dimensions of justice require that the punishment is not just aboutprotecting society but should also be proportionate and lead to the restorationof social order. Many supporters of capital punishment have argued that thepublic harm created by crimes such as murder can only be adequatelyaddressed through retributive means, thus ensuring that such crimes arepunished in a deserving and equal manner. In a 2001 Gallup Poll, of the 67%of American public who favoured the death penalty, 48% claimed that theirjustification for supporting it was “an eye for an eye/punishment fits crime” 142 .Indeed, a number of passages in the Bible codify notions of justice andretribution: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (Leviticus 24:20 and Exodus 21:24),“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death” (Exodus21:12), and “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood beshed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). Even in the NewTestament, whilst Jesus refrains from condoning violence, he acknowledgesthat the State has the authority to impose capital punishment. Jesus praisesthe thief on the cross next to him for accepting that he and his accomplice arereceiving the due reward of their deeds (Luke 23:41). 143 The focus of theseteachings is based not on hatred but rather on values of fairness, equity andrighteousness, and on this premise Pope Innocent III supported theadministration of the death penalty as long as it was carried out in the name ofjustice rather than hatred, and with prudence rather than precipitation.Another dimension of justice relevant to victims is that it helps bringsome kind of finality to the various stages of the legal process of bringing theguilty person to account for the crime. This finality is frequently referred to as‘closure’ in the US, a highly charged phrase meaning different things todifferent people - a creation of politics to provide solutions and thus toencourage murder victims’ families to support the use of the death penalty. 144The case of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber who drove a truckloaded with explosives into a federal office building in April 1995, killing 168people, demonstrates that this is a complex issue for those touched bymurder. After witnessing McVeigh’s execution Kathleen Treanor, whosedaughter died in the bombing, stated “It’s a demarcation point…It's a period atthe end of a sentence. It's the completion of justice and that's what I'll142143144Office of the Clark Country Prosecuting Attorney. (2001). Available fromhttp://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/death.htmAvery Cardinal Dulles, S. J., “The Death Penalty: A Right to Life Issue”. Laurence J.McGinley Lecture, 17 October 2000.http://pewforum.org/deathpenalty/resources/reader/17.php3.Hodgkinson, P. (2004) Capital Punishment: Meeting the Needs of the Families of theHomicide Victim and the Condemned. In P. Hodgkinson and W. A. Schabas, (Eds.) CapitalPunishment: Strategies for Abolition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.38
Page 1 and 2: CAPITAL PUNISHMENTBRIEFING PAPERPet
Page 3 and 4: PETER HODGKINSON, OBEDirector, Cent
Page 5 and 6: Subsequently, she worked at the Cen
Page 7 and 8: Preamble 1The objective of this bri
Page 9 and 10: a unique deterrent, 3] the administ
Page 11 and 12: effects’ are not uncommon even in
Page 13 and 14: debate, not hide behind the views o
Page 15 and 16: place with tougher institutions for
Page 17 and 18: supported capital punishment. The p
Page 19 and 20: Death Penalty for MurderRed = major
Page 21 and 22: prosecutors had withheld evidence,
Page 23 and 24: By comparison, Europe is almost ent
Page 25 and 26: have very low rates of recidivism a
Page 27 and 28: It will be interesting to see how t
Page 29 and 30: While some death penalty opponents
Page 31 and 32: manifest itself in the often violen
Page 33 and 34: death row, which was more than the
Page 35 and 36: would be to obtain a complete suspe
Page 37: developed largely through the impro
Page 41 and 42: automatically. For example, in case
Page 43 and 44: punishment is to be administered, i
Page 45 and 46: money). Given the victim-orientated
Page 47 and 48: certifying death, removing organs f
Page 49 and 50: The WPA held that “the participat
Page 51 and 52: Mental health and the death penalty
Page 53 and 54: sparse and apparently limited to ge
Page 55 and 56: Table 2: Elements of death penalty
Page 57 and 58: squad on the grounds that beheading
Page 59 and 60: It was on the grounds of physician
Page 61 and 62: The Protocol to the American Conven
Page 63 and 64: is an integral part of the state, t
Page 65 and 66: The Jamaican debate has taken place
Page 67 and 68: Privy Council 252 describing the ef
Page 69 and 70: sentence. 274 Those were sentences
Page 71 and 72: The situation in MoroccoLegal Syste
Page 73 and 74: continue to pass death sentences, P
Page 75 and 76: Prison conditionsThe conditions of
Page 77 and 78: people were sentenced to death in E
Page 79 and 80: In Mali, the mandatory waiting peri
Page 81 and 82: Execution data and processIn Vietna
Page 83 and 84: Drugs and the death penalty - confu
Page 85 and 86: 1.2% of Indonesia’s 210 million p
Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX ONESTATUS OF THE DEATH PEN
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NEPAL 1997 1990 1979NETHERLANDS 198
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The Russian Federation introduced a
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De Facto abolitionist*Korea (South)
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Guinea R R R N R RGuinea b S S R S
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Thailand R R R R R RYugoslav R R R
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violent crimes such as rape, murder
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