Back to Index

The Death penalty is a violation of human rights
John Dzvinamurungu, Vice Chairman, Amnesty International Zimbabwe
July 09, 2004

Download this document
- Word 97 version (70KB)
- Acrobat PF version (68.1KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

Read The Death Penalty presentation by Fr William Guri, C.Ss.RI

Introduction
Mr. Chairman, when the world's nations came together five decades ago to found the United Nations (UN) few reminders were needed of what could happen when the state believed that there was no limit to what it might do to a human being. The staggering extent of state brutality and terror during World War II and the consequences for people throughout the world were still unfolding in December 1948, when the United Nation General Assembly adopted without dissent the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a pledge among nations to promote fundamental rights as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. The rights it proclaims are inherent in every human being. They are not privileges that may be granted by governments for good behaviour and they may not be withdrawn either for bad behaviour.

Fundamental human rights limit what a state may do to a man, woman or child. No matter what reason a government gives for executing prisoners and what method of execution is used, the death penalty cannot be separated from the issue of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes each person's right to life and categorically states further that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

Admittedly , self defence may be held to justify in some cases, the taking of life by state officials; for example when a country is locked in warfare (international or civil) or when law-enforcement officials must act immediately to save their own lives or those of others. Even in such situations the use of lethal force is surrounded by internationally accepted legal safeguards to inhibit abuse. This use of force is aimed at countering the immediate damage resulting from force used by others.

The death penalty however is not an act of self defence against an immediate threat to life. It is the premeditated killing of a prisoner who could be dealt with equally, well by less harsh means.

I want to humbly submit that there can never be a justification for torture or for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The cruelty of the death penalty is evident, like torture, an execution constitutes an extreme physical and mental assault on a person already rendered helpless by government authorities.

If hanging a woman by the arms until she experiences excruciating pain, is rightly condemned as torture, how does one describe hanging her by the neck until she is dead, if administering 100 volts of electricity to the most sensitive parts of a man's body evokes disgust, what is the appropriate reaction to the administering of 2000 volts to his body in order to kill him.

If a pistol held to the head or chemical substance injected to cause protracted suffering are clearly instruments of torture, how should they be identified when used to kill by shooting or lethal injection? Does the interpolation of legal process in these cruelties make their inhumanity justifiable?

It is undisputed that the physical pain caused by the action of killing a human being cannot be quantified. Nor can the psychological suffering caused by foreknowledge of death at the hands of the state whether death sentence is carried out six minutes after summary trial, six weeks after a mass trial or sixteen years after lengthy legal proceedings, the person executed is subjected to uniquely cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment.

Conclusion
The death penalty denies the right to life. It is a cruel and inhuman punishment, brutalizing to all who are involved in the process. Indeed the death penalty brutalizes and dehumanizes the convicted person, the executioner and society at large.

It serves no useful penal purpose and denies the widely accepted principle of rehabilitating the offender. It serves neither to protect society nor to alleviate the suffering caused to the victims of crime. It is irreversible and, even with the most stringent judicial safeguards may be inflicted on an innocent person.

No means of limiting the death penalty can prevent its being imposed arbitrary or unfairly. This is borne out by the experience in the USA, where the introduction of elaborate judicial safeguards has failed to ensure that the death penalty is fairly and consistently applied.

I want to humbly appeal to all here present to lobby our parliament and the powers that be to abolish the death penalty and commute the death sentences of all those currently on the death row and that no further sentence be imposed.

Let me end on this note, When the Lord cursed Cain, for killing Abel his brother he told him that he was to be a fugitive and wanderer on earth. Cain said to the Lord "My punishment is greater that I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground, and from thy face I shall be hidden, and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on earth, and whoever finds me will slay me". But the Lord said to him, "Not so, If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven folds". And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon should kill him. Here we are Ladies and gentlemen, we are reminded that revenge is for the Lord not man.

Jesus on the cross prayed "Father (Lord) forgive them for they know not what they do ".[Luke .23:34] "Forgive them, Father ! They don't know what they are doing".

It is my infectious wish and that of the Human Rights fraternity to see Zimbabwe abolish the death penalty and joining other civilized nations who have done away with the practice, the worst form of torture, assault and degrading punishment.

I thank you for your attention.

Visit the Amnesty International Zimbabwe fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP