{"id":151222,"date":"2015-09-22T13:10:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T07:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=151222"},"modified":"2015-09-26T05:47:41","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T00:17:41","slug":"death-penalty-distracts-from-real-need-friday-forum-opposes-death-penalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/death-penalty-distracts-from-real-need-friday-forum-opposes-death-penalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Death Penalty Distracts From Real Need: Friday Forum Opposes Death Penalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday\u00a0Forum<\/span><\/a> is deeply disturbed at the prospect of judicial executions taking place again in Sri\u00a0Lanka\u00a0after a gap of\u00a0nearly 40 years. This\u00a0is,\u00a0we believe, an understandable but\u00a0simplistic and counter-productive\u00a0reaction to horrible crimes. It is a\u00a0measure\u00a0that\u00a0will\u00a0divert attention from the real need,\u00a0which is\u00a0to seek why and how these appalling things\u00a0are\u00a0occurring,\u00a0and then\u00a0take\u00a0preventive action. The true\u00a0incentive to crime is that perpetrators feel\u00a0that they\u00a0can get away with it. The\u00a0real deterrent\u00a0is the likelihood\u00a0that one will\u00a0be found out, arrested,\u00a0tried, convicted and punished. The remedy is improving the criminal justice system – better\u00a0crime prevention, better\u00a0crime detection, better investigation,\u00a0improved\u00a0prosecutions\u00a0and trial procedures.<\/p>\n

\"Prof.<\/a>

Prof. Savitri Goonesekere<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u00a0is in the most\u00a0horrific and pitiable\u00a0cases,\u00a0where there is huge pressure on the police,\u00a0both by their superiors and\u00a0by the public, to\u00a0show results, that arrests of innocent\u00a0persons and miscarriages of justice are most likely to take place.\u00a0Do\u00a0we have enough faith in our police, our prosecutors, our judges, our defence lawyers, our courts, our public from whom juries are drawn,\u00a0to be sure that arrests and prosecutions and convictions\u00a0will never be influenced by inefficiency or\u00a0carelessness or political pressure\u00a0or corruption? Or just plain bona fide mistake?\u00a0That\u00a0perjured evidence will never be acted on?\u00a0Even\u00a0under the best\u00a0criminal justice system,\u00a0wrong convictions are bound to take place.\u00a0Because convictions\u00a0depend on human beings and no human institution\u00a0is infallible. Of course this applies to all criminal proceedings and consequent punishments.\u00a0But the death penalty is in\u00a0a category\u00a0of its own because it is\u00a0irreversible. Recent judicial\u00a0reviews of criminal convictions in\u00a0the UK have revealed many\u00a0instances of unsafe convictions. In some, the accused had been\u00a0hanged. In others, they would have been hanged had the death penalty not been\u00a0abolished.<\/p>\n

This is not a matter to be decided by public opinion or even by\u00a0majority votes in Parliament,\u00a0understandably inflamed by ghastly sexual\u00a0attacks and murders. It is a matter for leaders to show true leadership after sober assessment. Many\u00a0countries have abolished capital punishment and\u00a0have not experienced a subsequent\u00a0rise in crime. Many moral leaders and\u00a0eminent Sri Lankans have opposed the death penalty<\/span><\/a>;\u00a0the King of Bhutan abolished it as contrary\u00a0to\u00a0Buddhism. It\u00a0is also\u00a0surely\u00a0significant that the death penalty is not included in the\u00a0punishments that the International Criminal Court can impose\u00a0for even\u00a0the\u00a0most heinous of\u00a0war\u00a0crimes.<\/p>\n

Professor Savitri Goonesekere Dr. Geedreck Usvatte-aratchi<\/p>\n

on behalf of the Friday Forum<\/p>\n

Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Professor Arjuna Aluwihare, Mr. Ahilan Kadirgamar, Mr. Faiz-ur Rahman, Mr. Ananda Galappatti, Dr. G. Usvatte-aratchi , Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, Professor Camena Guneratne, Mr. Saliya Pieris, Dr. Deepika Udagama, Professor Gameela Samarasinghe, Mr. Pulasthi Hewamanna, Mr. S.C.C.Elankovan, Mr.\u00a0Tissa Jayatilaka, Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Ms, Damaris Wickremesekera, Mr. D Wijayanandana, Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda, Ms.\u00a0Suriya Wickremasinghe, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy,\u00a0Professor Ranjini Obeyesekere, Ms. Manouri Muttetuwegama, Professor Gananath Obeyesekere, Ms. Shanthi Dias, Mr. Chandra Jayaratne,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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