Calls for the death penalty are symbolic of political failure

Minister for Public Security Tiran Alles became the latest politician to attempt political attention by claiming to be a proponent of the death penalty. Alles, who had been indicted for money laundering in an alleged attempt to transfer money to a terrorist organisation in 2005, claimed recently that the death penalty needs to be reimplemented in order to tackle the drug menace. 

“I tell the drug racketeers to stop their operations immediately, or we will destroy their operations. I will never hesitate to take necessary action to eradicate this menace,” he stressed. “I personally believe that the death penalty should be given for rape, drug related offences and murder. This is my personal opinion only. It is clear that in parallel to drug rackets, underworld crimes have increased as well. We have launched a special operation to curb these crimes,” he added.

In 2018, a desperate Maithripala Sirisena also attempted to execute death row inmates convicted for drug related offences in an attempt to shore up public support for his failing presidency. That attempt was thwarted by a concerted effort by civil society activists. Despite the Sri Lankan Government being accused of tens of thousands of extrajudicial executions of citizens since 1971, it has not carried out any judicial executions since 1976. Despite the 47-year-old de facto moratorium on capital punishment, judges continue to pass the death penalty. This is primarily because in Sri Lanka the death penalty is a mandatory sentence for certain crimes. As a result, even though no prisoner on death row has been executed in the last five decades, there are at present over 1,200 death row inmates in Sri Lanka.

On the surface, the argument for the death penalty is a simple one. Crimes and the level of violence in Sri Lanka have undoubtedly increased. Yet empirical evidence shows that the death penalty lacks the deterrent effect which is commonly referred to by its advocates. As once stated by the General Assembly of the United Nations: “There is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty (UNGA Resolution 65/206).” It is noteworthy that in many retentionist states, the effectiveness of the death penalty in order to prevent crime is being seriously questioned by a continuously increasing number of law enforcement professionals.

No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain susceptible to human failure. Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. Moreover, the death penalty is often used in a disproportionate manner against the poor, minorities, and members of racial, ethnic, political, and religious groups. Sri Lanka, with its already overburdened and poorly resourced legal system, would find it incredibly difficult to ensure that no innocent party gets sentenced to death. Such a legal process would also be time consuming and expensive, so not necessarily a faster path to justice.

It is supremely ironic that an individual who himself is accused of alleged high treason against the State for transferring money to a terrorist organisation to change the results of a presidential election, is now advocating the death penalty for other crimes. It is time that this abhorrent and inhuman punishment is no longer used as a political tool for cheap publicity. There is much to be done to deter crime and address core issues concerning crime and punishment. The unwanted conversation on the death penalty is but a distraction used by those who cannot come up with tangible solutions to resolve the crime wave.