Terrorists' penalty: Death without honor<\/p>\n
Steve Crewe, Technical Advisor, Moores Rowland Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There are some crimes which are so callous that their
\nperpetrators deserve to forfeit their lives. The intentional
\nmurder of innocent civilians through acts of terrorism is one.<\/p>\n
Thus, despite the antagonism of Amnesty International and
\nmember nations of the European Union to capital punishment,
\nIndonesia has taken the right course of action in seeking the
\ndeath penalty for those found guilty of the Bali bombing and,
\nwhen caught, those responsible for the JW Marriott bombing. The
\nproblem is however, how not to make martyrs out of them by so
\ndoing.<\/p>\n
Perceptions in regard to executions have changed over the
\ncenturies and in most countries executions are no longer the
\npublic spectacles they once were. The idea that the threat of
\nexecution acts as a deterrent has long been proven false; thus
\nthe removal from society of those who have forfeited their right
\nto exist is usually carried out with as little publicity as
\npossible.<\/p>\n
In the same way that perceptions have changed, so too have the
\nmethods of execution, although these still vary from country to
\ncountry. It is important that the process be as efficient as
\npossible, for it must not be construed as an act of vengeance but
\nrather as a surgical procedure to remove a cancerous cell from
\nthe healthy body of society.<\/p>\n
It is interesting to see how the methods of execution have
\nchanged even within the United States, which is almost alone in
\nwestern nations in retaining the death penalty. There they no
\nlonger burn witches at the stake, nor do they hang people, as
\nthis was too closely associated with the lynch mobs of the late
\n19th and early 20th centuries that remain a dark stain on that
\nnation's history.<\/p>\n
Likewise the gas chamber had its tenuous associations with the
\nNazi concentration camps, while some bungled executions raise
\nquestions as to efficiency of the electric chair. Death by lethal
\ninjection is now the favored method.<\/p>\n
Although stoning to death is rarely practiced in Islamic
\ncountries nowadays, there are those like Saudi Arabia that retain
\nexecution by chopping off the person's head. In Indonesia
\nhowever, although the Dutch used death by hanging, the style of
\nexecution used by the modern Republic is death by firing squad.<\/p>\n
In most countries though the firing squad has usually been the
\nmethod of execution for the military, especially in times of war,
\nalthough during World War II certain Japanese believed they
\nhonored their prisoners by decapitating them. Nevertheless, death
\nin front of a firing squad is usually viewed as bestowing some
\ndegree of honor on the victim, as in the case of the German's
\nexecution of Mata Hari in World War I. Common murderers are
\nnormally dispatched by other means.<\/p>\n
The question to be raised is that by sentencing the likes of
\nAmrozi to death by firing squad are we not in fact paying them an
\nhonor they in no way deserve? While they may view themselves as
\n"soldiers" for a cause, by their very actions they have stepped
\nso far outside the bounds of human decency that they are no
\nlonger worthy of any respect. And there are precedents for this.<\/p>\n
At the Nuremberg trials following World War II for example,
\nReichmarshal Hermann Goering asked that if found guilty whether
\nhe, as a military officer would be permitted a military
\nexecution, death by firing squad.<\/p>\n
He was told that the crimes of which he was accused were so
\nheinous that he had forfeited the right of an honorable death and
\nif found guilty he would be hung like any common murderer. In the
\nevent however, he thwarted them all by committing suicide.<\/p>\n
Just as the world did not mourn the passing of the Nazi war
\ncriminals, neither should it mourn the passing of those whose
\ntwisted sense of purpose has seen them murder even their fellow
\ncountrymen without compassion.<\/p>\n
Rather than a firing squad, surely an ignominious end by the
\nhangman's noose for example would be more appropriate. As they
\nhonored not their innocent and unsuspecting victims, neither do
\nthey deserve the slightest modicum of honor. It is more than
\nenough that they will know the hour of their death. Others did
\nnot.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/terrorists-penalty-death-without-honor-1447893297",
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