"When we execute terrorists, we are handing them the ultimate victory they seek - the one they live for," French Senator Robert Badinter said in a taped message. The former French justice minister led France to abolishing capital punishment in 1981.As much as I am for capital punishment (as long as everyone can see it being carried out - no sarcasm intended), the Senator has a point.
"By executing them, we would be making them into martyrs," he said.
Why give certain people the pleasure of being martyred by the state?
By extension, why give certain criminals the pleasure of committing suicide by state?
Of course, those who happen to be guilty of heinous crimes should be put down for the benefit of everyone. It's just in our nature: we are still the barbaric hordes who lust for blood when those who trespass against us cross the line.
But if those trespassers deliberately want to get killed so they can be a slogan to others, what is there to do?
Maybe there is a punishment worse than death for such types of people. We may write them off as wackoes and such, but when they kill innocents for a cause that promotes death and destruction as an alternative to persuasion by reason, then they really do need to be taken seriously.
Yes, bin Laden's al-Qaeda has the blood of thousands on their hands before, during and after 9/11. They have martyred themselves and attained the "immortal" status of slogans. If Osama were to be executed, would he be another slogan, or would others think twice before they follow in his tarnished footsteps?
All I can say is that to all those who deserve it, they shall get it.
To all those who want it, they'll never have the pleasure to receive it.
And to Amnesty International: if you want to abolish capital punishment while trying to get my support, maybe you'll need to do one more thing before I could join your cause.
Abolish war.
It is a human rights violation, is it not?
Think about it, eh?
1 comment:
Oh, I saw this in Law & Order.
There was this writer - a famous writer, he killed cold blooded a taxi driver, stole some money.
After some he agreed to plead guilty - with a condition: to give him the death penalty.
The gambit on that case was, accept and let him have his way, or refuse in principle.
The problem: refusing on principle to skip death penalty just because it seems to be what he wants will just lead to every case asking for death penalty so it will be skipped.
Of course, anybody who would base policy on criminal law on a tv show would be quite crazy. This is just my opinion. Give the nutbats what they deserve if they earned it. Not doing it as an exception can have consequences as bad or worse than making them martyrs.
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