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A House divided over ‘a life for a life’
Following are some of the views expressed at the debate:
MP Hirunika Premachandra:
I think the time is right to reactivate capital punishment. Today, capital punishment is inactive in the country and some convicted hardcore criminals do not serve even 20 years of their life sentences. People are not afraid to commit crimes because of this situation.
We are aware that Rita Jones was gang raped and murdered. Her murderers are serving jail terms, and despite the death sentence, they have not been hanged.Today, the law is applied in different ways, one for the haves and one for the have nots.
The Attorney General (AG) intervened to file an appeal that the 20-year Rigorous Imprisonment sentence on the convict, in the killing of British national Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh and gang rape of his girlfriend are not sufficient, but has the AG ever intervened in a case involving a Sri Lankan to say the sentence is insufficient in a similar case.
If an MP was affected by the kind of crime that was visited upon that little girl Seya, action would have been swift, but that is because we have more privileges which the majority of the people do not have in this country.
Social Welfare Deputy Minister – Ranjan Ramanayake:
The whole issue of how to deal with people who commit criminal acts against minors has become a major topic of discussion.
When we speak of the death sentence, we as politicians come under severe attack from human rights organisations, but who speaks of the rights of these small children who have been brutally murdered.
The child in Aturugiriya was chopped into pieces and killed. What is the punishment that befits such criminals? Should we allow such criminals to ever walk the streets again?
People fear the law and if the laws are implemented properly, then there will be a reduction in the crime rate. We should implement the death penalty at least for a year or two. Many countries carry out the death penalty.
Water Supply and Town Planning Deputy Minister- Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle:
There are justifiable reasons to the people’s demands for the implementation of the death penalty. People fear the law and if the laws are enforced fully, they will not resort to wrongdoing.
I believe the death penalty must be implemented at least for a short while, so that, those who commit serious crimes are punished.
Between 2009 and 2014, there were 32,259 crimes against children, and 39,604 crimes against women, but only 714 have been punished.
This shows the gravity of the problem. The case of law delays is also a huge problem. The trial of a girl raped in 2006 was taken up only this year.
Now the girl is married and a mother, and does not want to pursue the case. This is a very unfortunate situation.
Housing and Construction Minister- Sajith Premadasa:
It’s true there is no evidence to show that enforcing the death penalty will reduce the crime rate, but I say the death penalty must be enforced against those directly involved in serious crimes against children.
We have to implement the death penalty in such cases, as the appropriate punishment, but it must be conditional.
The condition is that, if the death penalty is to be enforced, the judiciary must act in a transparent and accountable manner, without political interference.
We must appoint all the necessary independent commissions and ensure these function without any political interference. We have to do this for the sake of the children of this country.
JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa:
People come out in protest when a crime occurs because they are not certain if the law will be implemented properly. People don’t trust the Judiciary and the Police due to various reasons.
We remember how a Presidential pardon was given to several murderers during the previous regime. It is things of this nature that make people lose faith in the system.
Power and Renewable Energy Deputy Minister – Ajith P. Perera:
On this issue, we cannot make an emotional decision. We have to make an intelligent, informed decision. The death sentence is too mild a sentence for criminals who commit serious and brutal crimes.
What we should have in place is life sentence without parole. They must be kept in prison all their lives. There are serious problems regarding our police. This is the same in many other countries too. This is a baseless motion.
There is no evidence anywhere in the world to show that enforcing the death penalty has reduced the crime rate.
Justice Minister- Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe:
Today we are discussing if the death penalty should be implemented or not. I remember, MP Hirunika Premachandra’s father too presented a similar motion to Parliament around 1997 and there was a similar discussion on the death penalty.
Today, in more than 100 countries worldwide, capital punishment is no longer an acceptable punishment for crime. The trend is towards non-implementation of the death penalty.
This is not a new thing. This is the age-old tradition of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The oldest law statute in the world is the one written by the Babylonian king Hammurabi’s Code of Law.
That was the first time the death penalty was introduced as a form of retributive justice, but today in the world, the punishment is meted out not as retribution, but as a mode of rehabilitation and correction.
We know, in America, the death penalty is enforced, but the EU has stopped it in every country. In a majority of countries, there is a moratorium on the death penalty.
Even though it is part of the law, it is not carried out. In 2007, a resolution for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty was placed before the UN General Assembly.
The same came up in 2008 and 2010, when Sri Lanka supported it, but when it was taken up in 2012 and 2014, we abstained from voting. It is due in 2015, and I heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that we will support the moratorium.
In the past few days, we saw at the UN General Assembly, the Pope too appealed to all the countries to abolish the death penalty. Sri Lanka too, as a country facing allegations before the UNHRC, has to repeatedly address this issue.
Accordingly, on September 14, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in his address to the UNHRC said, Sri Lanka would not enforce the death penalty. In India too, their Law Commission is asking for a suspension of the death penalty.
It is a matter under discussion. Even in China, where the death penalty is enforced, there is a call to limit the offences for which the death penalty is implemented.
With Sri Lanka being the topic of discussion in many countries and organisations, we have taken the decision to support the measures taken by the UN in this regard.
What we need to discuss more in depth is why these brutal crimes are taking place. We can take measures to protect our children and women, and that is more opportune.