THE DEATH PENALTY
Whilst serving in the Imperial police in Burma George Orwell witnessed a hanging. His account of the event represents one of the best arguments against the death penalty I have ever read and whenever the subjected is mooted I think of this short essay.*
I see that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a major figure in al-Qaida and one of the men behind the 9/11 attacks in New York, has stated that he would welcome being martyred and wants to be sentenced to death. Should his wish be granted?
Like all good liberals I have always been opposed to the death penalty. The purposeful judicial extinction of a human life has always struck me as being inherently disgusting, an act that degrades all associated with it and which demeans the society that sanctions it.
However I have long been aware of possessing certain ambivalence when it comes to the perpetrators of war crimes. When looking at the Nuremberg trials for I can find no equivalent feelings of disgust. When faced with the sheer enormity of the holocaust it is difficult to envisage a sentence short of the death penalty measuring up. The waters become muddy for me.
However it is interesting to note that for those indicted for such crimes the fear of death itself may not be that significant, both Himmler and Goring took poison rather than face judicial execution. Hitler himself took his own life with the dread of being exhibited like a captured animal hanging over his head. It would seem that what these people dread even more than death is the humiliation of being held up to public inspection with the ideas that represented the rationale behind their crimes held up for appropriate ridicule; judicial execution merely representing the ultimate humiliation.
As for Mr Mohammed his desire for martyrdom represents the logic that underpins al-Qaida’s ideology. Remember the chilling statement “we love death whilst you love life,” nothing better illustrates the poverty and moral bankruptcy of this mindset.
So no, I would not grant Mr Mohammed’s wish, rather I would incarcerate him for the rest of his life so that he might taste the passing years. The fanaticism that inspires violent acts can often struggle to survive as the body decays and the years take their toll. Let him face the one form of torture that I suspect he most dreads, self doubt.
*A hanging, George Orwell, The Selected Essays and Journalism Volume one.
I see that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a major figure in al-Qaida and one of the men behind the 9/11 attacks in New York, has stated that he would welcome being martyred and wants to be sentenced to death. Should his wish be granted?
Like all good liberals I have always been opposed to the death penalty. The purposeful judicial extinction of a human life has always struck me as being inherently disgusting, an act that degrades all associated with it and which demeans the society that sanctions it.
However I have long been aware of possessing certain ambivalence when it comes to the perpetrators of war crimes. When looking at the Nuremberg trials for I can find no equivalent feelings of disgust. When faced with the sheer enormity of the holocaust it is difficult to envisage a sentence short of the death penalty measuring up. The waters become muddy for me.
However it is interesting to note that for those indicted for such crimes the fear of death itself may not be that significant, both Himmler and Goring took poison rather than face judicial execution. Hitler himself took his own life with the dread of being exhibited like a captured animal hanging over his head. It would seem that what these people dread even more than death is the humiliation of being held up to public inspection with the ideas that represented the rationale behind their crimes held up for appropriate ridicule; judicial execution merely representing the ultimate humiliation.
As for Mr Mohammed his desire for martyrdom represents the logic that underpins al-Qaida’s ideology. Remember the chilling statement “we love death whilst you love life,” nothing better illustrates the poverty and moral bankruptcy of this mindset.
So no, I would not grant Mr Mohammed’s wish, rather I would incarcerate him for the rest of his life so that he might taste the passing years. The fanaticism that inspires violent acts can often struggle to survive as the body decays and the years take their toll. Let him face the one form of torture that I suspect he most dreads, self doubt.
*A hanging, George Orwell, The Selected Essays and Journalism Volume one.
