Capital Punishment: Historical Background and Arguments

Capital punishment, namely death penalty, is a legal process in which a person is put to death by court as a punishment for a crime.

History

- The first death penalty laws date as far back as the 18th century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes.

- In the 10th century A.D., hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.

- Britain influenced America's use of the death penalty more than any other country. 

-  In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians.

Use of the death penalty around the world (as of 2012)

  Abolished for all offenses (97)

  Abolished for all offenses except under special circumstances (8)

  Retains, though not used for at least 10 years (35)

  Retains death penalty (58)

In Turkey

Several centuries ago, the means of execution has been incredibly brutal and varied: people were emboweled, burnt, beheaded (guillotine), hung, torn into pieces, their heads were 

immersed into the water and they were killed under torture. People publicly rejoiced and enjoyed this as a spectacle. In those days, suffering was routine; anesthetics were unknown 

end even patients had to suffer horrendously.

Since October 1984, Turkey has not executed any prisoners. Prior to that date executions would usually happen after military interventions. 

Adnan Menderes was hanged on 17 September 1961 following the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan. The student leaders Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan were hanged on 6 May 1972 after the 1971 coup d'état. After the 1980 coup d'état, between 1980 and 1984 a total of 50 men including 27 political activists but no women were executed in Turkey.

Humane (?) Execution

Trends in most of the world have long been to move to less painful, or more humane, executions. France developed the guilottine for this reason in the final years of the 18th century, while Britain banned drawing and quartering in the early 19th century. In the U.S., the electric chair and the gas chamber were introduced as more humane alternatives to hanging, but have been almost entirely superseded by lethal injection, which in turn has been criticised as being too painful. Nevertheless, some countries still employ slow hanging methods, beheading by sword and even stoning, although the latter is rarely employed.

ABOLITIONISM

-The death penalty was banned in China between 747 and 759.

- Abolition occurred in Canada in 1976, in France in 1981, and in Australia in 1973.

- In the United States, Michigan was the first state to ban the death penalty, on 18 May 1846.

- One of the latest countries to abolish the death penalty for all crimes was Gabon, in February 2010.

- In 2001,  a Turkish law stated that no death penalty shall be imposed except for the “war, threat of war and terrorist crimes”.

- As of 2004, death penalty does not exist in Turkey.

Why (not) execute? (Abolitionists vs Supporters)

- Abolitionists believe capital punishment is the worst violation of human rights, because the right to life is the most important, and judicial execution violates it without necessity and inflicts to the condemned a psychological torture.

- It is frequently argued that capital punishment leads to miscarriage of justice through the wrongful execution of innocent persons. Many people have been proclaimed innocent victims of the death penalty.

- Opponents of the death penalty argue that this punishment is being used more often against perpetrators from racial and ethnic minorities and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, than against those criminals who come from a privileged background; and that the background of the victim also influences the outcome.

- Supporters of the death penalty argued that death penalty is morally justified when applied in murder especially with aggravating elements such as multiple homicide, child murder, torture murder and mass killing such as terrorism, massacre or genocide. Some even argue that not applying death penalty in latter cases is patently unjust.

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We hold the opinion that capital punishment should be implemented in some specific cases, such as multiple homicide, child murder and abuse, rape, torture murder and mass killing like terrorism, massacre or genocide.  

Merve AYDIN

Elif BİLGİN

Uğur ÇAKIROĞLU

Hatunnur ÇİFTÇİ