Capital punishment is not justice, only foments revenge

By Leela Ramdeen

Consultant, Catholic Commission

for Social Justice (CCSJ)

Conclusion

In September 2016, during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) issued a Statement on Capital punishment urging governments and citizens in the region to work towards the abolition of the death penalty. Inter alia, they stated that:

“Justice does not seek revenge…We urge our Governments to strengthen the capacity of public institutions, including criminal justice systems, to address crime and violence; to address the risk factors that contribute to crime, for example: poverty, urban decay, social inequality and exclusion, family disintegration, poor parenting, lack of quality education and employment, poor housing, the proliferation of guns, drugs and gangs in the region, and to employ related preventive measures. We stand ready and urge our faithful and all people of good will to work together to this end…We will continue to work with governments and other stakeholders in our region to build safer, just and peaceful societies and to do so by encouraging the use of non-lethal means to achieve our goals.”

In T&T there have been a number of reports that contain helpful recommendations that address the root causes of crime, as opposed to the symptoms. For example, the 2012 UNDP report: Human development and the shift to better citizen security recommends that we and the six other Caribbean countries involved in the study, should seek to achieve a better balance between legitimate law enforcement and preventive measures, with a stronger focus on prevention, e.g. through youth development, education, job creation, addressing poverty and social exclusion.

In 2015, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. In the letter, he called capital punishment “cruel, inhumane and degrading” and said it “does not bring justice to the victims but only foments revenge. Furthermore, in a modern ‘state of law, the death penalty represents a failure’ because it obliges the state to kill in the name of justice’.”

On the other hand, he said, it is a method frequently used by “totalitarian regimes and fanatical groups” to do away with “political dissidents, minorities” and any other person deemed a threat to their power and to their goals.

In addition, Pope Francis noted that “human justice is imperfect” and said the death penalty “loses all legitimacy in penal systems where judicial error is possible.”

In 2018 Pope Francis approved a revision of our Catholic Catechism (2267), making it clear that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

A letter to all Bishops from the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, dated August 1, 2018, includes the new text of the 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as approved by Pope Francis. The new Catholic Catechism text reads:

“The death penalty 2267. Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.”

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person’, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.

Abolishing the death penalty is, at the end of the day, a political issue. The courts have gone as far as they could. Peace and non-violence will not become a reality if we keep ‘baying for blood’.

Let us use our human ingenuity to devise the most adequate, equitable and effective manner to deal with the culture of violence that confronts us. Let’s strengthen family life and fix our broken institutions—including the re-engineering of the criminal justice system.

During this Jubilee Year, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us as we strive to foster an ethic of respect for life, and build right relationships, thus creating a society that respects, affirms, enhances and promotes the dignity, worth and potential of every human person. Let’s become people of and for life.

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