After reading news articles in both the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail on the subject relating to capital punishment in Zambia, and whether or not the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) should adopt the recommendation made by the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission on the issue, I have found it necessary to make the following comment:
There are many forms of crime which may attract capital punishment in some countries; they include murder, treason, economic sabotage, and large-scale drug-trafficking. Without slighting the seriousness of other capital crimes, murder is perhaps the most deserving of the death penalty. A person who willfully takes the life of another person, therefore, commits the ultimate crime – a crime for which the death penalty is a fitting and well-deserved form of punishment.
There are numerous caveats which lend support to such an inflexible stance; let us briefly consider some of these caveats:
1) By killing another person and, therefore, violating the person’s right to life, the murderer dehumanizes himself or herself to the extent that he or she deserves to be expelled from the community of living humans.
2) People who commit murder in societies which have corporal punishment already know the consequences associated with such a heinous crime. For such people, the punishment is, therefore, self-inflicted; after all, it is a punishment every societal member can choose to avoid in the first place! Is it not immoral to protect the life of an individual who finds pleasure in committing murders – the ultimate disregard for other people’s lives?
3) As Ernest van den Haag, a U.S. Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy, has concluded, “The severity and finality of the death penalty is [commensurate with] … the seriousness and the finality of murder.” In short, the death penalty functions as a reasonable and generally acceptable form of retribution (or appropriate punishment) for murder. The punishment fits the crime, so to speak!
4) The death penalty serves well as a more dreadful deterrent to murder than life imprisonment and, among other things, as an effective incapacitation of murderers.
5) It would be immoral for the government to collect tax revenue from law-abiding members of society, some of whom are kith and/or kin of murder victims, and commit it to the protection and upkeep of duly convicted murderers sentenced to life imprisonment.
6) Prison escapes of hardcore criminals are not uncommon – even in countries which can afford to provide highly secure prison facilities, such as the United States. There is also the potential for criminals to be released from prison by mistake. On March 26, 2002, for example, Clifton Blecha (a convicted murderer concurrently serving a life sentence and a 24-year prison term at Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon city, United States) was mistakenly paroled due to a paperwork mix-up. He was initially jailed in 1988 on a burglary conviction, and later convicted of murdering a fellow inmate in 1994. (BeDan, M., “Paperwork Mix-Up Frees Murderer,” Rocky Mountain News, May 3, 2002, p. 7A.)
However, the application of capital punishment calls for a fundamental redress of any apparent inadequacies in a country’s criminal justice system so that the punishment can be administered fairly, impartially, with reasonable consistency, and upon an objective and exhaustive assessment of circumstances leading to the commission of murder.
Unfortunately, such expectations cannot easily be met in poor countries like Zambia, pseudo democracies, and totalitarian states worldwide.
There is, therefore, a need for the Zambian government to constitute an ad hoc panel of local legal experts to determine whether or not the Zambian criminal justice system meets the foregoing expectations. If it is be found to be wanting, the Republican president and the Zambian Parliament need to seriously consider the prospect of placing a moratorium on capital punishment, to commute the prison sentences of any individuals who are currently on the death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and to decide on modalities for periodic reviews of the moratorium.
Over the years, we have heard calls by some segments of Zambian society for the abolition of the death penalty in the country. I believe a decision on whether or not capital punishment should be abolished in Zambia can only be made by the citizenry through a referendum designed specifically for this purpose, and after exhaustive national debate on the issue, not by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).
Henry Kyambalesa
While I do not condone crimes such as murder, handing out a sentences that non of us, as humans, have never ever experienced is very strange. I mean, none of us have experienced death, or to put it simple, has died before and frankly, we do not and will never know what comes after our last breath. And sending our fellow humans to the gallows that we don’t even understand, I believe, makes us even worse criminals that the people we think we are punishing.
FTJ was taken to the London court over corruption by the late LPM who died after a reoccurrent brain stroke, He was found guilty by the late Judge Smith who died of a heart attack, the case was being registered in the Zambian courts by the late judge Japhet Banda who died in a road accident at the time of these events the Chief of Police who was a member of the Task Force by virtue of his office was Wazakaza Nguni, he died in a road accident. It is not clear which judge is currently handling the matter if any. President Chiluba is a former President and an evangelist, he has repeatedly pronounced that he is a prophet standing on solid rock and that whoever fights his Godly ways shall be crushed. It is yet to be known whether his prophecies are true or are yet to occur.
Murderers deseve the death penalty. People who are killed by these murderers have also never experienced death for your own information Mr Moderator. So for death penalty must stand for murderers.
Iwe chi persona, why do you keep spreading your crap all over, you are spoiling the dialogue on specific subjects. Learn to be responsible ,!!!
C’mon number 2, you yapping about some story that has nothing to do with this article. Are you trying to post a point or you are just being the best you can be?
Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Capital Punishment is very necessary. Look at the history of crime and the things that some cruel people could do to justify their psycho-social problems. I am talking about the Dr. Mengeles who used to inject children’s hearts with sulphuric acid just to determine how long it would take for them to die. Or the “frying” of upwards of 200 men to see how long it take for the human group to get 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns. It is inhumane from a moral perspective, but someone beyond redemption of such magnitude ought to have his life taken. And yes, we do understand what death is. Lets Kill!!
Tsunami, personally I feel sending these murderers to go and sit next to their victims is, in my own words, kind of disrespectful to the victims we would claim we loved. Death sentence is an easy way out for such thugs who in the first place have no respect for human life. I would love to see them caged and experience hell right here on earth. Let them suffer until the day God retires them from this planet.
The best punishment to give a murderer is death cos people will be responsible enough but death is death, whether thief, murderer or not it hurts. on humanitarian grounds its not health but in a way it will help us be responsible.
#6,thats right,let them rot in jail
The issue is simple, if you kill, you also deserve to be killed. I’m short of saying if you rape, you should also be raped. The issue of death penalty is painful. Is it fair for somebody to kill and yet he doesnt want to be killed. Simple logic demands that we eliminate such elements. In Uganda, this issue was debated. Some of the points are as follows:- If you sentence somebody to 2 days imprisonment, why keep him for 2 months? If one is on death row, why keep him for life? This violates our laws. If you cant kill, then commute the sentences but justice would have been denied. I FULLY SUPPORT THE DEATH SENTENCE.
The punishment fits the crime, well said! Otheriwise, what else can you do with people like Moussa Dadis Camara, Commander-in-Chief of the Guinean Army, who just ordered the execution of all oppostion protestors, leaving 157 people dead and over 1250 injured in a ruthless bloodbath the other day?
Keep the locked up in jail. no matter what, no one has the right to determine who lives and who doesnt.
In the book of
Leviticus 24: 17-21, it is said, “He who kills a man shall be put to death.” the “eye
for an eye” principle applies here. Genesis 9:6 states, “Whoever sheds the blood
of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” Exodus 21:12-14 states: “whoever
strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for
him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to
which he may flee. But if a man wilfully attacks another to kill him
treacherously, you shall take him from my altar that he may die.” Numbers
35:30-31 reads: “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on
the evidence of witnesses; but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of
one witness.
Indeed those people who are advocating for killing of murders appaer not to any different from the murderes themselves. You can only take away something if you created that thing…NO ONE has the right to take away any ones life apart from the creator- if you believe there is a creator. Life gentlemen is sacred. There is no good killing or bad killing and therefore MAN can not have the right to decide who has a right to live and who does not have one. All have a right to live. Probably the best you can do is keep murders away from community-jail.
No 12 please read the bible correctly and understand it. The same bible says in Romans 12:19-21
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
There was one time when a WITCH doctor appeared in court for murder. When the hon. judge pronounced: ” I sentence you to death by hanging until you are certified dead by a qualified medical doctor. ” The witch doctor also pointed a finger at the judge from the dock and said, “I also sentence you to death”. Just after a few hours, the judge was truly dead, but him went to prison and his sentence, I believe is still pending up to now if he is not yet out.
#13 Abantu your message should be directed to potential murderers, not those that advocate punishment – why should those that willfully put others to death deserve something else than death? How do you define justice?
#14 Abantu the same book you have quoted from goes on to say:
“Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God…But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God , a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Romans 13, 1-4 KJV
what’s the point of killing a person after they have killed, for what purpose should capital punishment be upheld? I feel that killing the murderer does not make us any diffrent from him, locking them up for life with hard labor is ok,why should we do exactly what that person did in order to punish,they dont even suffer much bcoz they die anyway. let God judge murderes Himself bcoz he’s the custodian of DIVINE JUSTICE!!!!!
I consider myself to be a strong chriastian and i subscribe to the teachings of the bible that ‘thall shall not kill’. Indeed none of us is allowed to kill another. So, why should criminals murder others? Well if they are going to do it to others then maybe we should as human beings find a way of protecting life as God will us. Therefore these criminals should be permanently stopped from doing this to more people by having them sent to the gallows. I’m sure God would understand suck kilings. However, we neeed to be careful and only execute people after thoroughly concluding that they indeed and offenders who cannot be rehabilitated!
T# 16: The question is who is a potential Murderer? Basically i would define them as a person who feels confident enough to take away another person’s (condemned or not) life either directly or indirectly. On Justice, maybe, we are arguing from different perspectives. Am a Christian and i hope you are: All i am saying is that, it is not for anyone to decide to end another persons life. Life is Sacred. And that is why i suggested, maybe, jail. Think carefully thru these words: “an eye for an eye will only make the world blind”. And ask yourself, when you get your so called justice, how different are you from the murderer? GOD will oneday met out justice on every person that ever lived.
#20 Abantu ofcourse Iam a fully convinced Christian and I understand your views very well but I feel that the Scriptures are very clear when it comes to the shedding of blood: he who lives by the sword shall perish by the sword. Allright, now if you don’t mind, I gotta run some erands and i’ll be away from the site for a good while… I appreciated your conversation, take care!
This subject is debatable but the truth of the matter is that those who commit capital punishment should face the law. There are no 2 ways about. This punishment has been there long as human history. Look at those guys who rob others at gun point and in some cases even rape women in full view of the victim. This should also apply to those who kill in the name of the state. Extra judicial killings by cops etc. I am of the view that since nobody is above the law then those who commit capital offences should be sentenced to death by hanging until they are pronounced dead by the hangman. Why keep such criminals at taxpayers expense. I beleive sharia law is the best unfortunately it cant be applied in Zambia.
# 17 again: you have quoted this bible verse: “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God…But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God , a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Romans 13, 1-4 KJV” end of quote. read carefully what it is telling you. Some of the extracts are: ” there is no power but of God” Therefore man has no power… Secondly your same bible verse says ” …for he is the minister of God , a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil”. Who is this minister ogf GOD. I confidently believe it is Jesus who God has used and use to execute justice. Justice will never be rendered through RB,s FTJ’s, KK’s or even Obamas human government.
Lets just do an experiment: We murder ALL those on death row and see if crime rate will go up , go down or remain the same. Then from there, we shall find the way forward as a nation. I believe murdering them publicly at Independence Stadium since we no longe use it for soccer, can be a good idea.
Chao! remember to treat others the way you want to be treated… DO NOT KILL BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO DIE
the n.c.c is just another freaking side show at the zambia circus. free-market-driven ostracism is the perfect system to punish murderers and all other vile criminals.
the dysfunctional judicial system and the inept bureaucrats in correctional services provide no valuable services to the ordinary zambian. they are only useful for “entertainment” such as the f.t.j chiluba drama.
sell zambia to taiwan!!
Awe fyashupa kanshi. No comment!!!!!!
Is Judge Smith truly dead?
LPM said he shall never be a hangman! Ridiculous indeed. Those who kill by the sword will die by the sword.. If a murderer is sentenced to life imprisonement, who bares the cost of feeding these crooks? Its you and me in the end. Those sentenced to death should eb executed within 6months of coviction. this will lessen such cases. Imagine my own brother killed my immediate young sister and then my father. This happened within 15minutes. Do you think such pipo deserve leniency? Not at all. they belong to the devil loads. Murderers should be killed and quickly. This is the laws. WE SHOULD INTRODUCE KILLING SLOWLY BY INFLICTING SERIOUS PAIN IN THESE CHAPS
People of the land, death penalty is a very effective tool in fighting crime. Just look at south africa, they have a very high rate of crime including murder because of them dreaming about reformimg criminals and not punishing them. Zambia should not go that confused root. It is a fact that there situations in which the life of a human being can be taken away. Its for that reason that our police carry lethal weapons when confronting criminals. The DEATH PENALTY MUST STAY IN ZAMBIA. There is nothing uncivilised about it.
In the UK, they dont have death penalty. Just yesterday, there was this story on bbc.co.uk
A developer has been jailed for life for murdering a tenant who got in the way of a £2m property deal.
Thanos Papalexis, 37, ordered the death of Charalambos Christodoulides in 2000.
The 55-year-old’s body was found in a £2m warehouse complex in Kensal Rise, north-west London. He had been tortured to death, the Old Bailey heard.
Papalexis, who denied the murder, was jailed for a minimum of 20 years by Judge Jeremy Roberts, who described him as a “totally amoral person”.
No death penalty
If the death penalty is such a great punishment why do we still have such high crime rates and murders still occuring in places such as the USA where they practice this form of “punishment”. Isn’t punishment meant to serve as a wake up call, or do people reform after death. In a world of an eye for an eye we would all be blind. Yes our actions have consequences but no one has the right to take another’s life, aren’t we also committing murder in the name of justice? The death penalty should be done away with. Innocent people have been killed in the name of”justice” are you going to give them back their life? At least if you have the wrong person in a cell somewhere you have the chance to release them.
#33 Yeah, one of my main fears with the death penalty is the miscarriage of justice. Otherwise, heinous crimes – awe mwandi we need to erase such ‘souls’. By the way, as you look at the statistics in the USA, also look at Saudi Arabia where they behead publicly – I bet you will see that chaps there behave more responsibly!