Death penalty not the answer - Foreign Minister

INDIA: There has been no evidence that capital punishment reduces crime or violence in any country and successful investigation and fair and swift judicial process, remains the most effective deterrent, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said yesterday.

"Citizens, being made helpless and frustrated by ever increasing levels of crime and violence ask for the return of capital punishment. Many politicians, wishing to be seen in tune with populist sentiment, do not dare state that capital punishment is not the answer to crime and violence. Sri Lanka has had a virtual moratorium on capital punishment for decades," Minister Samaraweera said.

The Minister was delivering the Lal Bahadur Sashtri Memorial Lecture in India.

"With the rise of crime and corruption levels, which in many cases is the direct result of growing economic disparity, even ordinary people may see extreme measures as the only solution to society's ills.

Countries where the rule of law and independence of the judiciary and the police are not firmly established are open to manipulation of the law by those in power. The weak and the ordinary go to the gallows while the powerful and well connected go scot-free," he added.

"It is in the face of such feelings of helplessness, that even good, decent and honest people begin to believe that extremism and intolerance might provide solutions to their problems.

The recent execution of Saddam Hussein can be taken as an example. Regardless of the cruel and despotic nature of his rule, the question remains whether his execution will ultimately contribute to the healing process the people of Iraq so desperately require."