Death for Genocide suspects?

[sarah]

Do you think suspects in a case of genocide should face death for their crimes?
Rwandan officials have decided not to seek the death penalty in the cases of suspects in a 1994 case of genocide in which up to a million people were killed.
Do you think someone who is connected to genocide should face death for his or her crime??
Read the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/08/18/rwanda.death.ap/index.html

 

[kokotai]

I think that death is the easy way out. There has to be something else they can do to punish them.

 

[Brandon]

If you believe the end of your life is truely the end, than death is the easy way out. If you believe in an afterlife that punishes you for your acts while you were alive, than death is only the beginning.

 

[sarah]

I just don't understand the rationale behind this government choosing not to implement the death penalty.
and Brandon; I agree completely with your logic on this one.

 

[Brandon]

Brandon I agree completely with your logic on this one.

For I am all knowing!

Eh...It was worth a shot.

 

[sarah]

HaHaHa.... but I do agree.

 

[dong]

I voted "I don't know."

The easy questions to ask and the hard ones to answer are as follows:

1. Assuming guilt, what is the perception of the accused regarding death?
2. What would the broader social reaction to the death penalty be?
3. What are the costs of keeping these people alive, assuming life imprisonment?
4. Is this an effective measure to deter people from engaging in acts of genocide?

Probably those questions could be used to build up some kind of rationale as to whether to seek or not seek a death penalty. Again I refer to the people's habit of seeing law as a tool of revenge, more so than justice.

 

[sarah]

The accused obviously has no regard for death, presumably his/her own.
These people are accused of a mass genocide. I would say the public would support the death of such people should they be found guilty.
The cost of life imprisonment is usually higher than death.

And the death penalty as a deterrent is never successful, and if that is why you support capitol punishment, look at the statistics it is not a deterrent.

 

[dong]

Agreed on all counts. The only two actual objections I can muster up is "are they really guilty?" and "will this invoke a martyrdom reaction?" At this point, I suppose I'm being rather utilitarian about the decision. Simply that it might easier to get rid of these people rather than keep them around like a poison thorn in our side. When it comes to genocide, everybody loses, I guess.

 

[sarah]

I wish I could say I knew the answer to your objections... but I simply don't know.