Capital punishment in Sri Lanka
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment is legal in Sri Lanka
. However, since June 23, 1976, there have been no executions, although death sentences were handed down continuously by the High and Supreme Courts for murder and drug trafficking convictions. These were automatically commuted to life in prison. The government decided to reinstate capital punishment
in 2004 for cases of rape
, drug trafficking and murder
after the assassination of High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya
. However due to significant opposition to the move no executions were carried out.
made several attempts to reintroduce the death penalty. In March 1999, after spurts of violence near the end of her first term in office, she stated that the government would be reintroducing the death penalty. However, she was forced to back down in the face of overwhelming public protest. The issue hung in the balance, with all death sentences from then on being neither commuted to life nor carried out. Discussions took place with the result that the motion which commuted all death sentences to life in prison was revoked in January 2001. There are currently more than 100 prisoners on death row in Sri Lanka.
On November 19, 2004, High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya
was gunned down as he arrived home from work. He had a reputation as a judge who handed out tough sentences. This event immediately prompted Kumaratunga
to effectively reinstate capital punishment. The death penalty, if put in to action would be carried out by hanging.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. However, since June 23, 1976, there have been no executions, although death sentences were handed down continuously by the High and Supreme Courts for murder and drug trafficking convictions. These were automatically commuted to life in prison. The government decided to reinstate capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in 2004 for cases of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, drug trafficking and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
after the assassination of High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya
Sarath Ambepitiya
Sarath Ambepitiya was a Sri Lankan judge. He was serving as the Judge of the Colombo High Court when he was assassinated...
. However due to significant opposition to the move no executions were carried out.
History
The death penalty, and popular opposition to it, has a long history in Sri Lanka. The British introduced the death penalty after they took control of the island in 1815 for murder, and "waging war against the King." After independence, the then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike abolished capital punishment in 1956. However, it was rapidly reintroduced after his assassination in 1959. Opposition to the death penalty started becoming increasingly widespread and the United National Party government modified the use of the capital punishment in its 1978 rewrite of the constitution. Under the new arrangement, death sentences could only be carried out if authorised by the trial judge, the attorney general and the minister of justice. If there was no agreement, the sentence was to be commuted to life imprisonment. The sentence was also to be ratified by the President. This clause effectively ended executions. The last execution in Sri Lanka took place in 1976.Present
Over the last decade however, president Chandrika KumaratungaChandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born June 29, 1945) was the 4th Executive president of Sri Lanka, serving from November 12, 1994 to November 19, 2005. The daughter of two former Prime Ministers, she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until end of 2005...
made several attempts to reintroduce the death penalty. In March 1999, after spurts of violence near the end of her first term in office, she stated that the government would be reintroducing the death penalty. However, she was forced to back down in the face of overwhelming public protest. The issue hung in the balance, with all death sentences from then on being neither commuted to life nor carried out. Discussions took place with the result that the motion which commuted all death sentences to life in prison was revoked in January 2001. There are currently more than 100 prisoners on death row in Sri Lanka.
On November 19, 2004, High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya
Sarath Ambepitiya
Sarath Ambepitiya was a Sri Lankan judge. He was serving as the Judge of the Colombo High Court when he was assassinated...
was gunned down as he arrived home from work. He had a reputation as a judge who handed out tough sentences. This event immediately prompted Kumaratunga
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born June 29, 1945) was the 4th Executive president of Sri Lanka, serving from November 12, 1994 to November 19, 2005. The daughter of two former Prime Ministers, she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until end of 2005...
to effectively reinstate capital punishment. The death penalty, if put in to action would be carried out by hanging.