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LAW OPINION

Rethinking capital punishment in Bangladesh
The international community has frequently urged Bangladesh to re-examine its capital punishment policy, emphasising that suspending executions would demonstrate a commitment to human dignity and conform with a global minimum standard. Moving away from the death penalty might represent a significant shift, one that respects human rights, promotes fairness, and promotes life.
MD. FAHMEDUL ISLAM DEWAN
While the international community has made tremendous progress in moving away from the death penalty, Bangladesh continues to use it for a wide range of offenses, including many that do not result in the loss of life. This approach puts Bangladesh at odds with a growing global movement to reduce or eliminate the death sentence based on a commitment to human rights and justice.
Currently, 55 countries have the death sentence in their legal systems. Nine of these countries limited its application to the most heinous offences, such as multiple homicides or war crimes. Furthermore, over 112 countries around the world have abolished the death sentence. Irreparable suffering, the empirical evidence suggesting wrongful conviction, ineffective deterrence, etc. are the main reasons behind this movement. This growing standard is further institutionalised in international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which limits capital punishment to the most heinous offences. In its recent resolutions, the United Nations has urged all governments to adopt a moratorium on the death penalty as a step towards its elimination.
Despite this, our law permits the death sentence for both murder and other non-lethal offences, including drug-related crimes (Special Powers Act 1974) and certain terrorism-related offences (Anti-Terrorism Act 2009). The recent introduction of the death penalty for rape in the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Act 2020 demonstrates a firm stance against gender-based violence. Still, it also raises important questions about its proportionality.
The number of prisoners on execution row in Bangladesh is particularly concerning. In a report by the Amnesty International, between 2018 and 2022, Bangladesh had 13 executions and 912 death sentences, with 2,000 individuals on death row by late 2021. Concerns about fair trial in Bangladesh, characterised by poor legal representation, lengthy detentions, and claims of forced confessions, underlie the possibility of false convictions. The United Nations has also asked Bangladesh to consider a moratorium, pointing out that capital punishment violates human dignity and lacks strong evidence that it is more successful at discouraging crime than alternative types of punishment.
Bangladesh’s large death row population stands unusual, significantly, since countries like Japan and the United States, which still use capital punishment, limit its application to situations of purposeful and severe injury. While some may claim that harsh penalties prevent crimes, studies from abolitionist countries challenge the long-held belief that capital punishment is required to keep communities secure.
The death sentence is legal in the United States, but its use is becoming increasingly restricted. The Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments”, has caused the Supreme Court to impose restrictions, such as barring executions for people with intellectual disabilities ( Atkins v Virginia 2002) and minors ( Roper v Simmons 2005). According to a report posted on 16 December 2022 in the Death Penalty Information Center, executions have decreased, with only 18 carried out in 2022, indicating a decline for its support.
The death penalty has proven controversial in Bangladesh, primarily when it has raised questions about justice and human rights. Many international human rights organisations claimed that the death sentences awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh in cases concerning the 1971 Liberation War, was fraught with violations of fair trial standards. The international community has frequently urged Bangladesh to re-examine its capital punishment policy, emphasising that suspending executions would demonstrate a commitment to human dignity and conform with a global minimum standard. Moving away from the death penalty might represent a significant shift, one that respects human rights, promotes fairness, and promotes life.
The writer is lecturer, Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh.