A
historic decision by India’s Supreme Court commuting the death
sentences of 15 prisoners and setting out guidelines to safeguard the
rights of prisoners on death row and their families is a positive step
for human rights in the country, Amnesty International India said today.
The
Supreme Court commuted the death sentences of Suresh, Ramji,
Bilavendran, Simon, Gnanprakasham, Meesekar Madaiah, Praveen Kumar,
Gurmeet Singh, Sonia Chaudhury, Sanjeev Chaudhury, Jafar Ali, Shivu and
Jadeswamy, on the grounds of delay in the disposal of their mercy
petitions by the President ranging between five and 12 years.
The Court commuted the death sentences of Sundar Singh and Magan Lal Barela on the ground that they suffer from mental illness.
“While
acknowledging the need to strike a balance between the rights of the
accused as well as the victims, this momentous decision reaffirms the
rights guaranteed to death row prisoners under the Constitution of India
and international law and standards,” said G Ananthapadmanabhan, Chief
Executive, Amnesty International India.
“The verdict places a
strong emphasis on the human rights of all persons, and should steer the
country towards completely doing away with the death penalty.”
Yug
Mohit Chaudhry, one of the lawyers representing prisoners affected by
the decision, told Amnesty International India, “This judgment is a
tribute to Indian constitutional values and the independence of the
judiciary. It recognizes that death row prisoners have rights that the
court will protect.”
In its judgment, the Supreme Court ruled
that “undue, inordinate and unreasonable delay in execution of death
sentence [amounts to] torture” and was a ground for commutation of
sentence. Importantly, the Court ruled to be bad law a previous decision
in the case of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, which stated that prisoners
convicted of terrorism-related offences could not appeal for commutation
on grounds of inordinate delay.
Quoting extensively from
international treaties and standards, the court stated that the
execution of people suffering from mental illness would be
unconstitutional. It ruled that “insanity” or mental illness would be a
factor that warranted commutation of a death sentence. The Court also
reiterated that solitary confinement of a prisoner on death row was
unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court also laid down guidelines on
the treatment of people under sentence of death, in a move that could
end the trend towards secrecy in executions in 2012 and 2013. According
to the guidelines, prisoners on death row should receive legal aid, be
informed about the rejection of their mercy petitions and in writing,
have their mental and physical conditions regularly checked and be
allowed to meet their family members before execution, which should not
happen before two weeks from the communication of the rejection of the
mercy petition.
The Court’s ruling is likely to affect the cases
of at least six other prisoners on death row – Murugan, Santhan, Arivu
(aka Perarivalan), Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, Saibanna Natikar and B A
Umesh, who are also seeking commutation on the grounds of delay in the
disposal of their mercy petitions.
“This verdict provides an opportunity for India to rethink its use of the death penalty,” said G Ananthapadmanabhan.
“The
death penalty has not been shown to have any particular deterrent
effect. UN experts and bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, have said that suggestions that the death penalty has a
meaningful deterrent effect have been overstated.
“Research by
Amnesty International and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties into
India Supreme Court judgements on the death penalty has also revealed
that the imposition of death sentences in India is highly arbitrary, and
disproportionately affects those with little wealth or influence.
“The
death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights.
While today’s verdict is welcome, it does not do away with this cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishment. The government must carry forward the
impetus the ruling has provided to place a moratorium on all executions
and abolish the death penalty altogether.”
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