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By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent
President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to carry out the death penalty will lead Sri Lanka to lose GSP+ benefits received from the European Union as well as set the stage for an anti-Sri Lanka campaigns across the world, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Bimal Rathnayake cautioned the Parliament yesterday.
According to MP Rathnayake, Sri Lanka has damaged its reputation due to the Easter Sunday attacks and is badly in need of rebuilding it among other countries.
“Now we need help from all to improve the country’s reputation. But carrying out the death penalty will not help but further make room for campaigns against Sri Lanka. There is also a big potential for us to lose the GSP + facility from the European Union if the death penalty is carried out,” he said.
Questioning the basis for the President’s decision to re-establish the carrying out of the death penalty, the MP Rathnayake held the Government will have to tighten investigations and crime prevention rather than hanging condemned prisoners on the death row.
“In the world, there is no proven record to show a drop in crimes by carrying out the death penalty. In certain countries arms and legs are chopped off, including decapitating as per the Sharia law. In the US they use the electric chair, while in certain other countries poison is injected. Unless I’m mistaken there are 20 states in the US that carry out the death penalty even though the crime level remains the same,” he challenged.
MP Rathnayake criticising President Sirisena for trying to implement Sharia principles against the will of the public said: “The Sharia laws came well before democracy. When the people here reject Sharia laws the President is trying to implement them by starting to carry out the death penalty. Simply carrying out the death penalty will not rectify the crime.”
He also warned the Parliament about countries issuing statements against the President’s decision. “Now many countries have started issuing messages against Sri Lanka. But certain countries, of course, bombed many other parts of the world killing millions of innocent people. The French who killed millions in Libya and the United Kingdom that bombed Iraq for alleged chemical weapons stocks now comment on Sri Lanka. Our problems will not get solved by carrying out the death penalty. Recently the Secretary-General of the United Nations telephoned President Maithripala Sirisena to express his displeasure over the decision to carry out the death penalty,” he said.
“We don’t agree with carrying out the death penalty, which is widely discussed in the country. We disagree not on the basis to pardon or to disregard the crime taking place in the country. But the death penalty is unique among all other punishments and laws. It started during the Dark Ages and was later legalised by countries. However, many countries have started to change the death penalty during the last 50 years. As a result, Sri Lanka has not carried out the death penalty since 1976,” he added. (AH)
